The Intensifier 'ណាស់'

01

Adjective + 'ណាស់'

• ស្អាតណាស់

  sʼaat nahsaat nah

  very beautiful

• ផ្ទះនេះធំណាស់

  phtĕəh nih thom nahphteeh nih thom nah

  This house is very big.

• ម្ហូបឆ្ងាញ់ណាស់

  mhoup chngañ nahmhoup chngan nah

  The food is very delicious.

02

Related Degree Words

ខ្លាំង (khlang) ("strongly / very") works the same way after the adjective, often with a sense of intensity or force.

• ក្តៅខ្លាំង

  kdaw khlang

  very hot

Watch out: ខ្លាំង (khlang) is also a standalone adjective meaning "strong / loud" in its own right, separate from its intensifier role above. When it follows another adjective, it intensifies that adjective (as in the example above). But when nothing precedes it, ខ្លាំង (khlang) itself IS the adjective, and it is ណាស់ (nah) that intensifies it instead:

• សំឡេងខ្លាំងណាស់

  sɑmleeng khlang nahsamleeng khlang nah

  The sound is very loud.

03

Stacking for Emphasis

Degree words can pile up for force — ខ្លាំង (khlang) followed by ណាស់ (nah) gives "very much indeed". Whatever the combination, the position never changes: the degree word always comes after the word it strengthens.

• ក្តៅខ្លាំងណាស់

  kdaw khlang nah

  very hot indeed

04

'ពេក' Marks Too-Much

ពេក (peik) means "too (much)", marking excess. Compare it with ណាស់ (nah), which simply turns the dial up, while ពេក (peik) says it has gone past what is wanted:

• វាតូចណាស់

  viə touc nahvie touc nah

  It is very small.

• វាតូចពេក

  viə touc peikvie touc peik

  It is too small.

• វាថ្លៃពេក

  viə thlay peikvie thlay peik

  It is too expensive.