Language/Central-khmer/Grammar/How-to-Use-Be

Central Khmer Grammar - How to Use "Be"

Hi Central Khmer learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn how to use "be" in Central Khmer. Using "be" will help you express what someone or something is, was or will be. It's a very important verb to learn, especially for intermediate learners who want to improve their sentence structure. To help you understand this topic better, I will also share some cultural information and interesting facts along the way. Let's get started! 😎

Consider exploring these related pages after completing this lesson: Basic Word Order & Using Conjunctions.

The verb "be"

The verb "be" in Central Khmer is called "ជាប់" (chab). This verb is often used to describe nouns and pronouns in a sentence. Below are some examples:

Central Khmer	Pronunciation	English
ខ្ញុំ ជា សិស្ស។	knhom chaa siss	I am a student.
ស្រី ជា កូនក្មេង។	srei chaa kunmeang	She is a child.
គាត់ មិន ជា សោភ័ណ្ឌខ្មែរ។	katei min chaa saopaaneakmae	He is not Cambodian.
មិនដែលអាច ជា មនុស្សប្រុស។	min del aac chaa mounbersruong	It cannot be a man.

In the examples above, we use "ជា" (chaa) to link the subject noun and pronoun to the predicate, which describes that subject.

The three forms of "be"

In Central Khmer, the verb "be" has three forms depending on the tense, namely:

1. Present tense: គាត់ ជា គ្រូពេទ្យ។ (katei chaa krupeatey) - He is a teacher.

2. Past tense: មិន បាន ជា ស្រី។ (min baan chaa srei) - She was not.

3. Future tense: ខ្ញុំ នឹង ជា បានប្រើប្រាស់ ជីវិត។ (knhom nung chaa baanprohbaas jivit) - I will be using a computer tomorrow.

These forms help differentiate when an action happens, happened, or will happen.

Understanding subject and predicate

To fully understand how to use "be" in Central Khmer, it's important to learn about subject and predicate. In a sentence, the subject is a person, place or thing, while the predicate is the action or description of the subject. Let's take the example below:

ខ្ញុំ (subject) ជា (predicate) សិស្ស។ (predicate complement) (knhom chaa siss)

So, in the example above: - "ខ្ញុំ" (knhom) is the subject, which means "I". - "ជា" (chaa) is the linking verb that connects the subject and predicate complement. - "សិស្ស" (siss) is the predicate complement, which means "a student".

In this way, we use "be" to connect the subject to the predicate complement, as shown in the "chaa" example above.

Using negatives with "be"

To create negative sentences with "be" in Central Khmer, we use the word "មិន" (min). Let's take a look at this example:

គាត់ (subject) មិន (negation) ជា (predicate) សោភ័ណ្ឌខ្មែរ។ (predicate complement) (katei min chaa saopaaneakmae)

So, in the example above: - "គាត់" (katei) is the subject, which means "he". - "មិន" (min) means "not". - "ជា" (chaa) is the linking verb that connects the subject and predicate complement. - "សោភ័ណ្ឌខ្មែរ" (saopaaneakmae) is the predicate complement, which means "Cambodian".

In this way, we create a negative sentence using "be" by placing "មិន" (min) before the linking verb.

More examples in context

To further illustrate the use of "be" in Central Khmer, here is a dialogue between two people:

• Person 1: អ្នក ជា អ្នកនៅក្នុងប្រទេសណា? (neng chaa neng novknom bratei naa?) - Where are you from?
• Person 2: ខ្ញុំ នៅកម្ពុជា។ (knhom novkampuchea) - I am from Cambodia.
• Person 1: សូម បញ្ជាក់ពីភាសារខ្មែររបស់អ្នកបានទេ? (soum bongchak pi phiasaakmae robsaa neng baan te?) - Can you tell me more about your Khmer language?
• Person 2: ខ្ញុំ អាច និយាយ ភាសាខ្មែរបាន។ (knhom ac niyeay phiasaakhmae baan) - I can speak Khmer language.
• Person 1: ប្រើប្រាស់ជា មួយនឹង Polyglot Club ដើម្បីធ្វើឱ្យអ្នកទាន់សម័យភាសាខ្មែរមានបំណើការច្រើនទៀតដែរ។ (baebrasaa chaa moux nung Polyglot Club daombanh tee derm sa methey phiasaakhmae mean bongmnekaraa chet dai) - Use Polyglot Club to practice more and improve your Khmer language skills.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we've learned how to use "be" in Central Khmer. It's a simple but crucial verb to learn, especially for forming sentences. By understanding the three forms of "be", subject and predicate, and using negatives with "be", you can create more complex sentences and express a wide range of meanings. Don't forget to also use the Find native speakers and ask them any questions. And, for more Khmer [1] help, visit the Polyglot Club website. 😊

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Upon wrapping up this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Future Tense & Describing Actions and States.

Other Lessons

• How to Use Have
• Pronouns
• Give your Opinion
• Conditional Mood
• Negation
• Adjectives
• Questions
• Plurals
• Gender