Reported Speech and Thought with 'ថា'

01

Verb of Saying/Thinking + 'ថា' + Clause

• ខ្ញុំគិតថាអ្នកឈឺ

  khñom kɨt thaa nĕək chɨɨkhnom kut thaa neek chuu

  I think that you are sick.

• គាត់ប្រាប់ខ្ញុំថានាងឈឺ

  kŏət prap khñom thaa niəng chɨɨkoet prap khnom thaa nieng chuu

  He told me that she is sick.

02

The Verbs It Follows

It comes after many verbs of speaking and mental state, including គិត (kɨtkut) "think", ប្រាប់ (prap) "tell", ជឿ (cɨəcue) "believe", ដឹង (dəngdeng) "know", សង្ឃឹម (sɑngkhɨmsangkhum) "hope", ចាំ (cam) "remember", and បារម្ភ (baarɑmbaaram) "worry" — as well as the copula គឺ (kɨɨkuu) "is", which gives "is that …".

• ខ្ញុំដឹងថាវាល្អ

  khñom dəng thaa viə lʼɑɑkhnom deng thaa vie laa

  I know that it is good.

• ខ្ញុំសង្ឃឹមថាអ្នកសប្បាយ

  khñom sɑngkhɨm thaa nĕək sapbaaykhnom sangkhum thaa neek sapbaay

  I hope that you are happy.

• ខ្ញុំជឿថាមិនមានអាហារនៅសល់ទៀតទេ

  khñom cɨə thaa mɨn miən ʼaahaa nɨw sɑl tiət teikhnom cue thaa mun mien aahaa nuw sal tiet tei

  I believe there is no food left.

• សូមចាំថាមិនត្រូវចាក់សោទ្វារនេះទេ

  soum cam thaa mɨn trəw caksao tviə nih teisoum cam thaa mun trew caksao tvie nih tei

  Please remember that you must not lock this door.

• ខ្ញុំចាប់ផ្តើមបារម្ភថាគាត់វង្វេងផ្លូវ

  khñom cap phdaəm baarɑm thaa kŏət vŭəngveing phləwkhnom cap phdaem baaram thaa koet vuengveing phlew

  I started to worry that he was lost.

• ចំណាប់អារម្មណ៍ដំបូងរបស់ខ្ញុំគឺថានាងឆ្លាតណាស់

  cɑmnap ʼaarɑm dɑmboung rɔbɑh khñom kɨɨ thaa niəng chlaat nahcamnap aaram damboung robah khnom kuu thaa nieng chlaat nah

  My first impression is that she is very smart.

03

No Tense Backshift

This isn't special to ថា (thaa) clauses — Khmer verbs never change form for tense, in any sentence. That means the quoted clause after ថា (thaa) is simply repeated exactly as it was said or thought, with nothing inside it changing to match the timing of the report. English, by contrast, often backshifts the reported verb, e.g. "have to" becomes "had to" once the reporting verb itself is in the past.

• គ្រូពេទ្យប្រាប់ថាខ្ញុំត្រូវសម្រាកមួយសប្តាហ៍

  kruu pɛɛt prap thaa khñom trəw sɑmraak muəy sappədaakruu peet prap thaa khnom trew samraak muey sappedaa

  The doctor told me that I had to rest for a week.

04

'Feel That …'

It also appears after មាន (miənmien) + អារម្មណ៍ (ʼaarɑmaaram) ("have a feeling") to give "feel that …", reporting an impression rather than a statement.

• គាត់មានអារម្មណ៍ថាត្រជាក់

  kŏət miən ʼaarɑm thaa trɑcĕəkkoet mien aaram thaa traceek

  He feels that it's cold.

05

Also Introduces an Embedded Question

ថា (thaa) doesn't always introduce a plain statement — it can also link a verb like ដឹង (dəngdeng) "know" or និយាយ (niyiəyniyiey) "say" to an embedded question or a fixed question phrase, where it works more like English "what/where/how" than "that".

• ខ្ញុំមិនដឹងថាខ្ញុំដាក់វានៅឯណាទេ

  khñom mɨn dəng thaa khñom dak viə nɨw ʼae naa teikhnom mun deng thaa khnom dak vie nuw ae naa tei

  I don't know where I put it.

• និយាយថាម៉េច?

  niyiəy thaa məc?niyiey thaa mec?

  How do you say [that]?