ខ្ញុំ
khñom
In Khmer, 'I' is expressed through several personal pronouns. The default form is ខ្ញុំ (khñom). Wiktionary also lists ខ្ញុំបាទ (khñom baat) and នាងខ្ញុំ (niəng khñom).
Meaning: personal pronoun (pron)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ខ្ញុំ | khñom | |
| ខ្ញុំបាទ | khñom baat | formal |
| នាងខ្ញុំ | niəng khñom | formal |
| ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា | khñom prĕəh kaʼrunaa | |
| ខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គ | khñom prĕəh ʼɑng | |
| ខ្ញុំម្ចាស់ | khñom mcah |
The words provided are personal pronouns used to refer to oneself.
Which one should you use?
While ខ្ញុំ is the standard way to say 'I', using the gender-specific formal forms (ខ្ញុំបាទ for men or នាងខ្ញុំ for women) shows a higher level of politeness and clarity regarding the speaker's gender.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The form ខ្ញុំបាទ is used by male speakers to express 'I' in formal or polite settings. The form នាងខ្ញុំ is used by female speakers to express 'I' in formal or polite settings.
How do you pronounce it?
khñom
Did you know?
- The standard word for 'I', ខ្ញុំ, has a surprising historical origin meaning 'servant' or 'slave'.
- Depending on the relationship, a Khmer speaker might use a kinship term like 'younger brother' or 'older sister' instead of ខ្ញុំ to refer to themselves.
- In extremely high-level formal contexts, such as addressing royalty, the word for 'I' changes completely to include divine or royal descriptors like ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំឈឺ ។I am sick.This sentence is useful for saying 'I' is sick.Tatoeba #4743174 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #436427 by lukaszpp
- ខ្ញុំរត់។I run.This sentence is useful for saying 'I' run.Tatoeba #11475002 by Vethya, translation #259190 by sacredceltic
- ខ្ញុំផឹក។I drink.This sentence is useful for saying 'I' drink.Tatoeba #11475243 by Vethya, translation #2283872 by DJ_Saidez
- 190 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maly and Ratanak are meeting at a cafe.
- រតនៈ Ratanakសួស្តីម៉ាលី តើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ?Suosdey Maly, tae neak sok sabbay te?Hello Maly, how are you?
- ម៉ាលី Malyខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ ហើយអ្នកវិញ?Knhom sok sabbay te, haey neak vinh?I am doing well, and you?
- រតនៈ Ratanakខ្ញុំក៏សុខសប្បាយដូចគ្នា។Knhom kor sok sabbay doch knea.I am also doing well.
- ម៉ាលី Malyតោះ យើងចូលក្នុងហាងជាមួយគ្នា។Toh, yeung chol knong hang cheamuoy knea.Let's go inside the shop together.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I” translations and entries ខ្ញុំ, ខ្ញុំបាទ, នាងខ្ញុំ, ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា, ខ្ញុំព្រះអង្គ, ខ្ញុំម្ចាស់, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ខ្ញុំ, ខ្ញុំបាទ, ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
