Only

The word ‘only’ in English can have different meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. For example I could say ‘I only just got home’, or I could say ‘I only have one left’. What we are going to look at in the Khmer is how to use only in the case of the latter example here, to show that there are only a certain number of things. The way in which we do this is to insert the number to which we are referring between dai តែ and bonoh ប៉ុណ្ណោះ. Lets look at an example to break this down:

Subj + Verb + dai តែ + Number + bonoh ប៉ុណ្ណោះ ...

I only have 2 left – knyom sol dai 2 bonoh. ខ្ញុំ សល់ តែ ២ ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។

When I saw him, he only had 3 tickets left – nau bayl dail knyom jooub go-ad, go-ad sol dai 3 sombot bonoh. នៅ ពេល ដែល ខ្ញុំ ជួប គាត់ គាត់ សល់ តែ ៣ សំបុត្រ ប៉ុណ្ណោះ។

Left – sol សល់
Ticket – sombot សំបុត្រTicket – sombot សំបុត្រ

It is also possible to create ‘only’ by replacing the final word ‘bonoh’ ប៉ុណ្ណោះ with ‘day’ ទេ.

I only have 2 left – knyom sol dai 2 day. ខ្ញុំ សល់ តែ ២ ទេ។