Cantonese grammar #9: Cantonese adverbs 【廣東話副詞】

Introduction

Hey guys, welcome back to lesson nine in the Cantonese grammar series at Cantolounge!

Today, we’re going to focus on something that doesn’t get a lot of attention compared to what we discussed previously (like Cantonese word order, or Cantonese classifiers) – Cantonese adverbs.

If you’ll remember, I mentioned before in this video on sentence decomposition (2:57 marker) that there are usually three classes of words I recommend learners pay the most attention to:

1. Function words
2. Nouns
3. Verbs

While Cantonese adjectives and Cantonese adverbs are less important, there are a group of adverbs, for example, that we’re going to look at today, that are often used in daily life, and I feel that a good grasp of these and common patterns is still important to the learner.

As a quick precursor for those of us (actually me included, until I started Cantolounge!) who aren’t well versed with grammar jargon, adverbs are generally words that add a bit of information to verbs, hence “ad-verb”. They typically end in “ly”, like “slowly”, or “quickly”, “heavily”, but not all the times, like “well”, “often” and “always”.

And we’re going to have a look at the equivalents in Cantonese today.

Okay, let’s get started.

Video lesson

 

Vocabulary

S/W/B = Spoken / Written / Both

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	S/W/B
行路	haang4 lou6	to walk	S
食嘢	sik6 je5	to eat	S
做功課	zou6 gung1 fo3	to do homework	B
採訪	coi2 fong2	to interview	B
執行	zap1 hang4	to execute	B
分析	fan1 sik1	to analyze	B
講嘢	gong2 je5	to say something	S
冧	lam1	soundly	S
訓覺	fan3 gaau3	to sleep	S
唔小心	m4 siu2 sam1	accidentally	S
㧬跌	ung2 dit3	to push over (sb.)	S
企	kei5	to stand	S
婆婆	po4 po2	an elderly lady	B
溫書	wan1 syu1	to revise	S
隔離	gaak3 lei4	next door	B
鄰居	leon4 geoi1	neighbour	B
玩	waan2	to play	B
輕輕哋	heng6 heng1 dei2	lightly	S
閂門	saan1 mun4	to close the door	S
放	fong3	to put	B
搖籃	jiu4 laam2	cradle	B
偷偷哋	tau1 tau1 dei2	sneakily	S
檯面	toi2 min2	table	S
香腸	hoeng1 coeng2	sausage	B
着衫	zeok3 saam1	to get dressed	S
趕	gon2	to be in a hurry	B
出門	ceot1 mun4	to head out	B
廣東話	gwong2 dung1 waa2	Cantonese	B
普通話	pou2 tung1 waa2	Mandarin	B
都	dou1	as well (inclusive)	B
橫掂	waang4 dim6	since you’re…	S
沙田	saa1 tin4	ShaTin (place name)	B
探	taam3	to visit (sb.)	B
嫲嫲	maa4 maa4	grandmother	B
凈係	zing6 hai6	only	S
得返	dak1 faan1	only left	S
牛扒	ngau4 paa2	steak	B
豬扒	zyu1 paa2	pork chops	B
本來	bun2 loi4	originally	B
泰國	taai3 gwok3	Thailand	B
哀	ngai1	to beg	S
最終	zeoi3 zung1	eventually	B
曾經	cang4 ging1	a long time ago	B
醫生	ji1 sang1	doctor	B
手術	sau2 seot6	surgery	B
誤殺	m6 saat3	to kill someone by accident	B
病人	beng6 jan4	patient	B
執刀	zap1 dou1	to perform surgery	B
初初	co1 co1	in the beginning	B
憎	zang1	to hate	S
拉小提琴	laai1 siu2 tai4 kam4	to play the violin	B
越…越…	jyut6…jyut6…	the more…the more…	B
嗰陣時	go2 zan6 si4	at that time	S
對方	deoi3 fong1	each other	B
不嬲	bat1 lau1	always	S
魚蝦蟹	jyu4 haa1 hai5	fish, shrimp and crab	B
海鮮	hoi2 sin1	seafood	B
仲	zung6	still	S
仍然	jing4 jin4	still	B
經歷	ging1 lik6	to experience	B
頑固不改	waan4 gu3 bat1 goi2	to be stubborn and set in one’s ways	B
暫時	zaam6 si4	temporarily	B
啊頭	aa3 tau2	the boss	S
落order	lok6 o1 daa2	to issue an order	S
擱置一邊	gok3 zi3 jat1 bin1	to put something aside	B
搞掂	gaau2 dim6	to get something done	S
繼續	gai3 zuk6	to continue	B
到時	dou3 si4	then (at a future time)	B
機票	gei1 piu3	plane tickets	B
度	dou6	to design (a plan of some sort)	S
行程	hang4 cing4	itinerary	B
電聯	din6 lyun4	to contact by phone	S
平時	ping4 si4	usually	B
做事	zou6 si6	to do things	B
謹慎	gan2 san6	meticulous	B
錯漏百出	co3 lau6 baak3 ceot1	to be riddled with errors	B
成日	sing4 jat6	always	B
開始	hoi1 ci2	to start	B
甚少	sam6 siu2	very rarely	B
宅	zaak6	otaku	B
出街	ceot1 gaai1	to go out	B
對	deoi3	to face (something literally)	B
電腦	din6 lou5	computer	B
粒聲都唔出	lap1 seng1 dou1 m4 ceot1	to not make a sound	S
每	mui5	every	B
基本上	gei1 bun2 soeng6	basically	B
出國	ceot1 gwok3	to go out of the country	B
去旅行	heoi3 leoi5 hang4	to travel	B
簡直	gaan2 zik6	pretty much	B
躝街	laan1 gaai1	to hang out on the streets	S
特登	dak6 dang1	deliberately	S
撞	zong6	to ram into (someone)	B
前嗰排	cin4 go2 paai2	a while back	S
赤柱	cek3 cyu5	Stanley (place name)	B
寫程式	se2 cing4 sik1	to write a program	B
一步一步	jat1 bou6 jat1 bou6	one step at a time	B
急	gap1	hurry	B
啦啦聲	laa4 laa2 seng1	quickly	S
遲到	ci4 dou3	to be late	B
一大啖	jat1 daai6 daam6	a big mouthful	S
四分之一	sei3 fan6 zi1 jat1	a quarter	B
求神拜佛	kau4 san4 baai3 fat6	to pray to the Gods	B
變	bin3	to change	B
馬騮架	maa5 lau1 gaa2	monkey bars	S
跳	tiu3	to jump	B
嬲	lau1	to be angry	S
聽唔入耳	teng1 m4 jap6 ji5	to not listen to anything	S
參觀	caam1 gun1	to get a tour (someplace)	B
博物館	bok3 mat6 gun2	museum	B
亂跑	lyun6 paau2	to run amok	B
藝術品	ngai6 seot6 ban2	art pieces	B
珍貴	zan1 gwai3	valuable	B
叫救命	giu3 gau3 meng6	to call for help	B
噪音	cou3 jam1	noise	B
叫聲	giu3 seng1	yells	B
好似	hou2 ci5	seems like	S
嘔	au2	to puke	S

Cantonese adverbs with 得

To be quite frank, adverb constructions in Cantonese aren’t complex. And since we’re on lesson nine, you’ll start to see that the line between “Cantonese grammar” and “Cantonese words” begins to blur. Can something really be called grammar if it has many variations, doesn’t fit into a definite pattern, and are just words?

This is why when people who have experience with Romance and Slavic languages, when they come over to Cantonese, they find the learning experience to be very different – suddenly, language learning feels very, very “barebones” without conjugations, declensions, honorifics – we pretty much just have words in Cantonese.

In any case, I’ll leave the rant for later.

We’ll be introducing three ways to form adverb constructions today (with a boatload of examples), and the first way to do so is with “得” (dak1).

The pattern that’s usually used to construct Cantonese adverb phrases:

Verb + 得 + adjective

This rule is further extended when the verb is a verb with the pattern “verb + object”, for example

• 行路 haang4 lou6 = 行 (to walk) + 路 (road)
• 食嘢 sik6 je5 = 食 (to eat) + 嘢 (thing)
• 做功課 zou6 gung1 fo3 = 做 (to do) + 功課 (homework)

Then people have a choice of either using the simpler pattern above, or the pattern below:

Verb-Object + Verb + 得 + adjective

Remember, this is only possible if the verb happens to be a verb-object type verb, for something where the characters of the word are all part of the verb, you can’t use this pattern!

Words that fall under this category:

• 採訪 coi2 fong2 (to interview)
• 執行 zap1 hang4 (to execute)
• 分析 fan1 sik1 (to analyze)

Let’s have a look at some sample sentences.

我(行路)行得好快。
ngo5 (haang4 lou6) haang4 dak1 hou2 faai3.
I walk very quickly.

佢(講嘢)講得好大聲。
keoi5 (gong2 je5) gong2 dak1 hou2 daai6 seng1.
He speakes really loudly.

隻狗(訓覺)訓得好冧。
zek3 gau2 (fan3 gaau3) fan3 dak1 hou2 lam1.
The dog is sleeping very soundly.

Fairly straightforward, right?

Let’s move on to the second most common pattern.

Cantonese adverbs with 咁

The other most common way, which is usually contrasted with 得, to form Cantonese sentences, is with 咁 (gam2). However, the word order here is slightly different, so please pay attention to the pattern below:

adjective + 咁 + verb

So, it’s a mirror image of the pattern with 得 (the verb and adjective are swapped around).

While 得 itself doesn’t have a standalone meaning related to its function, I feel like it’s worth mentioning what the standalone meaning of 咁 is related – it means “like this”. If you know any of the following languages, perhaps they offer better representations of the word – ainsi, así, このように, 이렇게, which means that this pattern literally translate to

adjective + like this + verb

Or with an example

I slow like this eat. (I eat slowly.)

where the “like this” refers to “slow”.

Alright, let’s have a look at some examples, as usual.

佢好快咁食曬啲嘢。
keoi5 hou2 faai3 gam2 sik6 saai3 di1 je5.
She quickly gobbled up everything.

個男人唔小心咁㧬跌咗企喺前面嗰個婆婆。
go3 naam4 jan2 m4 siu2 sam1 gam2 ung2 dit3 zo2 kei5 hai2 cin4 min6 go2 go3 po4 po2.
The man accidentally pushed over the elderly woman who was standing in front.

(Aren’t you glad we covered Cantonese relative clauses last time? Now we get much richer sentences.)

啲小朋友好快咁做曬功課溫曬書，跟住同隔離鄰居嘅朋友一齊玩。
di1 siu2 pang4 jau5 hou2 faai3 gam2 zou6 saai3 gung1 fo3 wan1 saai3 syu1, gan1 zyu6 tung4 gaak3 lei4 leon4 geoi1 ge3 pang4 jau5 jat1 cai4 waan2.
The kids quickly finished their homework and did their revision, and then went on to play with their next door neighbour friends.

Those are the two main patterns.

The less common Cantonese adverb pattern with 哋

The good news is that if you master the first two patterns, you’re pretty much all set. Most of the times, that’s all you’ll need in Cantonese.

However, you’ll sometimes hear people using 哋 (dei2) as well, but not as often – it usually gives a sort of a more “refined” feeling to a sentence when it is used. It’s also used for duplicated adjectives, in this pattern:

adjective-adjective + 哋

and when that happens, there are certain pronunciation changes that often need to be memorized as part of the expression.

The good news is that there aren’t that many of these expressions, so my advice is to recognize them when they are used, but you don’t necessarily have to be able to use them.

Please note that unlike the previous two constructs, you can’t just substitute any adjective in the pattern – these need to be learnt by heart on a one by one basis – they’re fixed collocations that happen to fit a certain pattern.

Let’s look at a few sample sentences.

佢輕輕哋閂咗道門，跟住將個BB放喺搖籃入面。
keoi5 heng6 heng1 dei2 saan1 zo2 dou6 mun4, gan1 zyu6 zoeng1 go3 bi4 bi1 fong3 hai2 jiu4 laam2 jap6 min6.
She gently closed the door, and then placed the baby in the cradle.

隻狗偷偷哋食咗啱啱擺喺檯面嗰條香腸。
zek3 gau2 tau1 tau1 dei2 sik6 zo2 aam1 aam1 baai2 hai2 toi2 min2 go2 tiu4 hoeng1 coeng2.
The dog sneakily ate the sausage that we put on the table earlier.

Hopefully, that gives you a good feel to how adverbs in Cantonese work.

The difference between 得 and 咁

The question that students often ask when we discuss these two patterns is: “is there a difference between using 得 and 咁? If there is, what is it?”

As a matter of fact, in terms of function, there isn’t. Both of them allows us to express adverbs in Cantonese.

However, there are two differences I can think of that Cantonese grammar books or courses generally don’t mention:

1. Sometimes, it’s more natural to express things with one construct than the other. For example, contrast these two:

佢好快咁着完衫跟住趕出門。
keoi5 hou2 faai3 gam2 zeok3 jyun4 saam1 gan1 zyu6 gon2 ceot1 mun4.
He quickly got dressed and hurried out.

佢着衫着得好快。
keoi5 zeok3 saam1 zeok3 dak1 hou2 faai3.
He quickly got dressed.

As a matter of fact, you’ll notice the huge chunk of “hurried out” missing in the second construct, because it sounds strange to actually follow it after the 得 construct.

Let’s look at another example.

隻貓好冧咁訓覺。
zek3 maau1 hou2 lam1 gam2 fan3 gaau3.
The cat slept soundly.

隻貓訓覺訓得好冧。
zek3 maau1 fan3 gaau3 fan3 dak1 hou2 lam1.
The cat slept soundly.

While both sentences are correct grammatically, the second one sounds much more natural to me than the first.

Why is this?

I can’t explain it – it simply does.

This is one of the things that make languages a fairly unique branch of knowledge – in almost any field, we’re accustomed to asking all the “wh” questions. But in language learning, we almost never ask “why” – because the question transforms into an etymological, and perhaps a philosophical one (think “why is a rose called a rose?”), and those are rarely easy, nor pertinent questions to answer.

2. The second difference, although this might just be one of opinion (and of mine to be specific), is that the point of emphasis is different between the two constructs.

Let’s go back to the first example, this time written with the two constructs:

佢行路行得好快。
keoi5 haang4 lou6 haang4 dak1 hou2 faai3.
He walks very quickly.

佢好快咁行路。
keoi5 hou2 faai3 gam2 haang4 lou6.
He quickly walks.

Can you spot the difference?

To me, the first sentence’s focal point shifts to the “好快” part, whereas the second sentence’s focal point is less obvious – it “行路” and “好快” feels equal to me, with neither outshining the other.

Hopefully that clears up a point of confusion between the two adverb patterns.

Common Cantonese adverbs

As I’ve said before, most of the magic of Cantonese adverbs lies in the three main constructs mentioned here. The rest of it lies in specific adverbs themselves that don’t fit into those patterns, so I thought we might do a bit of an adverb roadshow showcasing some common ones used in Cantonese.

Here goes.

Cantonese adverb #1: 都 (“even”, inclusive)

所有人都識講廣東話同埋普通話。
so2 jau5 jan4 dou1 sik1 gong2 gwong2 dung1 waa2 tung4 maai4 pou2 tung1 waa2.
Everyone can speak Cantonese and Mandarin.

Cantonese adverb #2: 橫掂 (seeing that you’re…)

我地橫掂都要去沙田，不如去探埋嫲嫲啦。
ngo5 dei6 waang4 dim6 dou1 jiu3 heoi3 saa1 tin4, bat1 jyu4 heoi3 taam3 maai4 maa4 maa4 laa1.
Seeing that we’re going to ShaTin anyway, let’s go and pay meemaw a visit.

Cantonese adverb #3: 凈係 (only)

宜家凈係得返牛扒，冇曬豬扒啦。
ji4 gaa1 zing6 hai6 dak1 faan1 ngau4 paa2, mou5 saai3 zyu1 paa2 laa3.
There’s only steak left, there’s no more pork chops.

Cantonese adverb #4: 得 (only…left)

得一個，有冇一個？
dak1 jat1 go3, jau5 mou5 jat1 go3?
There’s only one (seat) left, any single passengers (want to get on)?

*Imagine a minibus driver shouting out to the passengers queuing up at the stop, and there’s only one seat left.

Cantonese adverb #5: 本來 (originally)

我本來唔想去泰國嘅，但係啲friend不停咁哀我去，最終咪去咗囉。
ngo5 bun2 loi4 m4 soeng2 heoi3 taai3 gwok3 ge3, daan6 hai6 di1 friend bat1 ting4 gam2 ngai1 ngo5 heoi3, zeoi3 zung1 mai6 heoi3 zo2 lo1.
I originally didn’t want to go to Thailand, but since my friends begged me to, I eventually went.

Cantonese adverb #6: 曾經 (once upon a time)

佢以前曾經係做醫生嘅，但係自從一次手術中誤殺咗個病人之後就冇再執刀啦。
keoi5 ji5 cin4 cang4 ging1 hai6 zou6 ji1 sang1 ge3, daan6 hai6 zi6 cung4 jat1 ci3 sau2 seot6 zung1 m6 saat3 zo2 go3 beng6 jan4 zi1 hau6 zau6 mou5 zoi3 zap1 dou1 laa3.
Once upon a time, he was a doctor, but since his mishap during a surgery leading to the death of a patient, he never practised again.

Cantonese adverb #7: 初初 (in the beginning)

我初初好憎拉小提琴，但係越拉越有feel。
ngo5 co1 co1 hou2 zang1 laai1 siu2 tai4 kam4, daan6 hai6 jyut6 laai1 jyut6 jau5 feel.
In the beginning, I hated playing the violin, but the more I played, the more it grew on me.

Cantonese adverb #8: 嗰陣時 (at that time)

佢地嗰陣時唔識對方嘅。
keoi5 dei6 go2 zan6 si6 m4 sik1 deoi3 fong1 ge3.
At that time, they didn’t know each other.

Cantonese adverb #9: 不嬲 (always, with a stronger, sometimes sarcastic tone)

魚蝦蟹嗰啲海鮮佢不嬲都唔食嘅，只不過你唔知啫。
jyu4 haa1 haai5 go2 di1 hoi2 sin1 keoi5 bat1 lau4 dou1 m4 sik6 ge3, zi2 bat1 gwo3 nei5 m4 zi1 zek1.
Seafood like fish, prawn and crab – he’s always avoided, it’s just that you didn’t know about it.

Cantonese adverb #10: 仲 (still)

你仲有冇彈琴啊？
nei5 zung6 jau5 mou5 taan4 kam4 aa3?
Do you still play the piano?

Cantonese adverb #11: 仍然 (still)

點解經歷過咁多嘢你仍然都係咁頑固不改嘅呢？
dim2 gaai2 ging1 lik6 gwo3 gam3 do1 je5 ni5 jing4 jin4 dou1 hai6 gam3 waan4 gu3 bat1 goi3 ge3 ne1?
Why is it that even after having experienced so much you’re still so set in your old ways?

Cantonese adverb #12: 暫時 (temporarily)

啊頭落order，個project暫時擱置一邊，先搞掂哩單嘢再繼續。
aa3 tau2 lok6 o1 daa2, go3 po1 zek4 zaam6 si4 gok3 zi3 jat1 bin1, sin1 gaau2 dim6 maai4 li1 daan1 je5 zoi3 gai3 zuk6.
Orders from above, we’re going to set the project aside temporarily, let’s finish this and then continue.

Cantonese adverb #13: 到時 (then)

買曬機票，度好行程之後到時再電聯啊。
maai5 saai3 gei1 piu3, dok6 hou2 hang4 cing4 zi1 hau6, dou3 si4 zoi3 din6 lyun4 aa1.
After buying all the plane tickets, and designing the itinerary, I’ll give you a call then.

Cantonese adverb #14: 平時 (usually)

佢平時做事都好謹慎𠺝，點解份report今日會錯漏百出嘅呢？
keoi5 ping4 si4 zou6 si6 dou1 hou2 gan2 san6 gaak3, dim2 gaai2 fan6 report gam1 jat6 wui5 co3 lau6 baak3 ceot1 ge3 ne1?
He’s usually meticulous in his work, so why is this report riddled with errors today?

Cantonese adverb #15: 成日 (always)

你成日話學學學，點解講咗三年都仲未見你開始學嘅呢？
nei5 sing4 jat6 waa6 hok6 hok6 hok6, dim2 gaai2 gong2 zo2 saam1 nin4 dou1 zung6 mei6 gin3 nei5 hoi1 ci2 hok6 ge3 ne1?
You’re always saying “I’m going to learn, learn, learn”, then why is it that after three years of saying it, I’ve still not seen you start learning?

Cantonese adverb #16: 甚少 (very rarely)

佢份人好宅，甚少出街，成日可以對住部電腦粒聲都唔出。
keoi5 fan6 jan4 hou2 zaak6, sam6 siu2 ceot1 gaai1, sing4 jat6 ho2 ji5 deoi3 zyu6 bou6 din6 lou5 lap1 seng1 dou1 m4 ceot1.
He’s quite the otaku, he very rarely goes out, he can sit in front of the computer all day without making a sound.

Cantonese adverb #17: 每 (every)

佢每三個月基本上都會出國去旅行一次，簡直係個「異國躝街精」。
keoi5 mui5 saam1 go3 jyut6 gei1 bun2 soeng6 dou1 wui5 ceot1 gwok3 heoi3 leoi5 hang4 jat1 ci3, gaan2 zik6 hai6 go3 ji6 gwok3 laan1 gaai1 zing1.
He basically travels abroad once every three months, he’s pretty much what you’d call an “addict to hanging out in foreign places”.

Cantonese adverb #18: 特登 (deliberately)

佢唔係特登撞你嘅，算啦。
keoi5 m4 hai6 dak6 dang1 zong6 nei5 ge3, syun3 laa1.
He didn’t deliberately run into you, just let it go.

Cantonese adverb #19: 前嗰排 (a while ago)

我地前嗰排先至去完赤柱，唔想再去囉。
keoi5 dei6 cin4 go2 paai2 sin1 zi3 heoi3 jyun4 cek3 cyu5, m4 soeng2 zoi3 heoi3 lo1.
We just went to Stanley a while ago, I don’t want to go again.

Cantonese adverb #20: 一X一X (one X at a time)

寫程式要一步一步咁寫，唔可以急。
se2 cing4 sik1 jiu3 jat1 bou6 jat1 bou6 gam2 se2, m4 ho2 ji5 gap1.
We should write programs one step at a time, we can’t hurry it.

Cantonese adverb #21: 啦啦聲 (quickly)

啦啦聲食曬啲嘢着好衫跟住出門啦，唔係又遲到啦。
laa4 laa2 seng1 sik6 saai3 di1 je5 zoek3 hou2 saam1 gan1 zyu6 ceot1 mun4 laa3, m4 hai6 jau5 ci4 dou3 laa3.
Quickly finish off the rest of the food, get dressed and head out, or else you’re going to be late again.

Cantonese adverb #22: 一大啖 (jat1 daai6 daam6)

我一大啖食咗四分之一碗飯。
ngo5 jat1 daai6 daam6 sik6 zo2 sei3 fan6 zi1 jat1 wun2 faan6.
I gulped down a quarter of the bowl of rice in a big mouthful.

The many uses of 咁

咁, as previously mentioned, means “like this”. Its uses are varied and flexible, so I thought I might list some of them here that I feel you should be aware of. There’s quite a few, but here goes:

Cantonese word 咁 #1: “like this”

啲天氣係咁㗎嘞，你求神拜佛都唔會變㗎啦。
di1 tin1 hei3 hai6 gam1 gaa3 lak3, nei5 kau4 san4 baai3 fat6 dou1 m4 wui5 bin3 gaa3 laa1.
The weather is like this, no matter how much you pray to the Gods it’s not going to change.

Cantonese word 咁 #2: “so”

咁你想去邊度啊？
gam2 nei5 soeng2 heoi3 bin1 dou6 aa1?
So where do you want to go?

Cantonese word 咁 #3: 好似 + object + 咁 “to be like”

佢好似隻貓咁從個馬騮架跳落嚟。
keoi5 hou2 ci5 zek3 maau1 gam2 cung4 go3 maa5 lau1 gaa2 tiu3 lok6 lei4.
He jumped from the monkey bars like a cat.

Cantonese word 咁 #4: 好似 + adjective + 咁 “seems to be”

佢好似好嬲咁，我都唔知點解。
keoi5 hou2 ci5 hou2 lau1 gam2, ngo5 dou1 m4 zi1 dim2 gaai2.
She seems to be pretty angry, I have no idea why.

Cantonese word 咁 #5: adjective + 成咁 “adj. + to this extent”

佢嬲成咁，講乜都聽唔入耳啦。
keoi5 lau1 seng4 gam2, gong2 mat1 dou1 teng1 m4 jap6 ji5 laa1.
She’s this angry, nothing you say will get through (to her).

Cantonese word 咁 #6: 就咁 “simply like this”

你就咁企喺度就得㗎喇。
nei5 zau6 gam2 kei5 hai2 dou6 zau6 dak1 gaa3 laak3.
Just stand over there like that (and it’ll be okay).

Cantonese word 咁 #7: 亂咁 “verb + everywhere”

參觀博物館嗰陣咪亂咁跑，啲藝術品好珍貴㗎。
caam1 gun1 bok3 mat6 gun2 go2 zan2 mai5 lyun2 gam3 paau2, di1 ngai6 seot6 ban2 hou2 zan1 gwai3 gaa3.
When visiting the museum, do NOT run around, the art pieces are very valuable.

Cantonese word 咁 #8: 猛咁 “to keep on + verb”

佢喺度猛咁叫救命但係因為噪音太多，冇人聽到佢嘅叫聲。
keoi5 hai2 dou6 maang5 gam3 giu3 gau3 meng6 daan6 hai6 jan1 wai6 cou3 jam1 tai3 dou1, mou5 jan4 teng1 dou2 keoi5 ge3 giu3 seng1.
He kept on yelling “help”, but because of the excessive background noise, nobody heard his yells.

Cantonese word 咁 #9: 咁滯 “seems to be on the verge of”

佢好似就嚟想嘔咁滯。
keoi5 hou2 ci5 zau6 lei4 soeng2 au2 gam3 zai6.
It seems like he’s on the verge of puking.

Well that’s it for this time!

As you can see, we’re slowly ramping up the complexity of the sentences – at this point, save for the vocabulary and particles, you should be able to follow sentences that are much closer to native level sentences without too much trouble (in terms of structure) – there are still a couple of essential things we need to be aware of, but at this point, we’ve pretty much covered a lot of the absolute basics.

Isn’t it a relief we don’t have to deal with conjugations, declensions, honorifics and verb endings? You’ll soon find out exactly how much this accelerates the learning curve, and just exactly how much of a misconception “Cantonese is a difficult language” is.

Alright, as usual, questions (and comments) are very welcome as usual – I’m expecting more this time, but I hope you’ve enjoyed this as usual, and I’ll see you guys next time.

加油！

Continue reading…