Telling The Time

Η ώρα στα Χμερ είναι σχετικά απλή. Για να ρωτήσουμε τι ώρα είναι, ουσιαστικά ρωτάμε ‘πόσες είναι ήδη; ’:
Τι ώρα είναι; – maong bonman hary? ម៉ោង ប៉ុន្មាន ហើយ?

Για να απαντήσεις σε αυτή την ερώτηση, πρέπει απλώς να αναφέρεις την ώρα και τον αριθμό των λεπτών μετά την ώρα αυτή:
2.15 – maong 2 15 neeadee ម៉ោង ២ ១៥ នាទី
4.44 – maong 4 44 neeadee ម៉ោង ៤ ៤៤ នាទី

In the case that it is half past, we use the word gonlah កន្លះ
1.30 – maong 1 gonlah ម៉ោង ១ កន្លះ

It is also possible to say the number of minutes before the next hour, although this is less commonly used. In this case we use the word kwah ខ្វះ which means ‘to lack’:
2.45 – maong 3 kwah 15 neeadee or kwah 15 neeadee maong 3 ម៉ោង ៣ ខ្វះ ១៥ នាទី or ខ្វះ ១៥ នាទី ម៉ោង ៣

If we want to ask a question that involves asking what time an event will occur, or anything that is going to have a specific time given in the answer, we tag maong bonman ម៉ោង ប៉ុន្មាន on to the end of the question:

What time are you going to school? – dauh salaareeun maong bonman? ទៅ សាលារៀន ម៉ោង ប៉ុន្មាន?

What time did you get home? – oun mok dol p'deah wany maong bonman? អូន មក ដល់ ផ្ទះ វិញ ម៉ោង ប៉ុន្មាន?

House/home – p'deah ផ្ទះ