Saying “I don’t know” — Dialogue 4


នៅផ្ទះ
កូនម៉ាក់! ម៉ាក់ចេះធ្វើ ភីហ្សា អត់? ខ្ញុំចង់ញ៉ាំភីហ្សា
ម៉ាក់ម៉ាក់អត់ចេះទេកូនចាំម៉ាក់សួរគេមើល ក្រែងមានអ្នកចេះធ្វើ

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KhmerPronunciationEnglish/Notes
នៅ nɨv 1. in, at
2. to be located at, to live in or at, to reside, to stay, to be in
3. still, yet (pre-verbal marker of a durative or continuative aspect, as a final particle in the tag question ហើយឬនៅ it means 'yet' and as a reply to a question of this kind, it means 'not yet') {ញ៉ាំអីហើយនៅ? = Have you eaten already?}
ផ្ទះ pteah house, home, residence, building
កូន koun 1. child (of someone, as opposed to ក្មេង = child in general)
2. animal baby, young
3. small member of a class or set, small object {កូនថង់ = small bag}
ម៉ាក់ mak mom, mommy
Notes: colloquial
ចេះ ceh 1. to know (how to do something), to be able to
2. to be used to, accustomed to
3. to keep on doing something
4. constantly, always, incessantly
5. to be learned, intelligent, smart, cunning
ធ្វើ tvəə 1. to do, to make, to work, to prepare
2. to cultivate (a field) {ធ្វើស្រែ = to work in a rice field, be a farmer, grow rice}
ភីហ្សា piisaa pizza
អត់ ʔɑt 1. no, not
2. to be without, lacking
3. to restrain oneself, abstain from
4. particle to form yes/no questions
ខ្ញុំ kɲom I
ចង់ cɑŋ 1. to want/wish/desire (to do something)
2. to flirt with, court, woo (a girl)
3. to approach, draw near
4. about to (do something), on the point of
5. even if
ញ៉ាំ ɲam to eat, to drink, to consume {ញ៉ាំបាយ = general term for 'to eat' (neutral form for younger persons and persons of the same age)}
Notes: informal, of oneself, addressing children or close friends but not elders
ទេ tee 1. particle: negative particle occurring in phrase final position especially after មិន, ពុំ, etc.
2. interrogative particle occurring in phrase final position, often in the combination ឬទេ
3. neutral/positive particle to add emphasis {ខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ = I'm fine!} {យកតែមួយទេ = I’ll take only one!}
ចាំ cam 1. to wait (for)
2. to remember, to memorize, to know by heart
3. phrase-initial: I will [do ... for you very soon/now] {ចាំខ្ញុំយកឲ្យវិញបង = I’ll get it back for you} {ចាំខ្ញុំពន្យល់ពីរបៀបប្រើ = I’ll explain you how it works} {ចាំមើលណា = Let me see...}
សួរ suə 1. to ask, question, enquire
2. to visit, come to see
គេ kee 1. he, she
2. one, someone
3. other(s)
មើល məəl 1. to look at, to watch, to watch for, to observe
2. to read (to oneself), to review (a lesson)
3. to examine, survey, inspect
4. to observe
5. to treat (medically)
6. to care for, take care of
7. to consider, regard
8. particle: come on, give it a try
9. let me see!
10. phrase-final: softens a command or request {ជួយបង្ហាញតិចមើល = Please show me!}
ក្រែង kraeŋ 1. to fear, be afraid, be in awe of
2. lest, for fear that, in case, in the event of
3. perhaps
4. Isn’t …? {ក្រែងម៉ោងម៉ាណ្ដប់អេ៎? = Isn’t [the appointment] 11 o’clock?}
មាន mien 1. to have, possess, own
2. to exist, there is, there are
3. to be rich, own property
4. indicates the accomplishment of an action, to happen to, to have occasion to
Notes: in spoken Khmer, negated មាន (មិនមាន or គ្មាន) can be contracted into មាន, e.g., មានអ្នកណាចង់ជួបឯង = ‘there's nobody who wants to meet you’ — contrast this with the affirmative: មានគេចង់ជួបឯង = ‘there’s somebody who wants to meet you’
អ្នក neak 1. you (to equals of both sexes)
2. person, one who... (used as an agentive particle to create nouns from predicatives)