Cantonese grammar #15: Cantonese negation【廣東話否定式】

Introduction

Hey guys, welcome back to lesson #15 of the Cantonese grammar series, where we break down how Cantonese works with plenty of examples. Following our gigantic lesson from last time covering Cantonese conjunctions with over 100+ examples to boot, we’re going to go back to a normal sized lesson, and deal with something a bit simpler – Cantonese negation.

As a matter of fact, if you’ve been following this series, you’ll have noticed that we’ve already sprinkled negatives across our example sentences in previous lessons. And because negation is super easy and straightforward in Cantonese, you’ll find yourself breezing through it – so you can look at today’s lesson as a revision lesson of sorts.

In this lesson, I’m going to be presenting things you might have implicitly covered in the past, and a few things we’ve yet to go over in 15 patterns, of course, coupled with examples, so you’ll know how to apply them when speaking Cantonese.

Okay, that’s enough of a rant from me, let’s get started!

 

Video lesson

 

Vocabulary

Cantonese	Jyutping	English
檔	dong3	files
地獄拉麵	dei6 juk6 laai1 min6	hell ramen
食評家	sik6 ping4 gaa1	food critic
辣度	laat6 dou6	spiciness
全港稱冠	cyun4 gong2 cing1 gun3	top in Hong Kong
唐人街	tong4 jan4 gaai1	Chinatown
兜個圈	dau1 go3 hyun1	to take a walk around
目前為止	muk6 cin4 wai4 zi2	so far
相似	soeng1 ci5	similar
加入	gaa1 jap6	to join
運作	wan6 zok3	operations
熟悉	suk6 sik1	familiar with
不足之處	bat1 zuk1 zi1 cyu5	inadequate
同時	tung4 si4	simultaneously
關照	gwaan1 ziu3	care
包容	baau1 jung4	tolerance
畢業	bat1 jip6	to graduate
學界	hok6 gaai3	academia
體驗	tai2 jim6	experience
情形	cing4 jing4	situation
差別	caa1 bit6	difference
碩士	sek6 si6	master’s degree
博士	bok3 si6	doctorate
行程	hang4 cing4	itinerary
富士山	fu3 si6 saan1	Mount Fuji
惡劣	ok3 lyut6	bad
好轉	hou2 zyun2	to improve
豪雨	hou4 jyu5	heavy rain
閑日	haan4 jat2	workday
生理時鐘	sang1 lei5 si4 zung1	biological clock
壓力	ngaat3 lik6	pressure
每逢	mui5 fung4	every
中秋	zung1 cau1	Mid Autumn festival
青衣	cing1 ji1	Tsing Yi (place in HK)
彩燈會	coi2 dang1 wui2	Mid Autumn lantern carnival
調派	diu6 paai3	to assign
公幹	gung1 gon3	to be on business
破例	po3 lai6	to make an exception
根據	gan1 geoi3	according to
退貨政策	teoi3 fo3 zing3 caak3	return policy
退款	teoi3 fun2	refund
購買	kau3 maai5	to purchase
原價	jyun4 gaa3	price
差額	caa1 aak2	difference
款	fun2	style
型號	jing4 hou6	model
懷疑	waai4 ji4	to suspect
假宣傳	gaa2 syun1 cyun4	false propaganda
豬骨湯底	zyu1 gwat1 tong1 dai2	pork bone broth
熬	aau4	to boil (soup)
添加劑	tim1 gaa1 zai1	additive
天然	tin1 jin4	natural
澄清	cing4 cing1	to clarify
關鍵	gwaan1 gin6	essential
投票	tau4 piu3	to vote
反對	faan2 deoi3	opposition
改革	goi2 gaak3	to reform
行政費用	hang4 zing3 fai3 jung6	administrative costs
框架	kwaang1 gaa2	infrastructure
經費	ging1 fai3	fund
針對	zam1 deoi3	to single someone out
平凡	ping4 faan4	ordinary
改善	goi2 sin6	to improve
程度	cing4 dou6	degree
評語	ping4 jyu5	comment
心理質素	sam1 lei5 zat1 sou3	mentality
平均	ping4 gwan1	average
價格	gaa3 gaak3	price
標準	biu1 zeon2	standard
唂氣	guk1 hei3	to be angry
頭髮蓬鬆	tau4 faat3 pung4 sung1	unkempt hair
着返	zeok3 faan1	to wear something inside out
可想而知	ho2 soeng2 ji4 zi1	one can imagine
合約	hap6 jeok3	contract
業主	jip6 zyu2	owner
擅自	sin6 zi6	unauthorized
改動	goi2 dung6	to modify
無奈	mou4 noi6	helpless
忍	Jan2	to endure
咳	kat1	cough
熱氣	jit6 hei3	to be sick by eating acidic foods
計數	gai3 sou3	do the math
樓價	lou4 gaa3	property prices
租樓	zou1 lau2	to rent property
買樓	maai5 lau2	to buy property
單位	daan1 wai2	apartment unit
綁住	bong2 zyu6	to be tied down

 

Cantonese negation #1: Negating the past

Imagine you want to say something like “I’ve been to Chinatown in Toronto, yeah” – how would you say the opposite – i.e. “I haven’t been to Chinatown before”?

 

冇 + verb + 過

 

If you’ll recall from our lesson on the Cantonese past tense, we use 過 when talking about past experiences. To negate it, all you need to do is to put the word 冇 in front of the verb.

To top that off, you can also replace 冇 with 未 to express “I haven’t done X yet”. This produces

 

未 + verb + 過

 

係啊，我冇試過嗰檔嘅地獄拉麵，連啲食評家都話嗰碗地獄拉麵嘅辣度幾乎可以全港稱冠，所以唔係好敢食。

hai6 aa3 ，ngo5 mou5 si3 gwo3 go2 dong3 ge3 dei6 juk6 laai1 min6 ，lin4 di1 sik6 ping4 gaa1 dou1 waa6 go2 wun2 dei6 juk6 laai1 min6 ge3 laat6 dou6 gei2 fu4 ho2 ji5 cyun4 gong2 cing1 gun3 ，so2 ji5 m4 hai6 hou2 gam2 sik6 。

Yes, I haven’t tried the “Hell Ramen” in that noodles shop, even food critics are saying that the spiciness of the “Hell Ramen” pretty much tops all spicy foods in Hong Kong, so I’m a bit hesitant to try it out.

 

我其實前幾個禮拜已經想去唐人街兜個圈，但係呢排手頭上好多嘢做，所以到目前為止我都仲未去過唐人街。

ngo5 kei4 sat6 cin4 gei2 go3 lai5 baai3 ji5 ging1 soeng2 heoi3 tong4 jan4 gaai1 dau1 go3 hyun1 ，daan6 hai6 ne1 paai4 sau2 tau4 soeng6 hou2 do1 je5 zou6 ，so2 ji5 dou3 muk6 cin4 wai4 zi2 ngo5 dou1 zung6 mei6 heoi3 gwo3 tong4 jan4 gaai1 。

I’ve actually been wanting to go to Chinatown to canvass the place a few weeks ago, but I’ve just had so much on my hands so, I’ve still not been there yet.

 

Cantonese negation #2: Negating the present

Negating the present is super simple. If you’re here, I’m going to bet that you already know the keyword here, that’s right, it’s 唔. The pattern is as follows:

 

唔 + verb

 

係，我承認，我一句意大利文都唔識講，但係意大利文同西班牙文實在太相似啦，所以如果你識講西班牙文嘅話，就算冇學過意大利文嘅人都可以大概聽得明意大利人講嘢。

hai6 ，ngo5 sing4 jing6 ，ngo5 jat1 geoi3 ji3 daai6 lei6 man2 dou1 m4 sik1 gong2 ，daan6 hai6 ji3 daai6 lei6 man2 tung4 sai1 baan1 ngaa4 man2 sat6 zoi6 taai3 soeng1 ci5 laa3 ，so2 ji5 jyu4 gwo2 nei5 sik1 gong2 sai1 baan1 ngaa4 man2 ge3 waa6 ，zau6 syun3 mou5 hok6 gwo3 ji3 daai6 lei6 man2 ge3 jan4 dou1 ho2 ji5 daai6 koi3 teng3 dak1 ming4 ji3 daai6 lei6 jan4 gong2 je5 。

It’s true that I don’t speak a word of Italian, but Italian and Spanish are just too similar, if you know how to speak Spanish, even if you haven’t learned Italian before, it’s possible to approximately understand what Italians are saying.

 

大家好，我係啱啱加入公司嘅阿明，對公司嘅運作可能唔係太熟悉，如果有任何嘅不足之處，希望各位同事多多關照同埋包容。

daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 ngaam1 ngaam1 gaa1 jap6 gung1 si1 ge3 aa3 ming4 ，deoi3 gung1 si1 ge3 wan6 zok3 ho2 nang4 m4 hai6 taai3 suk6 sik1 ，jyu4 gwo2 jau5 jam6 ho4 ge3 bat1 zuk1 zi1 cyu5 ，hei1 mong6 gok3 wai2 tung4 si6 do1 do1 gwaan1 ziu3 tung4 maai4 baau1 jung4 。

Hey guys, I’m 啊明 and I’ve just joined the company, I’m not too familiar with how everything works around here, so for all the inadequacies I have, I ask for your guidance and tolerance.  

 

Cantonese negation #3: Negating the future

The future is fairly straightforward as well. True to the theme of the lesson, recapping, do you remember the keyword to express future actions in Cantonese? If you’re thinking “會” you’re absolutely right. (Kudos for remembering.) To say “I won’t do X”, all you have to do is to add 唔 before 會.

 

唔 + 會 + verb

 

啱啱中學畢業嗰陣時以為我會繼續留喺學界撈，但係大學四年畀我嘅體驗同我想象嘅情形個差別實在太大，所以我決定畢業之後唔會繼續讀碩士或者博士。

ngaam1 ngaam1 zung1 hok6 bat1 jip6 go2 zan6 si4 ji5 wai4 ngo5 wui5 gai3 zuk6 lau4 hai2 hok6 gaai3 lou1 ，daan6 hai6 daai6 hok6 sei3 nin4 bei2 ngo5 ge3 tai2 jim6 tung4 ngo5 soeng2 zoeng6 ge3 cing4 jing4 go3 caa1 bit6 sat6 zoi6 taai3 daai6 ，so2 ji5 ngo5 kyut3 ding6 bat1 jip6 zi1 hau6 m4 wui2 gai3 zuk6 duk6 sek6 si6 waak6 ze2 bok3 si6 。

When I just graduated high school, I initially thought I was going to remain in academia, but my experience from four years of university was vastly different from what I’d previously imagined, so I’ve decided that I’m not going to continue pursuing a Master’s or a Ph.D. after graduating.

 

我哋本來嘅行程第四日應該係去富士山嘅，但係天氣情況實在太惡劣，如果聽日天氣冇好轉繼續落豪雨嘅話，我哋應該唔會去富士山。

ngo5 dei6 bun2 loi4 ge3 hang4 cing4 dai6 sei3 jat6 jing1 goi1 hai6 heoi3 fu3 si6 saan1 ge3 ，daan6 hai6 tin1 hei3 cing4 fong3 sat6 zoi6 taai3 ngok3 lyut3 ，jyu4 gwo2 ting1 jat6 tin1 hei3 mou5 hou2 zyun2 gai3 zuk6 lok6 hou4 jyu5 ge3 waa6 ，ngo5 dei6 jing1 goi1 m4 wui5 heoi3 fu3 si6 saan1 。

We were originally going to go to Mount Fuji on the fourth day of our itinerary, but because the weather conditions are so bad, if it doesn’t get better and the downpour continues tomorrow, we’ll probably not go there.  

 

Cantonese negation #4: Negating repetitive actions

Here comes the next question – do you remember the keyword used when describing repetitive actions? That’s right, it’s still 會! The pattern’s still the same, but let’s add a few more examples for repetitive actions.

閑日我一般都會七點起身，因為我嘅生理時鐘已經習慣咗十一點到七點瞓覺，但係可能近排壓力大，所以到weekend嗰陣時，我就會瞓多一兩個鐘，而唔會每日七點起身。

haan4 jat2 ngo5 jat1 bun1 dou1 wui5 cat1 dim2 hei2 san1 ，jan1 wai6 ngo5 ge3 sang1 lei5 si4 zung1 ji5 ging1 zaap6 gwaan3 zo2 sap6 jat1 dim2 dou3 cat1 dim2 fan3 gaau3 ，daan6 hai6 ho2 nang4 gan6 paai2 ngaat3 lik6 daai6 ，so2 ji5 dou3 weekend go2 zan6 si4 ，ngo5 zau6 wui5 fan3 do1 jat1 loeng5 go3 zung1 ，ji4 m4 wui5 mui5 jat6 cat1 dim2 hei2 san1 。

I usually wake up at seven on workdays, since my circadian rhythm has already attuned to sleeping from eleven to seven, but maybe because it’s been rather stressful lately, nowadays during the weekend, I tend to sleep in an extra hour or two, instead of getting up at seven everyday.

 

我哋一家人每逢中秋都一定會去青衣嘅彩燈會，但係之前被公司調派到英國公幹，見唔齊人所以今年破例成家人都唔會去。

ngo5 dei6 jat1 gaa1 jan4 mui5 fung4 zung1 cau1 dou1 jat1 ding6 wui5 heoi3 cing1 ji1 ge3 coi2 dang1 wui2 ，daan6 hai6 zi1 cin4 bei2 gung1 si1 diu6 paai3 dou3 jing1 gwok3 gung1 gon3 ，gin3 m4 cai4 jan4 so2 ji5 gam1 nin2 po3 lai6 sing4 gaa1 jan4 dou1 m4 wui5 heoi3 。

During Mid Autumn festival, our whole family, without exception, will go to the Mid Autumn Lantern carnival in Tsing Yi every year, but because I was recently assigned to a post in England for work, since the whole family isn’t together in Hong Kong, we’ve made an exception and decided to not go this year.

 

Cantonese negation #5: Negating capability

Moving to a quick recap of another lesson – Cantonese modals. Do you remember how to say things like “I can eat spicy foods”, or “I can handle this job”? One way of expressing it is adding 得到 after the verb. So how do express the opposite?

The pattern, once again, is very simple:

 

verb + 唔到

 

That’s right – just replace 得 with 唔.

根據公司嘅退貨政策，退款我就做唔到喇，但係你可以按照你購買嘅產品嘅原價揀返同樣價錢嘅產品，差額可以補返，或者可以直接同你換過部新嘅，同款同型號嘅。

gan1 geoi3 gung1 si1 ge3 teoi3 fo3 zing3 caak3 ，teoi3 fun2 ngo5 zau6 zou6 m4 dou2 laak3 ，daan6 hai6 nei5 ho2 ji5 on3 ziu3 nei5 kau3 maai5 ge3 caan2 ban2 ge3 jyun4 gaa3 gaan2 faan1 tung4 joeng2 gaa3 cin2 ge3 caan2 ban2 ，caa1 ngaak6 ho2 ji5 bou2 faan1 ，waak6 ze2 ho2 ji5 zik6 zip3 tung4 nei5 wun6 gwo3 bou6 san1 ge3 ，tung4 fun2 tung4 jing4 hou6 ge3 。

According to the company’s refund policy, I can’t issue a refund for this product, but you can select a different product based on the purchase price for this product, you can make up the difference (if you choose something more expensive), or what I can do is to exchange this product with a new one, of the same type and model.

 

我懷疑佢哋喺度做緊假宣傳，一直話自己嘅豬骨湯底係熬出嚟嘅，絕冇添加劑，百分百天然，但係我頭先飲啖湯嗰陣一啲豬骨味都 feel 唔到，反而只係覺得個湯底好咸。

ngo5 waai4 ji4 keoi5 dei6 hai2 dou6 zou6 gan2 gaa2 syun1 cyun4 ，jat1 zik6 waa6 zi6 gei2 ge3 zyu1 gwat1 tong1 dai2 hai6 aau4 ceot1 lai4 ge3 ，zyut6 mou5 tim1 gaa1 zai1 ，baak3 fan6 baak3 tin1 jin4 ，daan6 hai6 ngo5 tau4 sin1 jam2 daam6 tong1 go2 zan6 jat1 di1 zyu1 gwat1 mei6 dou1  feel m4 dou2 ，faan2 ji4 zi2 hai6 gok3 dak1 go3 tong1 dai2 hou2 haam4 。

I suspect fake advertising at work here, this shop has claimed that the pork bone broth is made entirely by themselves, without additives, 100% natural, but when I was tasting the broth earlier, I couldn’t taste the pork bones in the soup, only that it was fairly salty.

 

Cantonese negation #6: Negating commands

This is something that we haven’t covered yet – commands. So let’s do a quick dive into how commands are formed in Cantonese.

There’s actually no magic to it. If you’ve studied a European language, you’ll know that verbs conjugate to a special form, the imperative (sometimes more than one form) when issuing commands. With Cantonese, however, It’s almost exactly the same thing in English – the verb doesn’t change.

For example, to say, “speak louder!” – can you guess how to say it in Cantonese?

Yeah, it’s just

 

講大聲啲！

gong2 daai6 seng1 di1

 

So let’s have a look at how to say the opposite: “don’t speak so loudly!”

As with the other patterns described here today, it’s incredibly simple:

 

唔好 + command

 

So “don’t speak so loudly” translates to

 

唔好咁大聲講嘢！

m4 hou2 gam3 daai6 seng1 gong2 je5!

Don’t speak so loudly!

 

Another example

 

唔好嘈，喺度集中緊！

m4 hou2 cou4, hai2 dou6 zaap6 zung1 gan2!

Shush, I’m concentrating here!

 

Cantonese negation #7: Emphasizing negation

There are times when you want to emphasize that something really isn’t X. You can emphasize that in English simply by emphasizing the “isn’t” vocally. Well, in Cantonese, you can too, just be emphasizing 唔 vocally, but to take it one step further, you can add the word 并 before 唔係 to express the extent to which something isn’t.

我想喺度澄清 – 頭先最後關鍵嗰一票投反對嘅并唔係我，我一直都支持改革行政費用嘅框架，睇下有咩方法大大減少行政嘅經費。

ngo5 soeng2 hai2 dou6 cing4 cing1  – tau4 sin1 zeoi3 hau6 gwaan1 gin6 go2 jat1 piu3 tau4 faan2 deoi3 ge3 bing6 m4 hai6 ngo5 ，ngo5 jat1 zik6 dou1 zi1 ci4 goi2 gaak3 hang4 zing3 fai3 jung6 ge3 kwaang1 gaa3 ，tai2 haa6 jau5 me1 fong1 faat3 daai6 daai6 gaam2 siu2 hang4 zing3 ge3 ging1 fai3 。

I’d like to clarify that the person with the swing vote who voted against the motion wasn’t me, I’ve always been supportive of an overhaul of the current framework for overseeing administrative expenses, and seeing if there are ways of vastly reducing our administrative overhead.

 

我并唔係喺度玩針對，我只不過以平凡嘅語氣直接咁指出今個project入面佢錯喺咩地方，同埋有啲咩地方可以改善，如果連呢個程度嘅評語都接受唔到，咁佢嘅心理質素認真好差。

ngo5 bing6 m4 hai6 hai2 dou6 waan2 zam1 deoi3 ，ngo5 zi2 bat1 gwo3 ji5 ping4 faan4 ge3 jyu5 hei3 zik6 zip3 gam2 zi2 ceot1 gam1 go3 project jap6 min6 keoi5 co3 hai2 me1 dei6 fong1 ，tung4 maai4 jau5 di1 me1 dei6 fong1 ho2 ji5 goi2 sin6 ，jyu4 gwo2 lin4 ni1 go3 cing4 dou6 ge3 ping4 jyu5 dou1 zip3 sau6 m4 dou2 ，gam2 keoi5 ge3 sam1 lei5 zat1 sou3 jing2 zan1 hou2 caa1 。

It’s not as if I was singling him out just to pick on him, I only calmly pointed out what he did wrongly in the project, and what places could have been improved, if he’s incapable of accepting this level of feedback, then he’s mindset is seriously fragile.

 

Cantonese negation #8: Negating adjectives

Next, let’s have a look at adjectives. If memory serves, I think we’ve covered how to negate adjectives before. If I haven’t, it can’t get any simpler – all you want to do is to add 唔 before the adjective.

One thing to beware of. Recall that we want to add 好 before Cantonese adjectives, even if we don’t want to mean “very”, because of the idea of “rhythmic balance”, i.e. fancy jargon for “sounds better”.

When you add the 唔, you have to drop the 好. For example 好貴 becomes 唔貴. Alternatively, you can also keep the 好, and change it to 唔係好貴, and the nuance changes slightly to mean it’s not “really / that” expensive.

頭先嗰餐飯真係唔係好貴，我哋四個人平均只係食咗二百零蚊，以香港日本料理嘅價格為標準食到咁樣嘅水平嘅日料真係算唔錯嘅啦！

tau4 sin1 go2 caan1 faan6 zan1 hai6 m4 hai6 hou2 gwai3 ，ngo5 dei6 sei3 go3 jan4 ping4 gwan1 zi2 hai6 sik6 zo2 ji6 baak3 leng4 man1 ，ji5 hoeng1 gong2 jat6 bun2 liu2 lei5 ge3 gaa3 gaak3 wai4 biu1 zeon2 sik6 dou2 gam2 joeng2 ge3 seoi2 ping4 ge3 jat6 liu6 zan1 hai6 syun3 m4 co3 ge3 laa3 ！

Our meal just now was really not expensive, between the four of us, we only spent about two hundred bucks per person, based on the average price of Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong, the fact that we were able to eat Japanese food at this level for that price is actually a pretty good deal!

 

你點搵佢都冇用，佢基本上成日都唔得閒，所以我諗你想見佢嘅話要等到佢生日先至見到。

nei5 dim2 wan2 keoi5 dou1 mou5 jung6 ，keoi5 gei1 bun2 soeng6 sing4 jat6 dou1 m4 dak1 haan4 ，so2 ji5 ngo5 lam2 nei5 soeng2 gin3 keoi5 ge3 waa6 jiu3 dang2 dou3 keoi5 saang1 jat6 sin1 zi3 gin3 dou2 。

It’s futile – there’s no point asking him to hang out, he’s pretty much occupied all the time, if you want to see him, you’ll probably have to wait until his birthday.

 

Cantonese negation #9: Saying “not only…”

Next, recapping something a bit more recent – how to say “not only…”. (Yes, if memory serves, we covered this in the last lesson on Cantonese conjunctions!)

The pattern, if you recall, is

 

唔(單)只… (+ 仲 / 連 / …)

 

The connectives in parentheses are varied so feel free to use whichever makes the most sense to you.

佢唔單只遲曬大到，而且應承咗帶嘅飲嘢，甚至連我份生日禮物都冇帶，梗係唂氣啦！

keoi5 m4 daan1 zi2 ci4 saai3 daai6 dou3 ，ji4 ce2 jing1 sing4 zo2 daai3 ge3 jam2 je5 ，sam6 zi3 lin4 ngo5 fan6 saang1 jat6 lai5 mat6 dou1 mou5 daai3 ，gang2 hai6 guk1 hei3 laa1 ！

Not only was he seriously late, he also forgot the drinks he’d promised to bring, as well as my birthday present, of course I’m mad!

 

佢唔單只頭髮蓬鬆，連件衫都可以着返咗，可想而知佢近排係幾咁癐。

keoi5 m4 daan1 zi2 tau4 faat3 pung4 sung1 ，lin4 gin6 saam1 dou1 ho2 ji5 zeok3 faan2 zo2 ，ho2 soeng2 ji4 zi1 keoi5 gan6 paai4 hai6 gei2 gam3 gui6 。

Not only was his hair all over the place, he even wore his shirt inside out, it’s not hard to imagine the fatigue he’s been experiencing  as of late.

 

Cantonese negation #10: Extended negative state

I’m almost a little bit hesitant to introduce patterns that aren’t applicable in all instances, but because this is used so often, I’d like to introduce it anyway.

Looking at the sub-header, you might be wondering, what the heck is an “extended negative state”? This is just a phrase I made up (can I say “coined”? lol) to mean “to be X for a period of time”, as in “he’s been hungry all this time”, “she’s disliked James for the longest time”, etc.

i.e. A “continued” state

The problem is, this doesn’t actually make sense for any verb / adjective. For example, even in English, you can’t (or maybe you can, but I believe people don’t) say things like, “the chair has been old for a long time”, or “the ruler has been long for a long time”. Grammatically, they don’t break any rules. But common sense dictates those two sentences are just complete drivel.

So exercise a bit of caution when using this pattern (in the negative), which, in Cantonese, is:

 

唔 + verb / adjective + 咗

 

With it, you can say things like

幅畫佢唔鐘意咗好耐，但係間屋始終唔係佢嘅，而且合約寫得好清楚，未經過業主同意唔可以擅自作出任何改動，所以好無奈只可以忍！

fuk1 waa2 keoi5 m4 zung1 ji3 zo2 hou2 noi6 ，daan6 hai6 gaan1 nguk1 ci2 zung1 m4 hai6 keoi5 ge3 ，ji4 ce2 hap6 joek3 se2 dak1 hou2 cing1 co2 ，mei6 ging1 gwo3 jip6 zyu2 tung4 ji3 m4 ho2 ji5 sin6 zi6 zok3 ceot1 jam6 ho4 goi2 dung6 ，so2 ji5 hou2 mou4 noi6 zi2 ho2 ji5 jan2 ！

She’s disliked the painting for a long time, but at the end of the day, the house wasn’t hers, and the contract stated clearly that modifications to the property are not allowed without the explicit consent of the landlord, so all she could do was to grit her teeth and rein it in!

 

你唔好睇佢粒聲都唔出，佢其實肚餓咗幾個鐘嘅喇，只不過佢份人好，見你玩得咁開心，乜嘢都冇講。

nei5 m4 hou2 tai2 keoi5 lap1 seng1 dou1 m4 ceot1 ，keoi5 kei4 sat6 tou5 ngo6 zo2 gei2 go3 zung1 ge3 laak3 ，zi2 bat1 gwo3 keoi5 fan6 jan4 hou2 ，gin3 nei5 waan2 dak1 gam3 hoi1 sam1 ，mat1 je5 dou1 mou5 gong2 。

Don’t think that just because he didn’t say anything, nothing’s up, he’s actually been hungry for a couple of hours, it’s just that he’s super nice, seeing how much fun you’re having, he just didn’t want to say anything to interrupt.

(Whoops, just realized this isn’t negated, but it should still be a good example to demonstrate this idea of an “extended state”.)

 

Cantonese negation #11: Emphasized negation in questions

When asking a yes-no question, like, “have you finished eating”, or “are you done”, you can add 仲 to change the question slightly. Instead of presenting it as a yes-no question, you’re asking, “you’re still not finished eating?”, with a hint of incredulity.

 

你食完未？ → 你仲未食完？

nei5 sik6 jyun4 mei6? → nei5 zung6 mei6 sik6 jyun4?

Are you done eating yet? → Are you still not done eating?

 

你搞掂未？ → 你仲未搞掂？

nei5 gaau2 dim6 mei6? → nei5 zung6 mei6 gaau2 dim6?

Are you done yet? → Are you still not done?

 

Cantonese negation #12: The double negative

Last but not least, we have the double negative, which is usually when you’re trying to clarify / justify your position, explaining away at something that’s casting doubt, unease or something similar among the people listening.

The double negative comes in two flavours – one is a direct double negation, and the other is a quoted double negation. The difference is subtle, but the quoted double negation sounds a little more indirect, because it’s often used without specifying the person saying it.

 

唔係唔 + verb

 

唔係話唔 + verb

 

Yup, the difference of a word, and a difference in nuance.

Some examples then.

我唔係唔想去燒烤，而係我呢幾日有幾聲咳，所以盡量避免食太多熱氣嘢，況且呢個weekend我要接一個好耐冇見嘅朋友，所以都係下次啦。

ngo5 m4 hai6 m4 soeng2 heoi3 siu1 haau1 ，ji4 hai6 ngo5 ne1 gei2 jat6 jau5 gei2 seng1 kat1 ，so2 ji5 zeon6 loeng6 bei6 min5 sik6 taai3 do1 jit6 hei3 je5 ，fong3 ce2 ne1 go3 weekend ngo5 jiu3 zip3 jat1 go3 hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3 ge3 pang4 jau5 ，so2 ji5 dou1 hai6 haa6 ci3 laa1 。

It’s not that I don’t want to go barbeque, it’s more to do with the fact that I’ve been coughing lately, so I want to avoid all acidic foods, besides, I’m going to welcome a friend (to Hong Kong) I haven’t seen in a long time, so…rain check?

 

唔係話唔想買，而係我覺得雖然我都好想有一個叫做自己嘅家，但係計過條數，以現時嘅樓價嚟睇，租樓同買樓幾乎冇啲咩分別，而且我真係唔忍心花咁多錢買個咁細嘅單位，而且仲要綁住自己咁多年。

m4 hai6 waa6 m4 soeng2 maai5 ，ji4 hai6 ngo5 gok3 dak1 seoi1 jin4 ngo5 dou1 hou2 soeng2 jau5 jat1 go3 giu3 zou6 zi6 gei2 ge3 gaa1 ，daan6 hai6 gai3 gwo3 tiu4 sou3 ，ji5 jin6 si4 ge3 lau4 gaa3 lai4 tai2 ，zou1 lau4 tung4 maai5 lau4 gei2 fu4 mou5 di1 me1 fan1 bit6 ，ji4 ce2 ngo5 zan1 hai6 m4 jan2 sam1 faa1 gam3 do1 cin2 maai5 go3 gam3 sai3 ge3 daan1 wai2 ，ji4 ce2 zung6 jiu3 bong2 zyu6 zi6 gei2 gam3 do1 nin4 。

It’s not to say that I don’t want to purchase, it’s more to do with the fact that while I do want to have a place I can call home, after looking over the math, based on current property prices, there’s not a lot of difference renting and buying, and I really just can’t stand spending so much money to buy such a small flat, and to have my income tied to the property for many years to come.

 

Conclusion

So, what do you think? Wasn’t this like a little whirlwind of everything we’ve learned so far?

At this point, in just 15 lessons, we’ve pretty much covered the majority of the basics you’ll need to break down Cantonese. At the very least, structurally, you shouldn’t be struggling anymore to understand why someone said a sentence a certain way – you should be able to break down most of it using what you’ve learned in these lessons.

From this point onwards, your objective would probably be along the lines of continuing to build up your vocabulary, to work through the rest of these lessons so you’ll have a more well-rounded grasp of how Cantonese works, and to continue to expose yourself to authentic materials.

Thanks for joining me again in this presentation of Cantonese, I hope you’ll come back for the next lesson!

各位朋友加油！