សូមទោស
soum tooh
The English word "sorry" is translated into Khmer as សូមទោស (soum tooh).
សូមទោស is used both to apologize for a mistake and to politely get someone's attention, similar to the English "excuse me".
Meaning: expression of regret or sorrow (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of សូម (soum) meaning "to request/please" and ទោស (tooh) meaning "fault/sin/offense".
How do you pronounce it?
soum tooh
Did you know?
- In very formal settings or when apologizing to a monk, the height of the hands during the accompanying gesture changes to show a higher level of respect.
- The term ទោស can be used in a religious context to describe 'sin' or 'moral failing', reflecting the influence of Buddhism on the language.
- The word ទោស can also be used in legal contexts to mean a 'sentence' or 'punishment' imposed by a court.
Examples in context
- សូមទោស ដែលខ្ញុំមកយឺត។som tos del khnom mok yeut.Sorry that I am late.
- ខ្ញុំសូមទោស ចំពោះរឿងនេះ។khnom som tos champous rueang nih.I am sorry about this matter.
- សូមទោស ខ្ញុំមិនដឹងទេ។som tos khnom mun deng te.Sorry, I don't know.
Example conversation
Sokha accidentally bumped into Narong at the market.
- សុខា Sokhaសូមទោស បងប្រុស!som tos bong pros!Sorry, brother!
- ណារ៉ុង Narongមិនអីទេ ខ្ញុំក៏មិនបានមើលដែរ។mun ey te khnom kor mun ban muel dae.It's okay, I wasn't looking either.
- សុខា Sokhaខ្ញុំពិតជាសុំទោស។khnom pit chea som tos.I am truly sorry.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongកុំបារម្ភអី។kom barom ey.Don't worry about it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sorry” translations and entries សូមទោស, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
