Question Words — Khmer Grammar

For "what, who, which, where, when, how, why", Khmer uses question words that stay exactly where the answer would appear. Nothing moves to the front of the sentence — the opposite of English, which hauls "what" or "who" to the start. Most of these questions are also introduced by the particle (taətae) right at the front of the sentence — but (taətae) is not itself a question word and does not move; it just flags "a question is coming" while the real question word stays parked in its own slot, as you'll see in almost every example below.

The Word Stays In Place

In "You are called what?", the question word (ʼvəyvey) ("what") sits in the very slot where the name would go.

តើអ្នកឈ្មោះអ្វី
taə nĕək chmŭəh ʼvəytae neek chmueh vey
What is your name? (lit. you are-named what)
តើនេះជាអ្វី
taə nih ciə ʼvəytae nih cie vey
What is this?

The Core Question Words

(ʼvəyvey) — "what"
(ʼvəy khlahvey khlah) — "what (things)" (asks for a list of answers, not just one)
(nĕək naaneek naa) — "who"
(naa) — "which" (attaches to a noun)
(ʼae naaae naa) — "where"
(peel naa) — "when"
(ponmaan) — "how much / how many"
(haet ʼaʼvəyhaet avey) — "why" (the same (ʼvəyvey) "what", pronounced ʼaʼvəy once it follows haet)
(yaang məcyaang mec) / (yaang naa) — "how / in what way"

'ណា': "Which" After a Noun, or "Where" After a Verb

(naa) most often follows a noun to ask "which one": (prɑteihprateih) + (naa) = "which country".

តើអ្នកមកពីប្រទេសណា
taə nĕək mɔɔk pii prɑteih naatae neek mook pii prateih naa
Which country do you come from?

But (naa) can also stand alone with no noun in front of it — right after a motion verb like (tɨw, "to go"), it means "where" instead of "which".

តើអ្នកកំពុងតែទៅណា?
taə nĕək kɑmpung tae tɨw naatae neek kampung tae tuw naa
Where are you going?

Asking for a List with 'អ្វីខ្លះ'

(ʼvəy khlahvey khlah) is (ʼvəyvey) ("what") plus (khlah, "some") — it asks "what (things)", inviting more than one answer.

តើអ្នកចេះនិយាយភាសាអ្វីខ្លះ?
taə nĕək ceh niyiəy phiəsaa ʼvəy khlahtae neek ceh niyiey phiesaa vey khlah
What languages can you speak?

Counting Questions with 'ប៉ុន្មាន'

(ponmaan) asks "how much / how many" about any countable or measurable quantity. It shows up constantly asking about age, height, length and time — not just price — with the noun right before it (or context) telling you which quantity is meant.

តើនេះប៉ុន្មាន
taə nih ponmaantae nih ponmaan
How much is this? (price)
តើខោនេះមានប្រវែងប៉ុន្មាន
taə khao nih miən prɑvaeng ponmaantae khao nih mien pravaeng ponmaan
How long are these pants? (length)
តើគាត់មានអាយុប៉ុន្មានឆ្នាំ
taə kŏət miən ʼaayuʼ ponmaan chnamtae koet mien aayu ponmaan chnam
How old is she? (age)
តើគាត់កម្ពស់ប៉ុន្មាន
taə kŏət kɑmpŭəh ponmaantae koet kampueh ponmaan
How tall is she? (height)
តើពេលនេះម៉ោងប៉ុន្មាន
taə peel nih maong ponmaantae peel nih maong ponmaan
What time is it now? (time)

Reason and Manner

(haet ʼaʼvəyhaet avey) asks "why":

ហេតុអ្វីបានជាយើងមិនទៅភោជនីយដ្ឋាន?
haet ʼaʼvəy baan ciə yəəng mɨn tɨw phoocĕəʼniiyĕəʼthaanhaet avey baan cie yeeng mun tuw phooceeniiyeethaan
Why don't we go to a restaurant? (lit. why is-it-that we not go restaurant)

(yaang məcyaang mec) / (yaang naa) ask "how / in what way":

អាកាសធាតុថ្ងៃនេះយ៉ាងម៉េចដែរ?
ʼaakaasaʼthiət thngay nih yaang məc daeaakaasathiet thngay nih yaang mec dae
How's the weather today?

Like all the others, they stay in their natural position instead of moving to the front.

Asking 'When' with 'ពេលណា'

(peel naa) — literally "time-which" — asks "when":

តើវាបានកើតឡើងពេលណា?
taə viə baan kaət laəng peel naatae vie baan kaet laeng peel naa
When did it happen?

Not Every 'ណា' or 'អ្វី' Is a Question

These same syllables show up in statements too, with a different job:

(muəy, "one") + (naa) usually means "any (one)" in a statement, not a question:

ខ្ញុំមិនចូលចិត្តភាពយន្តមួយណាជាងគេទេ។
khñom mɨn coul cət phiəpyŭən muəy naa ciəng kei teikhnom mun coul cet phiepyuen muey naa cieng kei tei
I don't like any movie more than the others.

But the identical (muəy naamuey naa) can just as easily BE a genuine question, "which one" — only context (and, often, the opening (taətae)) tells the two apart:

តើរសជាតិមួយណាដែលអ្នកចូលចិត្ត?
taə rŭəh ciət muəy naa dael nĕək coul cəttae rueh ciet muey naa dael neek coul cet
Which flavor do you prefer?

(ʼvəyvey) + (dael, "that/which") makes a free relative, "what/that which" — still not a question:

វិស្សមកាលនោះគឺប្រសើរជាងអ្វីដែលខ្ញុំរំពឹងទុក។
vɨhsɑɑmkaal nuh kɨɨ prɑsaə ciəng ʼvəy dael khñom rumpɨngtukvuhsaamkaal nuh kuu prasae cieng vey dael khnom rumpungtuk
That vacation was better than what I expected.

The same (ʼvəy daelvey dael) can also mean the indefinite "something (that)":

ខ្ញុំកំពុងតែស្វែងរកអ្វីដែលប្លែក។
khñom kɑmpung tae svaeng rɔɔk ʼvəy dael plaekkhnom kampung tae svaeng rook vey dael plaek
I'm looking for something different.

(ʼvəy krup yaang, lit. "what every thing") is a fixed idiom for "everything":

ពេលខ្លះអ្វីគ្រប់យ៉ាងមិនដូចចិត្តយើងទេ។
peel khlah ʼvəy krup yaang mɨn douc cət yəəng teipeel khlah vey krup yaang mun douc cet yeeng tei
Sometimes everything doesn't go as we'd like.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Khmer course

66 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “Question Words” is about in bold:

តើអ្នកមានអារម្មណ៍យ៉ាងណា? ល្អ ឬមិនល្អ?
taə nĕək miən ʼaarɑm yaang naa? lʼɑɑ rɨɨ mɨn lʼɑɑ?tae neek mien aaram yaang naa? laa ruu mun laa?
How are you feeling? Good or bad?
Lesson 61
តើកូនស្រីរបស់យើងនៅឯណា? - នាងនៅសាលា។
taə koun srəy rɔbɑh yəəng nɨw ʼae naa? - niəng nɨw saalaa.tae koun srey robah yeeng nuw ae naa? - nieng nuw saalaa.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242
អ្នកមានកូនពីរនាក់ស្អាតណាស់។ តើពួកគេមានអាយុប៉ុន្មានហើយ?
nĕək miən koun pii nĕək sʼaat nah. taə puək kei miən ʼaayuʼ ponmaan haəy?neek mien koun pii neek saat nah. tae puek kei mien aayu ponmaan haey?
You have two very beautiful children. How old are they?
Lesson 264

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