The Versatile 'ឱ្យ': Give, Cause, Benefit, and Purpose

01

The Main Verb 'to Give'

At its simplest, ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) is the verb "to give".

• ខ្ញុំឱ្យលុយអ្នក

  khñom ʼaoy luy nĕəkkhnom aoy luy neek

  I give you money.

02

Causative: 'Let / Have Someone Do'

Before a clause, ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) means "let / have / make someone do" — it opens the door for the next action.

• បើកទ្វារឱ្យខ្ញុំចូល

  baək tviə ʼaoy khñom coulbaek tvie aoy khnom coul

  Open the door so I can come in.

03

Benefactive: 'Do It For Someone'

ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) marks the person who benefits from an action — "do something FOR them". It sits right after the action is already complete, introducing the person who gains from it.

• ខ្ញុំទិញវាឱ្យនាង

  khñom tɨñ viə ʼaoy niəngkhnom tun vie aoy nieng

  I buy it for her.

• ខ្ញុំនឹងបង់ប្រាក់ឱ្យអ្នក

  khñom nɨng bɑngprak ʼaoy nĕəkkhnom nung bangprak aoy neek

  I'll pay for you.

04

Purpose: 'So That'

ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) can also introduce a goal or enabling result, "so that …" — either targeting a result state right after a verb, with a bare adjective and no subject of its own, or introducing a whole new clause with its own subject and verb. For a whole-clause purpose it often teams up with its close cousin ដើម្បី (daəmbəydaembey) ("in order to"), especially in the combination ដើម្បី (daəmbəydaembey) … អាច (ʼaacaac) ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) … ("in order to be able to …").

• សូមនិយាយឱ្យឮ

  soum niyiəy ʼaoy lɨɨsoum niyiey aoy luu

  Please speak loud enough to hear.

• និយាយឱ្យចំ

  niyiəy ʼaoy cɑmniyiey aoy cam

  Speak precisely.

• ខ្ញុំកំពុងតែរៀនដើម្បីអាចឱ្យខ្ញុំប្រឡងជាប់

  khñom kɑmpung tae riən daəmbəy ʼaac ʼaoy khñom prɑlɑɑng cŏəpkhnom kampung tae rien daembey aac aoy khnom pralaang coep

  I am studying so that I can pass the exam.

05

Idiomatic 'គួរឱ្យ' + Verb: the "-some / -ish" Adjectives

A very common pattern glues គួរ (kuəkue) ("worthy") right before ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) and a verb. គួរឱ្យ (kuə ʼaoykue aoy) plus a verb literally means "worthy of causing [verb]", and idiomatically forms a describing adjective — interesting, boring, lovable, exciting.

• ឆ្កែតូចរបស់នាងគួរឱ្យស្រឡាញ់ណាស់

  chkae touc rɔbɑh niəng kuə ʼaoy srɑlañ nahchkae touc robah nieng kue aoy sralan nah

  Her little dog is so adorable.

• វាគួរឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍

  viə kuə ʼaoy cap ʼaarɑmvie kue aoy cap aaram

  It's interesting.

06

One Small Word, Five Jobs

Giving, causing, benefiting, expressing purpose — whether a goal clause or a result state — and building "-some" adjectives are all carried by this one syllable. When you meet ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy), check its neighbours rather than assuming "give": គួរ (kuəkue) right before it signals a describing adjective; a bare adjective right after it (no subject of its own) signals a result-state purpose; a full clause with its own subject and verb after it signals "let / so that"; and a noun or pronoun after an already-complete action signals "for so-and-so", not "give". Only when ឱ្យ (ʼaoyaoy) is itself the main verb, handing a direct object to someone, does it actually mean "give".