Stative Verbs as Adjectives
Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
In Khmer, many words that translate to English adjectives are actually verbs, so you don't need a 'to be' verb.
- Use the verb directly after the subject: 'The house is big' becomes 'House big'.
- Negate with 'min... te': 'House not big' becomes 'ផ្ទះមិនធំទេ'.
- Ask questions by adding 'te' at the end: 'House big?' becomes 'ផ្ទះធំទេ?'.
Meanings
Khmer uses stative verbs to express qualities or states of being. Unlike English, these verbs function as the main predicate without a copula.
Describing qualities
Expressing physical or abstract attributes of a noun.
“ផ្ទះនេះធំ (This house is big)”
“អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់ (This food is delicious)”
Stative Verb Sentence Structure
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Subject + Verb | ផ្ទះធំ (House big) |
| Negative | Subject + មិន + Verb + ទេ | ផ្ទះមិនធំទេ (House not big) |
| Question | Subject + Verb + ទេ? | ផ្ទះធំទេ? (House big?) |
| Very | Subject + Verb + ខ្លាំង | ផ្ទះធំខ្លាំង (House very big) |
| Not very | Subject + មិនសូវ + Verb + ទេ | ផ្ទះមិនសូវធំទេ (House not very big) |
| Comparison | Subject + Verb + ជាង | ផ្ទះធំជាង (House bigger) |
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | S + V | ខ្ញុំសប្បាយ (I am happy) |
| Negative | S + មិន + V + ទេ | ខ្ញុំមិនសប្បាយទេ (I am not happy) |
| Question | S + V + ទេ? | អ្នកសប្បាយទេ? (Are you happy?) |
| Intensifier | S + V + ខ្លាំង | ខ្ញុំសប្បាយខ្លាំង (I am very happy) |
| Comparison | S + V + ជាង | ខ្ញុំសប្បាយជាង (I am happier) |
| Softened | S + មិនសូវ + V + ទេ | ខ្ញុំមិនសូវសប្បាយទេ (I am not very happy) |
طیف رسمیت
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់ពិសា។ (Dining)
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់។ (Dining)
ម្ហូបនេះឆ្ងាញ់។ (Dining)
ម្ហូបនេះម៉ាអែម! (Dining)
Stative Verb Clusters
Size
- ធំ big
- តូច small
Taste
- ឆ្ងាញ់ delicious
- ជូរ sour
مثالها بر اساس سطح
ផ្ទះនេះធំ។
This house is big.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អ។
This book is good.
គាត់ស្អាត។
She is beautiful.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់។
This food is delicious.
ផ្ទះនេះមិនធំទេ។
This house is not big.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អទេ?
Is this book good?
គាត់មិនស្អាតទេ។
She is not beautiful.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់ទេ?
Is this food delicious?
ផ្ទះនេះធំខ្លាំងណាស់។
This house is very big.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អជាងសៀវភៅនោះ។
This book is better than that one.
គាត់មិនសូវស្អាតទេ។
She is not very beautiful.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់បន្តិច។
This food is a little delicious.
ផ្ទះនេះធំល្មមសម្រាប់គ្រួសារខ្ញុំ។
This house is big enough for my family.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អគួរឱ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍។
This book is interestingly good.
គាត់ស្អាតបែបធម្មជាតិ។
She is naturally beautiful.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់លើសពីការរំពឹងទុក។
This food is delicious beyond expectations.
ផ្ទះនេះធំធេងណាស់។
This house is immense.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អឥតខ្ចោះ។
This book is perfect.
គាត់ស្អាតប្រៀបដូចជាទេពអប្សរ។
She is as beautiful as an Apsara.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់កម្ររកបាន។
This food is rarely delicious.
ផ្ទះនេះធំសម្បើមអស្ចារ្យ។
This house is magnificently huge.
សៀវភៅនេះល្អលើសលប់។
This book is overwhelmingly good.
គាត់ស្អាតផូរផង់។
She is radiantly beautiful.
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់ពិសា។
This food is exquisite.
بهراحتی اشتباه گرفته میشود
Learners often try to use 'កំពុង' with stative verbs.
Learners think 'គឺ' is mandatory for all sentences.
Learners mix up the negative particle and the 'also' particle.
اشتباهات رایج
ផ្ទះគឺធំ
ផ្ទះធំ
ផ្ទះមិនធំ
ផ្ទះមិនធំទេ
ផ្ទះធំ?
ផ្ទះធំទេ?
ខ្ញុំកំពុងធំ
ខ្ញុំធំ
ផ្ទះនេះគឺធំ
ផ្ទះនេះធំ
ផ្ទះមិនធំខ្លាំង
ផ្ទះមិនធំខ្លាំងទេ
ផ្ទះនេះធំជាងនោះទេ
ផ្ទះនេះធំជាងនោះ
ផ្ទះនេះធំជាងគឺផ្ទះនោះ
ផ្ទះនេះធំជាងផ្ទះនោះ
ផ្ទះនេះធំខ្លាំងណាស់ទេ
ផ្ទះនេះធំខ្លាំងណាស់
ផ្ទះនេះធំដែរ
ផ្ទះនេះធំដែរ
ផ្ទះនេះធំឥតខ្ចោះទេ
ផ្ទះនេះធំឥតខ្ចោះ
ផ្ទះនេះធំសម្បើមគឺ
ផ្ទះនេះធំសម្បើម
ផ្ទះនេះធំប្រៀបដូចជាទេ
ផ្ទះនេះធំប្រៀបដូចជា...
الگوهای جملهسازی
___ នេះ ___ ។
___ នេះមិន ___ ទេ ។
___ នេះ ___ ទេ?
___ នេះ ___ ជាង ___ ។
Real World Usage
ផ្ទះធំ!
ស្អាតណាស់!
ខ្ញុំល្អសម្រាប់ការងារនេះ។
ឆ្ងាញ់ទេ?
បន្ទប់នេះថ្លៃ។
ឆ្ងាញ់ខ្លាំង។
Drop the 'is'
Don't forget 'ទេ'
Use intensifiers
Be humble
Smart Tips
Don't translate 'is'. Just say the noun and the quality.
Always remember the 'ទេ' at the end.
Add 'ទេ' at the end of the statement.
Use 'ជាង' after the verb.
تلفظ
Stative Verb Intonation
Stative verbs usually carry a falling or level tone depending on the vowel.
Question
ផ្ទះធំទេ? ↗
Rising intonation at the end indicates a question.
حفظ کنید
روش یادسپاری
Think of the stative verb as a 'sticky' label you just slap onto the noun.
تداعی تصویری
Imagine a big house with a giant sticker on it that says 'BIG' (ធំ). You don't need a glue stick (the word 'is') because the sticker is already sticky.
Rhyme
No 'is' or 'are' in the Khmer land, just put the verb right at hand.
Story
Sok is a builder. He looks at a house and says 'House big' (ផ្ទះធំ). He looks at a small hut and says 'House not big' (ផ្ទះមិនធំទេ). He asks his friend 'House big?' (ផ្ទះធំទេ?).
شبکه واژگان
چالش
Look at 5 objects in your room and describe them using [Noun] + [Stative Verb] in 5 minutes.
نکات فرهنگی
In Cambodia, modesty is valued. Over-describing oneself as 'good' (ល្អ) can be seen as arrogant.
Khmer stative verbs are indigenous to the Austroasiatic language family.
شروعکنندههای مکالمه
អាហារនេះឆ្ងាញ់ទេ?
ផ្ទះអ្នកធំទេ?
សៀវភៅនេះល្អទេ?
ថ្ងៃនេះអាកាសធាតុល្អទេ?
موضوعات نگارش
Test Yourself
ផ្ទះនេះ ___ ។ (big)
Find and fix the mistake:
ផ្ទះគឺធំ។
ផ្ទះនេះ ___ ។
Arrange the words in the correct order:
All words placed
Click words above to build the sentence
Is it delicious?
Answer starts with: ឆ្ង...
Subject: អាហារ, Verb: ឆ្ងាញ់
Positive vs Negative
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Score: /8
تمرینهای عملی
8 exercisesផ្ទះនេះ ___ ។ (big)
Find and fix the mistake:
ផ្ទះគឺធំ។
ផ្ទះនេះ ___ ។
ទេ / ធំ / ផ្ទះ / មិន
Is it delicious?
Subject: អាហារ, Verb: ឆ្ងាញ់
Positive vs Negative
ធំ - Big, តូច - ?
Score: /8
سوالات متداول (8)
No, stative verbs act as the verb.
Use 'មិន' before and 'ទេ' after.
Only for equating nouns, not adjectives.
Add 'ទេ' at the end.
They are verbs that function like adjectives.
Yes, they are standard.
It sounds incomplete or like a question.
No, Khmer has no gender agreement.
Scaffolded Practice
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2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
i-adjectives
Japanese has a specific class of adjectives, whereas Khmer treats them as verbs.
Adjectival verbs
Chinese requires 'hen' before the adjective in positive sentences.
Ser + Adjective
Spanish requires a copula verb.
Être + Adjective
French requires a copula verb.
Sein + Adjektiv
German requires a copula verb.
Nominal sentence
Arabic uses gender/number agreement, which Khmer does not.
Learning Path
Prerequisites
Related Grammar Rules
Common Action Verbs
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