ឆ្នាំ
chnŭm
The English word 'year' is translated into Khmer as ឆ្នាំ (chnŭm).
The word ឆ្នាំ is a noun referring to the time it takes for the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun. To say 'new year', you use the phrase ឆ្នាំថ្មី, which is constructed by placing the adjective 'new' (ថ្មី) after the noun ឆ្នាំ.
Meaning: time it takes for the Earth to complete one revolution around the Sun (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is chnŭm.
Did you know?
- The Khmer New Year occurs in April, meaning that the 'new year' (ឆ្នាំថ្មី) aligns with the end of the harvest season and the hottest time of the year.
- The word ឆ្នាំ is part of a complex system of counting where Khmer uses different specific words for years based on the twelve animals of the zodiac.
- While ឆ្នាំ means 'year', the root word ចាំ means 'to wait'. The word for year was historically formed by adding a sound to the middle of the word for waiting.
Examples in context
- សួស្តី ឆ្នាំថ្មី!Happy New Year!This sentence is useful for expressing the greeting 'Happy New Year!' using ឆ្នាំ.Tatoeba #4568005 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #361350 by blay_paul
- ខ្ញុំរស់នៅទីនេះបាន ៥ ឆ្នាំហើយ។khnhom rous nov ti nis ban pram chhnam haey.I have lived here for 5 years.
- គាត់រៀននៅសាលាមួយឆ្នាំ។koat rien nov sala mouy chhnam.He studies at the school for one year.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two colleagues are discussing their work experience at a cafe.
- ម៉ាលី Malyតើអ្នកធ្វើការនៅទីនេះបានប៉ុន្មានឆ្នាំហើយ?tae neak thveu kar nov ti nis ban ponman chhnam haey?How many years have you worked here?
- វិបុល Vibolខ្ញុំធ្វើការនៅទីនេះបាន ២ ឆ្នាំហើយ។khnhom thveu kar nov ti nis ban pi chhnam haey.I have worked here for 2 years.
- ម៉ាលី Malyពិតមែនឬ? វិបុល ធ្វើការបានយូរណាស់ហើយ!pit maen reu? vipul thveu kar ban yu nas haey!Really? Vibul, you have worked here a long time!
- វិបុល Vibolបាទ ខ្ញុំនៅទីនេះយូរហើយ។bat, khnhom nov ti nis yu haey.Yes, I have been here for a long time.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “year” translations and entries ឆ្នាំ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ឆ្នាំ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
