The Linking Verbs 'ជា' and 'គឺ'

01

Linking to a Noun with 'ជា'

ជា (ciəcie) stands between the subject and a noun that names or classifies it.

• ខ្ញុំជាសិស្ស

  khñom ciə səhkhnom cie seh

  I am a student.

• នាងជាមិត្តរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  niəng ciə mɨt rɔbɑh khñomnieng cie mut robah khnom

  She is my friend.

• ពួកគេជាគ្រូបង្រៀន

  puək kei ciə kruu bɑngriənpuek kei cie kruu bangrien

  They are teachers.

02

'គឺ' and 'គឺជា' for Identity and Emphasis

គឺ (kɨɨkuu) means "is" in the sense of "equals / namely", pointing firmly at an identity or a specific definition. It can stand alone directly before a noun or a number.

• លេខបន្ទប់របស់ខ្ញុំគឺដប់បួន

  leek bɑntup rɔbɑh khñom kɨɨ dɑp buənleek bantup robah khnom kuu dap buen

  My room number is fourteen.

It very often joins with ជា (ciəcie) to make គឺជា (kɨɨ ciəkuu cie), a slightly weightier "is" common in introductions and explanations.

• នេះគឺជាផ្ទះរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  nih kɨɨ ciə phtĕəh rɔbɑh khñomnih kuu cie phteeh robah khnom

  This is my house.

• នេះគឺជាមិត្តរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  nih kɨɨ ciə mɨt rɔbɑh khñomnih kuu cie mut robah khnom

  This is my friend.

03

Never Before an Adjective — for 'ជា'

This is the mistake to avoid. To say "the water is cold", you do NOT use ជា (ciəcie) — the adjective stands on its own straight after the subject as a stative verb.

• ទឹកនេះត្រជាក់

  tɨk nih trɑcĕəktuk nih traceek

  This water is cold. (no linking verb)

• ផ្ទះនេះធំ

  phtĕəh nih thomphteeh nih thom

  This house is big. (no linking verb)

• So: ជា (ciəcie) links ខ្ញុំ (khñomkhnom) directly to a noun, e.g. ខ្ញុំជាគ្រូបង្រៀន (khñom ciə kruu bɑngriən, "I am a teacher") — but no linking verb stands between ខ្ញុំ (khñomkhnom) and an adjective; the adjective just follows directly, e.g. ខ្ញុំហត់ (khñom hɑt, "I am tired").

04

Exception: 'គឺ' Before an Adjective, for Emphasis or Comparison

គឺ (kɨɨkuu), unlike ជា (ciəcie), is not limited to nouns. As an emphasis/focus marker ("is indeed", "namely"), it can also go directly before an adjective (a stative verb) — especially in flat statements of fact and in comparisons. Don't do this with ជា (ciəcie) — but with គឺ (kɨɨkuu) it's natural and common.

• ចរាចរណ៍គឺធម្មតា

  cɑɑraacɑɑ kɨɨ thŏəmmĕəʼdaacaaraacaa kuu thoemmeedaa

  Traffic is normal.

• ការរៀនភាសាថ្មីគឺពិបាកណាស់

  kaa riən phiəsaa thməy kɨɨ pibaak nahkaa rien phiesaa thmey kuu pibaak nah

  Learning a new language is very difficult.

• អាហារគឺយ៉ាប់ជាងនៅអ៊ីតាលី

  ʼaahaa kɨɨ yap ciəng nɨw ʼiitaaliiaahaa kuu yap cieng nuw iitaalii

  Food is worse in Italy.

05

Negating an Identity

The negative of these linkers uses the special frame មិនមែនជា (mɨn mɛɛn ciəmun meen cie) … ទេ (tei) ("is not a …"). Because មិនមែន (mɨn mɛɛnmun meen) literally means "is not true" or "is not the case," this differs from ordinary verb negation. The linking verb ជា (ciəcie) stays between មិនមែន (mɨn mɛɛnmun meen) and the noun.

• នាងមិនមែនជាគ្រូបង្រៀនទេ

  niəng mɨn mɛɛn ciə kruu bɑngriən teinieng mun meen cie kruu bangrien tei

  She is not a teacher.

• វាមិនមែនជាឆ្កែទេ

  viə mɨn mɛɛn ciə chkae teivie mun meen cie chkae tei

  It is not a dog.