សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ
suosdei tae anak sokh sabbay te
The English phrase "hello how are you" is translated into Khmer as សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ (suosdei tae anak sokh sabbay te).
This phrase is a common greeting used to say hello and ask about someone's well-being.
What does it mean word for word?
In the second clause, តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ (tae anak sokh sabbay te), the phrase sokh sabbay literally means "to be well/happy" and is used to ask about well-being.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The term សួស្តី (suosdei) used in this phrase is common, but if you are addressing elders or superiors, you should use the polite and formal version ជំរាបសួរ (choum reap suor) instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
The second part of the phrase uses the words តើ (tae) at the beginning and ទេ (te) at the end to function as markers to turn the statement into a question.
How do you pronounce it?
suosdei tae anak sokh sabbay te
When do people say it?
When someone asks you how you are using this greeting, a common and simple response is to say សុខសប្បាយ (sokh sabbay), which means "well" or "fine".
Did you know?
- In very casual settings, many Cambodians skip the formal 'how are you' structure entirely and instead ask if you have eaten rice yet, which serves a similar social function as checking on your well-being.
- The word សួស្តី is derived from the Sanskrit word svasti, which originally meant 'well-being' or 'luck'.
- When using the formal greeting ជំរាបសួរ (choum reap suor), the height at which you hold your hands during the 'sampeah' gesture changes depending on the social status of the person you are greeting.
Examples in context
- សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ?suosthey, tae neak sok sabaay te?Hello, how are you?
- សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ សម្លាញ់?suosthey, tae neak sok sabaay te, somlanh?Hello, how are you, friend?
- សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ បង?suosthey, tae neak sok sabaay te, bong?Hello, how are you, brother?
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a coffee shop.
- សុខា Sokhaសួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ វិបុល?Suostei, tae neak sok sabaay te Vibol?Hello, how are you, Vibol?
- វិបុល Vibolខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ សុខា។ ចុះអ្នកវិញ?Knhom sok sabaay te, Sokha. Choh neak vinh?I am doing well, Sokha. And you?
- សុខា Sokhaខ្ញុំក៏សុខសប្បាយដូចគ្នា។Knhom kor sok sabaay doch knia.I am doing well too.
- វិបុល Vibolរីករាយដែលបានជួបអ្នក!Rikreay del ban chuob neak!Nice to see you!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0.
