ចាំ
cam
To wait in Khmer, use ចាំ (cam). Wiktionary also lists រងចាំ (rɔɔng cam).
Meaning: delay until some event (verb)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ចាំ | cam |
| រងចាំ | rɔɔng cam |
The verb means to delay an action until a certain event occurs. You can use it as a simple command or as part of a polite request by adding សូម before it to say 'please wait'.
Which one should you use?
ចាំ is the common, everyday way to say 'wait'. In contrast, រងចាំ is a more formal or standard way to express waiting specifically for a person, an event or an outcome.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the idea of 'wait a bit' or 'wait a moment' in a colloquial way, add បន្តិច (meaning 'a little') after the verb ចាំ to form ចាំបន្តិច.
How do you pronounce it?
cam
Did you know?
- In Khmer, the word ចាំ can mean both 'to wait' and 'to remember'.
- The formal version of 'wait', រងចាំ, is a compound word that literally combines 'to endure' with 'to wait'. This implies that waiting is an act of patient endurance rather than just a pause in time.
- When telling someone to 'wait a moment' using ចាំបន្តិច, the word បន្តិច literally refers to a 'small piece' of something.
Examples in context
- សូមចាំបន្តិច ។Please wait a bit.This sentence is useful for making a polite request to wait a bit using ចាំ.Tatoeba #3742148 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #423164 by CM
- ចាំបន្តិច!Wait a little!This sentence is useful for a colloquial way to say 'wait a little' using ចាំ.
- ចាំដល់ថ្ងៃស្អែក។cham dol thngay saek.Wait until tomorrow.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maly and Sok are meeting at a cafe.
- ម៉ាលី Malyសុខ ចាំខ្ញុំមួយភ្លែត។Sok cham khnhom mouy phlet.Sok, wait for me a moment.
- សុខ Sokបាទ ខ្ញុំនឹងចាំ។bat khnhom neng cham.Yes, I will wait.
- ម៉ាលី Malyខ្ញុំត្រូវទិញទឹកសិន។khnhom trov tinh teuk sen.I need to buy water first.
- សុខ Sokមិនអីទេ ខ្ញុំចាំបាន។min ey te khnhom cham ban.It is okay, I can wait.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “wait” translations and entries ចាំ, រងចាំ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
