Progressive Aspect with 'កំពុង' and 'កំពុងតែ'

01

The Basic Pattern

Put កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) in front of any action verb. There is no extra word for "is" or "are" — កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) alone carries the ongoing meaning.

• ខ្ញុំកំពុងញ៉ាំ

  khñom kɑmpung ñamkhnom kampung nam

  I am eating.

• គាត់កំពុងគេង

  kŏət kɑmpung keingkoet kampung keing

  He is sleeping.

• ពួកគេកំពុងអានសៀវភៅ

  puək kei kɑmpung ʼaan siəw phɨwpuek kei kampung aan siew phuw

  They are reading a book.

02

Adding Emphasis with 'កំពុងតែ'

The fuller form កំពុងតែ (kɑmpung taekampung tae) stresses that the action is going on at this very moment — close to "is right in the middle of". It is extremely common in everyday speech, often more so than plain កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung). Compare:

• ស្ត្រីនោះកំពុងដើរ

  strəy nuh kɑmpung daəstrey nuh kampung dae

  That woman is walking.

• ស្ត្រីនោះកំពុងតែដើរ

  strəy nuh kɑmpung tae daəstrey nuh kampung tae dae

  That woman is walking right now, right in the middle of it.

• ខ្ញុំកំពុងតែផឹកទឹក

  khñom kɑmpung tae phək tɨkkhnom kampung tae phek tuk

  I am drinking water right now.

• បុរសនោះកំពុងតែរត់

  borɑh nuh kɑmpung tae rŭətborah nuh kampung tae ruet

  That man is running right this moment.

03

The Plain Verb Is Not Progressive

Without កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung), a bare verb is general or habitual, not "happening now". Adding កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) pins the action to this moment. Compare:

• ខ្ញុំអានសៀវភៅ

  khñom ʼaan siəw phɨwkhnom aan siew phuw

  I read books. (in general)

• ខ្ញុំកំពុងអានសៀវភៅ

  khñom kɑmpung ʼaan siəw phɨwkhnom kampung aan siew phuw

  I am reading a book. (right now)

04

Tense Comes from Context

កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) marks the action as in progress, not whether it is past or present. Time words, or a past marker like បាន (baan) elsewhere in the sentence, set the time frame; កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) keeps the action ongoing within it. So the same កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) phrase can describe "was eating" or "is eating" depending on context.

• កាលពីម្សិលមិញ ខ្ញុំកំពុងញ៉ាំ

  kaal pii msəl mɨñ khñom kɑmpung ñamkaal pii msel mun khnom kampung nam

  Yesterday, I was eating.

• ខ្ញុំបានឃើញនាងកំពុងគេង

  khñom baan khəəñ niəng kɑmpung keingkhnom baan kheen nieng kampung keing

  I saw her sleeping.

05

Negation Usually Keeps 'កំពុង'

To say "not …-ing" — not happening right now — Khmer usually keeps កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) (or កំពុងតែ (kɑmpung taekampung tae)) right where it is and just wraps the whole predicate in the ordinary negative frame: Subject + មិន (mɨnmun) / អត់ (ʼɑtat) + កំពុង(តែ) (kɑmpung (tae)kampung (tae)) + Verb + ទេ (tei).

• ខ្ញុំមិនកំពុងមើលទូរទស្សន៍ទេ

  khñom mɨn kɑmpung məəl tuurĕəʼtŭəh teikhnom mun kampung meel tuureetueh tei

  I am not watching TV.

• គាត់អត់កំពុងធ្វើការទេ

  kŏət ʼɑt kɑmpung thvəə kaa teikoet at kampung thvee kaa tei

  He is not working.

Leave កំពុង (kɑmpungkampung) out and the sentence becomes a plain, general negative instead — no longer about this moment. Compare the two:

• ខ្ញុំមិនកំពុងញ៉ាំទេ

  khñom mɨn kɑmpung ñam teikhnom mun kampung nam tei

  I am not eating (right now).

• ខ្ញុំមិនញ៉ាំទេ

  khñom mɨn ñam teikhnom mun nam tei

  I don't eat. (in general)