សួស្តី
suəsdəy
The Khmer phrase for "hi" is សួស្តី (suəsdəy).
សួស្តី is a friendly, informal greeting. It is a common and versatile way to say hi in Khmer.
Meaning: friendly, informal greeting (intj)
Which one should you use?
While សួស្តី is informal, ជំរាបសួរ is the formal version used to show respect to elders, superiors or in professional settings.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
សួស្តី is an informal greeting used primarily with friends, peers or people younger than you. You should avoid using សួស្តី when addressing someone of significantly higher social status or an older person, as it may come across as disrespectful. For formal situations, such as when addressing elders, teachers or esteemed individuals, use Chum-reap-sou.
How do you pronounce it?
suəsdəy
Did you know?
- The Sanskrit root 'svasti' used in សួស្តី is the same linguistic ancestor that gave English the word 'suicide' via the prefix 'su-' meaning 'good' and 'cid' meaning 'death', though the meanings diverged wildly.
- In many parts of Cambodia, people may skip the verbal 'hi' entirely and simply greet you by asking 'Have you eaten yet?' as a way to show care.
- While English speakers often wave to say 'hi', in Cambodia, a greeting is almost always accompanied by the 'Sampeah', a gesture of placing your palms together near your chest.
Examples in context
- សួស្តី សម្លាញ់!suosdey somlanh!Hi, friend!
- សួស្តី គ្រប់គ្នា។suosdey krob khnea.Hi, everyone.
- សួស្តី ចៅ!suosdey chao!Hi, grandchild!
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a cafe.
- សុខ Sokសួស្តី ម៉ាលី!Sousdey Mali!Hi, Mali!
- ម៉ាលី Malyសួស្តី សុខ! សុខសប្បាយទេ?Sousdey Sok! Sok sabay te?Hi, Sok! How are you?
- សុខ Sokខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ។Knhom sok sabay te.I am doing well.
- ម៉ាលី Malyល្អណាស់។Loor nas.That's great.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hi” translations and entries សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
