បងស្រី
bɑɑng srəy
The Khmer word for "older sister" is បងស្រី (bɑɑng srəy).
In casual conversation, people often drop the ស្រី (srəy) part and just use បង (bɑɑng) to address an older sister or any older person of a similar social standing.
Meaning: single-word translations (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of បង (bɑɑng), meaning older sibling and ស្រី (srəy), meaning female.
How do you pronounce it?
bɑɑng srəy
When do people say it?
The term is used not only for biological sisters but also as a respectful way to address women who are slightly older than the speaker.
Did you know?
- While បង (bɑɑng) means 'older sibling', it is frequently used as a romantic term of endearment for a boyfriend or husband, regardless of whether he is actually older.
- Khmer has distinct words for older and younger siblings, meaning you cannot simply say 'sister' without first establishing whether she is older or younger than you.
- If you are addressing a woman who is much older than you, such as a woman in her 40s or 50s, you would switch from បង (bɑɑng) to មីង (ming), which means 'aunt'.
Examples in context
- តើបងស្រីរបស់អ្នកនៅឯណា?tae bang srei robos neak nov ae na?Where is your older sister?
- បងស្រីនេះចិត្តល្អណាស់។bang srei nis chet loas nah.This older sister is very kind.
Example conversation
Vibol is asking Sokha about her family.
- សុខា Sokhaនេះគឺរូបថតបងស្រីរបស់ខ្ញុំ។nih keu roup thot bong srey robos khnhom.This is a photo of my older sister.
- វិបុល Vibolគាត់ស្អាតណាស់។koat s-at nah.She is very beautiful.
- សុខា Sokhaអរគុណ វិបុល។or kun vibol.Thank you, Vibol.
- វិបុល Vibolតើគាត់ធ្វើការនៅឯណា?tae koat thveu ka nov ae na?Where does she work?
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry បងស្រី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
