តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយជាទេ?
tae neak sok sabay chea te?
In Khmer, how are you doing? Is តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយជាទេ? (tae neak sok sabay chea te?)
This phrase is a common greeting used to ask someone about their current well-being or general state of life. While it serves as a direct translation of 'how are you?', it is often used more formally or when someone hasn't seen you in a while.
What does it mean word for word?
The core of the expression is សុខសប្បាយ, which literally means to be in a state of peace and well-being.
How does it change in a sentence?
The words តើ at the beginning and ទេ at the end function as a grammatical frame to indicate a yes/no question.
How do you pronounce it?
tae neak sok sabay chea te?
When do people say it?
When someone asks you this, a common and natural way to respond is simply to say សុខសប្បាយ to indicate you are doing well.
Did you know?
- In Cambodia, you might find it more natural to skip the formal question តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយជាទេ? and instead ask someone if they have 'eaten rice' yet, which serves a similar social function of checking in on a person.
- The word សុខ in សុខសប្បាយ is a loanword from the Pali word 'sukha', which refers to a state of happiness and ease.
- When answering សុខសប្បាយ, it is customary to press your palms together in a 'sampeah' gesture to show respect to the speaker.
Examples in context
- សួស្តី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយជាទេ?suostei tae neak sok sabaay chea te?Hello, how are you doing?
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a coffee shop.
- ចិន្តា Chindaសួស្តី វិបុល! តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយជាទេ?Soursdey Vibol! Tae neak sok sabaay chea te?Hello Vibol! How are you doing?
- វិបុល Vibolខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ។ ចុះអ្នកវិញ?Knhom sok sabaay te. Choh neak vinh?I am doing well. How about you?
- ចិន្តា Chindaខ្ញុំក៏សុខសប្បាយដូចគ្នា។Knhom kor sok sabaay doch knia.I am doing well too.
- វិបុល Vibolរីករាយដែលបានជួបអ្នក!Rikreay del ban chuob neak!Nice to see you!
