សង្សារ
sɑɑsɑngsaa
The Khmer word for boyfriend is សង្សារ (sɑɑsɑngsaa).
In casual conversation, it is used to mean both boyfriend and girlfriend.
Meaning: male partner in a romantic relationship (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word សង្សារ is gender-neutral and is also used to mean 'girlfriend'.
How do you pronounce it?
sɑɑsɑngsaa
Did you know?
- The word សង្សារ is derived from the Sanskrit word for the cycle of rebirth and suffering in Buddhist philosophy. It implies a connection that spans across many lifetimes.
- If you want to sound more poetic or deeply connected, you can use មិត្តយល់ចិត្ត. This translates to a 'friend who understands the heart' and functions as a way to say 'soulmate'.
- To specify that your partner is a man, you must add the word ប្រុស (male) to the phrase, creating សង្សារប្រុស. This turns the gender-neutral term into a masculine one.
Examples in context
- គាត់គឺជាសង្សាររបស់ខ្ញុំ។koat keu chea songsa roboh khnhom.He is my boyfriend.
- សង្សាររបស់ខ្ញុំចិត្តល្អណាស់។songsa roboh khnhom chet l-or nah.My boyfriend is very kind.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their personal lives.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongស្រីនី តើអ្នកមានសង្សារហើយឬនៅ?Sreyniy, tae neak mean songsa haeuy reu nov?Sreyniy, do you have a boyfriend yet?
- ស្រីនី Sreynyបាទ ខ្ញុំមានសង្សារម្នាក់ហើយ។bat, khnhom mean songsa mnak haeuy.Yes, I have a boyfriend already.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongតើសង្សាររបស់អ្នកឈ្មោះអ្វី?tae songsa robos neak chmous avei?What is your boyfriend's name?
- ស្រីនី Sreynyគាត់ឈ្មោះ ណារ៉ុង។koat chmous Narong.His name is Narong.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry សង្សារ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries សង្សារ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
