From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
Cantonese grammar
Aspect Marker Usage Example
Perfective zo2 (咗) To emphasise a completed activity the re- 我I 喺at/in 香港Hong Kong 住咗live-PERF
sult of which still applies to the present 一one 年year = I have lived in Hong Kong
situation for a year (and still live here)
Experiential gwo3 (過) To emphasise an activity completed in the 我I 喺at/in 香港Hong Kong 住過live-EXPR
indeterminate past which no longer ap- 一one 年year = I lived in Hong Kong for a
plies to the present situation year (but am now elsewhere)
Progressive gan2 (緊) To emphasise a dynamic activity which 我I 著緊wear-PROG 衫clothes = I am
may undergo a change of state putting on clothes
Durative zyu6 (住) To emphasise a continuous activity with- 我I 著住wear-DUR 衫clothes = I am wear-
out a change of state ing clothes
Delimitative haa5 (吓) To emphasise an activity of brief duration 等Let 我me 著吓wear-DEL = Let me wear it
for a while
Habitual hoi1 (開) To emphasise an activity protracted over a 我I 做開do-HAB 鐘點part-time 嘅SFP = I
period of time to the point that it has be- normally work part time
come characteristic or habitual
Inchoative hei2-soeng5-lai4 To emphasise the beginning of an activity 個CL BBbaby 突然之間suddenly 喊起上嚟
(起上嚟) cry-INCH = the baby suddenly began cry-
ing
Continuative lok6-heoi3 (落 To emphasise the continuation of an activ- 你you唔NEG 使need 再again 講落去speak-
去) ity CONT 喇SFP = You don’t have to go on
speaking
Cantonese is an analytic language where, in a sentence,
the arrangement of words is important to its meaning.
Verbal Aspect
A basic sentence is in form of SVO, i.e. a subject is fol- In contrast to many European languages, Cantonese
lowed by a verb then by an object, though this order is of- verbs are marked for aspect rather than tense - that is,
ten violated because Cantonese is a Topic-prominent lan- whether an event has begun, is ongoing, or has been
guage. Unlike synthetic languages, seldom do words indi- completed. Tense - where an event occurs within time, ie
cate time, gender and plural by inflection. Instead, these past, present, future - is specified through the use of time
concepts are expressed through adverbs, aspect markers, adverbs. In addition, verbal complements may convey as-
and particles, or are deduced from the context. Different pectual distinctions, indicating whether an event is just
particles are added to a sentence to further specify its beginning, is continuing, or at completion, and also the
status or intonation. effect of the verb on its object(s).
A verb itself indicates no tense. The time can be ex- Aspect particles are treated as suffixes bound to the
plicitly shown with time-indicating adverbs. Certain ex- verb.
ceptions exist, however, according to the pragmatic in- Abbreviations: CL = classifier; SFP = sentence-final parti-
terpretation of a verb’s meaning. Additionally, an option- cle
al aspect particle can be appended to a verb to indicate
the state of an event. Appending interrogative or excla-
mative particles to a sentence turns a sentence into a
Final particles
question or shows the attitudes of the speaker. Cantonese has many final particles to change the moods
or sometimes even the meaning of an utterance. There
are also many combinations of these final particles.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
Particle Jyutping Usage Example
呀 aa3 Used in neutral questions. Also used to soften the tone of affirmative 你去邊處呀? Where
statements so they don’t sound as abrupt. are you going? 我返屋
企呀 I’m going home.
嘅 ge3 Used in assertions where something is emphasized (usually 係 hai6 is in 我係今日返屋企嘅 I’m
front of what is being emphasized). Pronouncing it as ge2 adds a sense of going home today. (the
puzzlement about the situation. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/ "today" is emphasized)
written Chinese 的 dik1.
㗎 gaa3 Contraction of the combination 嘅呀 ge3 aa3. 你係幾時返來㗎?
When are you coming
back? (the "when" is
emphasized)
喇 laa1 Used in requests and imperatives. This is one particle where leaving it 返來喇 Come back
out could make the sentence sound rude. This is equivalent to the Man- [please].
darin/written Chinese sentence final 吧 baa6.
囉 lo1 Indicates a suggestion or conclusion that should be obvious (usually oc- 我冇車咪返唔到屋企
curs with 咪 mai6). 囉 Without a car, [then
of course] I am unable
to go home.
啫 ze1 Can be used to mean "only" or "that’s all," or used to play down the sig- 佢返一日啫 He’s only
nificance of the situation. coming back for one
day.
Pronoun Jyutping)
Pronunciation (in Jyutping) Grammatical Classification English equivalent
我 ngo5 1st person singular I / me
你 nei5 2nd person singular you
佢 keoi5 3rd person singular He / she
我哋 ngo5 dei6 1st person plural We / us
你哋 nei5 dei6 2nd person plural You (all)
佢哋 keoi5 dei6 3rd person plural They / Them
There are more final particles than those shown above,
such as 嘞laak3, 囉lo1, 咯lo3, 吓ha2, 呵ho2, 吖aa4, 㗎
Copula ("to be")
gaa4, 喎wo5, 啩gwaa3, 噃bo3, 喎wo3 and 咩me1. States and qualities are generally expressed using stative
Final particles may sometimes combine to convey verbs that do not require the verb "to be". For example,
multiple moods. There are unwritten rules about which to say "I am hungry", one would say 我肚餓 (ngo5 tou5
particles can be combined and in what order they occur ngo6) (literally: I stomach hungry).
which are probably too complicated to explain here. With noun complements, the verb 係 hai6 serves as
However, one good rule of thumb is that 嘅 ge3 always the verb "to be".
comes before the other particles. In addition, the parti- 噚日係中秋節 cam4jat6 hai6 zung1cau1zit3 Yesterday
cles used in questions (呀 aa3, 咩 me1, 呢 ne1, 嗎 maa3, was [the] Mid-Autumn festival
etc.) always come last.
Another use of 係 is in cleft constructions for emphasis,
much like the English construction "It’s ... that ...". The
Pronouns sentence particle 嘅 ge3 if often found along with it.
Cantonese uses the following pronouns, which like in 佢係完全唔識講廣東話嘅 keoi5 hai6 jyun4cyun4 m4
many other Sinitic languages, function as both subjective sik6 gwong2dung1wa6*2 ge "(It is the case that) s/he
(English: I, he, we) and objective (me, him, us): doesn’t know Cantonese at all."
To indicate location, the words 喺 hai2 and 响 hoeng2,
which are collectively known as the locatives or some-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
你 識 講 廣東話. --> 你 識唔識 講 廣東話?
Transcription: nei5 sik1 gong2 Gwong2dung1waa2 nei5 sik1 m4-sik1 gong2 Gwong2dung1waa2
Gloss: you know speak Cantonese you know not-know speak Cantonese
Translation: You know how to speak Cantonese. Do you know how to speak Cantonese?
times coverbs in Chinese linguistics, are used to express is ungrammatical. (The correct expression should be 我
"to be at": 未食嘢 ngo5 mei6 sik6 ye5: 我(I)未(not yet)食(eat)嘢
我而家喺圖書館 ngo5 ji4gaa1 hai2 tou4syu1gun2 "I (something/anything).)
am at the library now"
(Here 依家 ji4 gaa1 means "now".) Questions
Questions are not formed by changing the word order as
Negations in English. Sentence final particles and certain interroga-
tive constructions are used instead.
Many negation words start with the sound m- in Can-
tonese; for example, 唔 m4 "not", 冇 mou5 "to not have Yes-no questions
(done sth)", 未 mei6 "not yet". Verbs are negated by
There are two ways to form a yes-no questions. One way
adding the character 唔 m4 in front of it. For example:
is by the use of final particle and/or intonation alone.
我食得花生 ngo5 sik6 dak1 faa1 sang1 "I can eat
The question particle 呀 a4 indicates surprise or disap-
peanuts"
proval. It tends to presuppose a positive answer.
(Where 食 sik6 is the verb "to eat")
• 吓? 你下個禮拜放假呀? Haa2? Nei5 haa6 go3 lai5baai3
becomes: fong3gaa3 a4? Translation: You are going on leave next
我唔食得花生 ngo5 "I can’t eat peanuts" week? (The questioner possibly doesn’t know that
you’ll go on leave before, or doesn’t agree that "you"
The exception is the word 有 jau5 ’to have’, which turns go on leave.)
into 冇 mou5 ’to not have’ without the use of 唔 m4. The particle 咩 me1 is exclusively interrogative, indicat-
The negative imperative is formed by prefixing 唔好 ing surprise and used to check the truth of an unexpected
m4 hou2 (also pronounced mou2) or 咪 mai5 in front of the state of affairs.
verb: • 乜你唔知嘅咩? Mat1 nei5 m4zi1 ge3 me1? Translation:
唔好睇戲 m4 hou2 tai2 hei3 "Don’t watch movies" (You mean) you don’t know?
A question may be indicated by a high rising intonation
咪睇戲 mai5 tai2 hei3 "Don’t watch movies" alone at the end of a question. (This intonation can be
considered a nonsyllablic final particle indicating a ques-
In contrast to the examples of sentential negation above tion.) This intonation pattern usually modifies or exag-
where the entire sentence is negated, 唔 m3 can be used gerates the basic tone of the last syllable. This type of
lexically to negate a single word. The negated word often question is used especially for echo, where the question-
differs slightly in meaning from the original word; that is, er repeats a statement out of surprise.
this lexcial negation is a kind of derivation. Evidence for • 「我唔見咗條鎖匙」「咩話?你唔見咗條鎖匙?」
this is that they can be used with the perfective aspect ("I lost the key." "What? You lost the key?") (The last
particle 咗 zo2, which is not possible with sententially syllable of 鎖匙 so2si4 is pronounced longer, first
negated verbs. finishing the low falling tone, then rising at the end
見 gin3 "see" --> 唔見 m3 gin3 "lose" like the high rising tone.)
The other way to form yes-no questions uses a special
記得 gei3 dak1 "remember" --> 唔記得 m3 gei3 dak1
construction in which the head of the predicate, say X, is
"forget"
replaced by X-not-X. Final particles may be used in addi-
錯 co3 "wrong" --> 唔錯 m3 co3 ’pretty good; not tion.
bad’ / 冇錯 mou5 co3 "right" • For example
• As the negative form of 有 is 冇, the corresponding
我唔見咗我本書 ngo5 m3 gin3 zo2 ngo5 bun2 syu1 "I yes-no question uses the form 有冇:
lost my book" • As for 係 hai6 ("to be"), the yes-no question often
uses the contraction 係咪 hai6 mai6 (note that 咪
is perfectly acceptable, but mai6 is not the prohibitive 咪 mai2) instead of 係唔
’*’我唔食咗嘢 ngo5 m4 sik6 zo2 ye5 "I did not eat" 係.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
有 紅綠燈. --> 有冇 紅綠燈?
Transcription: jau5 hung4luk6dang1 -> jau5mou5 hung4luk6dang1
Gloss: have red-green-light have not-have red-green-light
Translation: There is a traffic light. Is there a traffic light?
佢 係 加拿大人. --> 佢 係咪 加拿大人?
Transcription: keoi5 hai6 ga1na4dai6-jan4 keoi5 hai6-mai6 ga1na4dai6-jan4
Gloss: (s)he is Canada-man (s)he is isn’t Canada-man
Translation: (S)he is a Canadian. Is (s)he a Canadian?
你 鍾意 年糕. --> 你 鍾唔鍾意 年糕?
Transcription: nei5 zung1ji3 nin4gou1 nei5 zung1-m4-zung1ji3 nin4gou1
Gloss: you like year-cake you like not-like year-cake
Translation: You like new-year cake. Do you like new-year cake?
你 去過 德國. - 你 去過 德國 未? (the word 去過 after 未 is
- omitted to avoid repetition.)
>
Transcription: nei5 heoi3gwo3 Dak1gwok3 nei5 heoi3gwo3 Dak1gwok3 mei6*2 (tone changes to indicate a
question.)
Gloss: you go-EXPR Germany you go-EXPR Garmany not-
yet
Translation: You have ever been to Ger- Have you ever been to Germany?
many.
Interrogative Pronunciation English equivalent
邊個 bin1 go3 who
乜(嘢) / 咩 mat1 (je5) / me1 what
邊度 / 邊處 bin1 dou6 / bin1 syu3 where
幾時 gei2 si4 when
點解 dim2 gaai2 why
點(樣) dim2 (joeng6*2) How
幾多 gei2 do1 How many/much
• With multisyllable verbs, only the first syllable is A syntax of yes-no question in the form "X-not-X" is
repeated: actually a contraction of a combination of syntax of an af-
• A special case is when a question asking whether firmative sentence and the syntax of a negative sentence.
something has occurred is formed. In a negative
sentence, the adverb 未 mei6 should precede the Interrogative Words
verb to indicate that the event has not yet occurred. • The interrogative words are as follows:
In yes-no questions, however, 未 appears at the end Questions use exactly the same word order as in state-
of the question (but before the final particle, if ments. For example: 你係邊個? (who are you?, literally
exists): "you are who"), 你幾時去個度見邊個呀? (when did you
This form of yes-no questions looks less similar to the "X- go there and who did you meet?, literally "you when go
not-X" type, but it is still considered in this type, because there meet who")
the "X" after "not" is omitted. For example, the example
question above can be expanded as 你去過德國未去過?.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
Demonstratives Both of these are generic possessives.
The proximal demonstrative ("this"), is 呢 ni1 / nei1, or
more frequently in fast speech, 依 ji1 (+ measure word).
Differences from Mandarin
For example: Grammar
呢本書 ni1/nei1 bun2 syu1 "this book"
The following Cantonese grammatical points are not
依本書 ji1 bun2 syu1 "this book" found in Mandarin Chinese.
The distal demonstrative ("that") is 嗰 go2. For example: Word order
嗰本書 go2 bun2 syu1 "that book" • The direct object precedes the indirect object when
using the verb 畀 bei2 "to give".
Between the demonstrative and its noun, a certain word
畀嗰本書我 bei2 go2 bun2 syu1 ngo5 "Give me that
to link them must be used, whether the particle 嘅 ge3 or
book."
a corresponding classifier for the noun for singular count
nouns (嘅 ge3 being more formal than using a classifier);
or 啲 di1 for plural count nouns and mass nouns:
Classifiers
呢嘅車 ni1/nei1 gaa3 ce1 or 呢架車 ni1/nei1 gaa3 ce1 • For specific objects, classifiers can be used instead of
"this car" the possessive 嘅 to indicate possession:
佢本書 his book (本 is the classifier)
呢啲車 ni1/nei1 di1 ce1 "these cars"
• Classifiers in Cantonese can also serve as articles.
嗰啲水 go2 di1 seoi2 "that water" 本書唔見咗 The book is lost.
• A classifier alone can serve as an object without the
Possessives numeral 一(one) before it, even when there is no
• For singular nouns, the word 嘅 ge3 is roughly noun to follow.
equivalent to English " ’s": 啲手表好靚，買(一)隻喇 The watches are very good.
爸爸嘅屋企 father’s house Buy one.
• Plural nouns take 啲 di1: Comparison
你啲動物 your animals
• Comparison in Cantonese is formed by adding the
N.B.: 啲 is a very versatile word in Cantonese, besides plu- marker 過 gwo3 after an adjective. The adjective-
ralizing certain phrases, it can also mean "a little/few", marker construction serves as a transitive verb
e.g. 一啲 jat1 di1 (a little), or 早啲 earlier (literally: early + which takes the standard of comparison as an object.
(intensifier)). 佢高過我 He is taller than me.
• Possessive pronouns (i.e. "mine", "his", "hers") are
• In Standard Mandarin, the standard of comparison
formed by adding 嘅 after the pronoun.
rather than the adjective is marked by adding 比 bǐ.
係佢嘅呀! It’s his!
The marker-standard serves as an adverbial. The
(呀 aa3 is a particle used to end affirmative
sentence above is translated 他比我高 in Mandarin.
statements)
• Alternatively the classifier 啲 di1 alone (without the
However, in the case where there’s an implied plural numeral 一) can be used use as the sole complement
noun, one does not say: of the verbal adjective.
*係佢啲呀! It’s his!’. 佢高啲 He is taller.
For example:
呢啲書係邊個嘅呀？ (Whose books are these?)
See also
• Chinese grammar
係佢嘅呀! (It’s his! [referring to his books])
嘅呀 ge3 aa3 is usually shortened in speech into one syl-
lable, 嘎/㗎 gaa3.
• One could also say:
係佢啲書呀！ (It’s his books!)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cantonese grammar
Categories:
• Cantonese language
• Grammars of specific languages
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