ជួយ
cuə yɔɔ
To help in Khmer is to say ជួយ (cuə yɔɔ).
The word ជួយ is a transitive verb meaning to provide assistance to someone or something.
Meaning: transitive: provide assistance to (someone or something) (verb)
Which one should you use?
While ជួយ is the common verb used for the act of helping, the noun ជំនួយ is used to refer to 'assistance' or 'aid' in more formal contexts. For specific instances of 'rescue' or 'relief' efforts, such as disaster relief, the noun កិច្ចសង្គ្រោះ is used.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using the verb, the object (the person receiving the help) follows ជួយ directly. For example, you would say ជួយខ្ញុំ (help me) without using a preposition like 'to'.
How do you pronounce it?
cuə yɔɔ
Did you know?
- In Cambodia, if you are in urgent danger and need to scream 'Help!', you would shout ជួយផង! (chuoy phong), adding the word ផង to signal a plea for immediate rescue.
- The Khmer word ជួយ was borrowed from the Thai word ช่วย, which in turn came from Middle Chinese.
- When asking for a small favor, Cambodians often prefix the request with ជួយ even if the action is not strictly 'helping' in a charitable sense, similar to using 'could you possibly' in English.
Examples in context
- ទៅជួយ ថម។Go help Tom.This sentence shows how to use the verb ជួយ to express helping someone.Tatoeba #4484408 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #2230768 by CK
- ជួយខ្ញុំផង ។Help me.This sentence demonstrates how to request help using ជួយ.Tatoeba #3742088 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #266065 by Zifre
- ខ្ញុំជួយអីបានអត់?Can I help you?This sentence shows how to offer help using ជួយ.Tatoeba #4568048 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #25095 by CK
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Vibol and Sokha are carrying heavy boxes into a room.
- វិបុល Vibolខ្ញុំជួយកាន់ប្រអប់នេះ។khnhom chuoy kan prab noh.I will help carry this box.
- សុខា Sokhaអរគុណច្រើន វិបុល។orkun chreun Vibul.Thank you very much, Vibol.
- វិបុល Vibolតើអ្នកចង់ឲ្យខ្ញុំជួយអីទៀតទេ?tae neak chong oy khnhom chuoy ey tiet te?Do you want me to help with anything else?
- សុខា Sokhaអត់ទេ ខ្ញុំរួចរាល់ហើយ។at te khnhom ruoch roal haey.No, I am all set.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “help” translations and entries ជួយ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ជួយ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
