Daily Living

1. The World About US = 100 Words for living in Canton

Note: Most characters are Traditional Chinese (Cantonese)

More Words for Daily Life

30 Clothing

801	Anorak	tIe hung lau	Down filled coat or ‘Space Jacket’	太空褸
802	Bikini	sam dim sik wing yi	Lit: Three points style bathing suit	三點式泳衣
803	Blouse	so-eng saam		上衫
804	Boots	hOe		靴
805	Bra	yut zhao		乳罩
806	Cardigan	laang ngoi tOu		冷外套
807	Chinese Dress	c’yun san kwan		全身裙
	Formal Dress	lAi fuk		禮服
808	Flip-Flops	yun zhI lO		人字拖
809	Frock	buE saam kwan	Alt: Sleeveless sundress	背心裙
810	Hat	mOu mOu		帽
811	Jacket	Ou		襖
812	Jumper	mOu sin yEi		毛線衣
813	Polo Shirt	faan leng seot		反領恤
814	Raincoat	gon sap lau		乾濕褸
815	Sandals	lo-eng haai		涼鞋
816	Shirt	syut saam		裇衫
817	Shorts	d’yun fu		短褲
818	Shoes	haai	Don’t confuse with Prawns!	鞋
819	Skirt	kwan	General word: skirt, petticoat, apron	裙
820	Slippers	tO haai		拖鞋
821	Socks	maat zhI	Sock or socks general words	襪子
822	Suit	sAi zhong	Western style suit	西裝
823	Sweatshirt	bO seot		波恤
824	Swimming trunks	wing fu		泳褲
825	Tee Shirt	d’yun zhao saam		短袖衫
826	Tie	leng taaI	Necktie	領呔
827	Trousers	fu	Trousers, pants, slacks, etc	褲
828	Underpants	loi fu	Briefs, underpants, panties, knickers	內褲
829	Wedding Dress	kwan gwaa		裙褂
830	Wellington Boots	hOe zhI		靴子

10 Words for Accessories

831	Backpack	bUE bao		背包
832	Belt	pAi daIe		皮帶
833	Carrier Bag	gao doiE	A plastic bag	膠袋
834	Glasses	sAi gnaan	Alt: ‘sAi len’ = 4-eyes	四眼
835	Gloves	sau tO	Gloves, mittens = the same	手套
836	Handbag	sau doi	Handbag or purse (Female)	手袋
837	Purse	cin nong	Purse: specific	錢囊
838	Scarf	geng gan	Scarf, neckerchief	頸巾
839	Umbrella	yut saan		雨傘
840	Wallet	gnan baau		銀包

Words for Stationary

841	Book	syU bun		書本
842	Brochure	siU caak zhI		小冊子
843	Business Card	kat pin	Also means namecard	咭片
844	Calendar	lik	Versions: Solar calendar, lunar calendar	曆
845	Calligraphy	zhong gwor yut faat	The Art of Chinese Caligraphy	中國書法
846	Chinese Braille	zhong maan diem zhI	My small mind boggles – hope this helps!	中文點字
847	Folder	gaap liU caak	There do not appear to be any general nor specific word(s) that mean ‘Folder’. This is close. Please advise us if you know better	夾料冊
848	Guidebook	zhE naam	Guidebook, handbook, manual	指南
849	Magazine	zaap zhE		雜誌
850	Marker pen	bat hO mO mit	Indelible ink pen	不可磨滅
	Highlight Pen	ying gwong bat		螢光筆
851	Newspaper	zhE bou		報紙
	China Daily	zhong gwor yat bou	English Language Newspaper	中國日報
852	Notepad	bin zhin bun		便箋本
853	Paper	zhE dOi	General word for paper	紙袋
854	Pen	bat	Pen, ink pen, writing brush, pencil	筆
	Ink pen	mak soi bat		墨水筆
	Ball-point pen	yun zhE bat		原子筆
	Fountain pen	gong bat		鋼筆
	Light pen	gwong bat	Used with a computer	光筆
	Fibre tipped pen	yun mO bat		軟毛筆
855	Pencil	yun bat		鉛筆
856	Poster	hOi bou		海報
857	Printing Paper	yan biU gAi zhE	Easier to ask for ‘A4’	印表機
858	Report	bou	Used with other words for meaning. Best generalisations are ‘bou gou’ or ‘bou dou’	報
859	Voucher/Coupon	yaow wAi hyun		優惠券
860	Writing paper	seOn zhE		信紙

20 Words for Teachers

861	Assistant Teacher	siU sin saang	Student teaching assistant	小先生
862	Attention	zyU GEi		注意
863	Blackboard	haak baan		黑板
864	College	hok jyun		學院
865	Coloured Pencils	ngaan sik bat		顏色筆
	Pencil case	bat dOi		筆袋
866	Crayons	coi sik laap bat	Coloured crayons	彩色蠟筆
867	Exercise Book	lin zaap bOu	Alt: Workbook	練習簿
868	Headmaster	jyun zo-eng		院長
869	Homework	gaa fO		家課
870	Lesson Plan	gung fO		功課
871	Magnets	CE tiet		磁鐵
872	Paint or draw	waak tOu	Very general ‘cover-all’ word	畫圖
873	Practice	gan zyU	Repeat; continue; follow; and then...	跟住
874	Quiet	sau seng	Shut up, keep quiet!	收聲
875	School	hok haau		學校
876	Star	sau zo-eng	Small Award	授獎
877	Student	hok saang	Student, pupil	學生
878	Teacher	lO CEE		老師
879	University	daI hok		大學
880	Whiteboard	baak baan		白板

20 Words for Distance, Weights and Measures

881	Chinese Measure	CEi zhaI	Note: Most mainland Cantonese actually swap this around so it sounds like ‘si-zee’, pronounced “sI z’zhEE”. (literally: "market system")	市制
882	Imperial Measure	ying	Prefix	英
883a	Metric Measure	gong	Prefix	公
883b	S.I.	CEi	International metric standard. This means it is virtually the same as modern Metric	市
884	Chinese Inch	t’sun	1.463 inches, 3.175 mm	寸
885	Chinese Foot	chek	1.29 feet, 33 cm	尺
886	Chinese Mile	waa lAi	0.31 miles, 500 meters. Mandarin : ‘li’	華里
887	Catty HK Pound weight	gan	Basic unit of weight = 1.33 Pounds formerly 16 liang = 1 jin = 604.79 g	斤
888	Chinese Acre	mu	0.16 acres, 666.66 square meters	亩
889	Chinese Gram	gung fan	0.04 oz, 1 gram. Trad Mandarin = ke	公分
890	Tael	leung	1.3 oz, 37.8 grams	両
891	Chinese Kilo	jin	1.1 lbs, 500 grams – See ‘Catty’ above	斤
892	Hundredweight	dan	110 lbs, 50 kilos	担
893	Chinese Litre	sheng	0.22 Gallons, 1 litre	升
894	Chinese Gallon	dou	2.2 Gallons, 10 Litres	斗
895	Length	d’zhit	The Mandarin system of Length: 1 Yin = 10 Zhang 1 Zhang = 10 Chi 1 Chi = 10 Cun 1 Cun = 10 Fen 1 Fen is now the equivalent of 0.231 cm.	節
896	Volume	Zhong d’zhik	The Mandarin system of Volume is: 1 Hu = 10 Dou 1 Dou = 10 Sheng 1 Sheng is equivalent to the present 200 ml.	容積
897	Weight	bong bong	The Mandarin system of Weights is: 1 Dan = 4 Jun 1 Jun = 30 Jin 1 Jin= 16 Liang 1 Liang = 24 Zhu (Cantonese = loeng両) 1 Jin is equivalent to the current 253 grams.	磅
898	Inch	tien or cyun	Local Shunde speaking for about 1 inch. ‘cyun’ is general word meaning 1 UK inch	吋
899	Pint	ban yut		品脫
900	Size	daI siU	Characters for big and small together	大小

Note:

v Traditional Chinese measurements are seldom used today, and many are based on the number 16 (Like British Ounces) ; although bases 8, 12, and 20 are also common. However, they are used (Or their Metric or Imperial rough equivalents) in local shops, village shops, and virtually all wet markets. You need to know some of these, and understand their usage and meanings

v The words above are Chinese measurements

v Add gōng 公in front to specify the Metric equivalent

v Add ying英in front to specify the Imperial equivalent

v For a lot more information and specific units, please visit wapedia

o http://wapedia.mobi/en/Chinese_units_of_measurement (3 pages)

v We make no apologies if this is confusing:

o Sometimes the same sound and character has different meanings in combination

o Sometimes the same sound has different characters

o Sometimes the measurments have changed locally

o Hong Kong and Mainland measurements were different until 1986

§ Guangdong Cantonese use their own versions and words for both systems!

o – Here is China!

We will conclude this introduction to basic Cantonese in chapter 10, which lists many important words you will use in daily life