Signification
Becoming a parent.
Contexte culturel
Children are considered the 'soul' of the family. A household without children is often described as 'quiet' or 'lonely' (ស្ងាត់). In farming communities, having many children (មានកូនច្រើន) was traditionally seen as having more hands to help with the rice harvest. Younger generations in Phnom Penh are starting to delay 'having children' (មានកូនយឺត) to focus on careers, similar to global trends. There is a belief that the first child 'has' the character of the father and the second 'has' the character of the mother.
The 'Already' Rule
Always add 'haey' (already) if you are talking about children you already have. It sounds more natural: 'Mean kon haey'.
Don't pluralize
Never try to add an 's' or a plural marker to 'kon'. The number or context does the work for you.
Signification
Becoming a parent.
The 'Already' Rule
Always add 'haey' (already) if you are talking about children you already have. It sounds more natural: 'Mean kon haey'.
Don't pluralize
Never try to add an 's' or a plural marker to 'kon'. The number or context does the work for you.
Polite Prying
Don't be offended if a Khmer person asks if you have children within 5 minutes of meeting. It's a sign of interest in your life, not an invasion of privacy.
Pregnancy Euphemism
If someone looks pregnant, it's safer to ask 'Mean kon haey?' (Have a child already?) which doubles as 'Are you expecting?'
Teste-toi
Fill in the blank with the correct word for 'have'.
ខ្ញុំ___កូនបីនាក់។
'មាន' (mean) is the verb for 'to have'.
How do you ask 'Do you have children?'
Select the correct sentence:
The standard question structure is 'Tae + Subject + Verb + Object + te?'.
Complete the dialogue.
A: តើបងស្រីអ្នកមានកូនទេ? B: ចាស គាត់___កូនម្នាក់។
B is confirming the state of having a child.
Match the phrase to the situation.
You want to tell your husband you are pregnant.
'Mean kon haey' is the common way to announce pregnancy to a partner.
Match the Khmer to English.
Match the following:
Vocabulary reinforcement.
🎉 Score : /5
Aides visuelles
Formal vs Informal
Banque d exercices
5 exercicesខ្ញុំ___កូនបីនាក់។
'មាន' (mean) is the verb for 'to have'.
Select the correct sentence:
The standard question structure is 'Tae + Subject + Verb + Object + te?'.
A: តើបងស្រីអ្នកមានកូនទេ? B: ចាស គាត់___កូនម្នាក់។
B is confirming the state of having a child.
You want to tell your husband you are pregnant.
'Mean kon haey' is the common way to announce pregnancy to a partner.
Associez chaque element a gauche avec son pair a droite :
Vocabulary reinforcement.
🎉 Score : /5
Questions fréquentes
10 questionsUsually yes, but it can also be used for adopted children. However, for clarity, one might say 'កូនចិញ្ចឹម' (kon chenh-chem) for an adopted child.
You say 'Khnhom ot mean kon te' or 'Khnhom min mean kon te'.
In Cambodia, yes. It is a very common social question.
'Mean kon' is general (parenthood or pregnancy); 'mean phtey pous' is specifically the physical state of being pregnant.
Yes, you can say 'Chhmar mean kon' (The cat has kittens).
Say 'Khnhom chong mean kon'.
Yes, 'មានបុត្រ' (mean bot) is the formal/literary version.
You can say 'កូនចុង' (kon chong) to be specific, but 'mean kon' is often used generally.
Khmer is not as strictly tonal as Thai or Chinese, but a rising intonation at the end makes it a question.
You can say 'Koat chit mean kon haey' or 'Koat chit chlong tonle haey'.
Expressions liées
មានផ្ទៃពោះ
similarTo be pregnant
យកកូន
similarTo have/get a child
ឆ្លងទន្លេ
specialized formTo give birth
កូនច្បង
builds onEldest child
កូនពៅ
builds onYoungest child
ពពោះ
synonymTo carry a child
