ប្រទេស
prɑɑteih
In Khmer, the word for country can be expressed as ប្រទេស (prɑɑteih) or ស្រុក.
Meaning: nation state (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ប្រទេស | prɑɑteih |
| ស្រុក | srok |
The term is used to describe a nation state or a place of origin. Depending on the word chosen, the meaning can shift from a political sovereign state to a more personal sense of a hometown or a specific administrative district.
Which one should you use?
ប្រទេស is used to refer to a sovereign nation or state within formal or political contexts. In contrast, ស្រុក is more colloquial and can mean one's home country, a specific district or a province.
How do you pronounce it?
prɑɑteih
When do people say it?
When asking where someone is from, people often use ស្រុក to refer to the person's place of origin or hometown.
Did you know?
- The word ស្រុក shares a common ancestor with the Chinese word for 'to stay overnight', 宿, suggesting its historical roots in a place where one resides or stays.
Examples in context
- ស្តេចបានគ្រប់គ្រងប្រទេស។The king governed the country.This sentence is useful for describing the governance of a ប្រទេស.Tatoeba #2846662 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #25652 by CK
- មកពីស្រុកណាWhat country do you come from?This sentence is useful for asking about someone's origin using ស្រុក.
- ខ្ញុំស្រឡាញ់ប្រទេសនេះ។khnhom sralanh prates nih.I love this country.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their travel plans.
- ម៉ាលី Malyតើអ្នកចង់ទៅលេងប្រទេសណា?tae neak chong tov leng prates na?Which country do you want to visit?
- សុខ Sokខ្ញុំចង់ទៅប្រទេសកូរ៉េខាងត្បូង។khnhom chong tov prates kore khang tboung.I want to go to South Korea.
- ម៉ាលី Malyប្រទេសនោះពិតជាស្អាតណាស់។prates noh pit chea s-at nah.That country is really beautiful.
- សុខ Sokបាទ ខ្ញុំក៏គិតបែបនោះដែរ។bat khnhom kor kit baeb noh dae.Yes, I think so too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “country” translations and entries ប្រទេស, ស្រុក, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ប្រទេស, ស្រុក, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
