Your First 10 Words of Cantonese:

 

 

English

Cantonese

Comments

 

 

 

 

1

Hello

l’Ai hO

Nasal ‘l’

Alt ‘nAi hO’ (non-nasal ‘n’)

Mandarin ‘ni hao’

2

Goodbye

bYe-bai

Bye-Bye is ok. Same in Mandarin

3

Good

hO

Usually ‘ho-wah, ho-wah, ho-wah’

4

Bad

mmm’hO

Mmm means ‘Opposite’ of the next word used, usually!

Nasal ‘mmm’ as in mumming

5

Please

cheung mmm goi

Usually stated simply as ‘mmm’goi’ – see below

6

Ok

mO-men-tie

Ok-la

Coll. Ok-l. Characters: 冇問題

Opposite = ‘yO-men-tai’ = ‘not ok’

7

Yes

hye

Is not often used, use ‘ho’ instead unless ‘y/n’ question

8

No

mO-wah

mo + wah for emphasis!

Mandarin = ma-yo – as in Hellman’s

9

Toilet

sIe saow

 

Pronounce as:

sigh sow (female pig)

 

Normally written as:

sai sau or ‘WC’

·         Lit: ‘Wash hands’

·         Sigh means toilet only, but is rude

·         Green sign.

o        Toilets: 廁所

o       Gents: 男界

o        Ladies: 女界

·         Toilets are often mixed sex

·         Take your own toilet paper! (‘sigh zEi’ 廁紙 )

Boys: Mime by squatting – Only!

10

I don’t understand

mmm d’zhee dOh!

Mandarin = tim-per-donk

 

Keyword:

 

men tai

v      men tai                  problem

v      yaow men tai      big problem

v      mO men tai          OK, no problem

v      yO men tai           not OK, little problem

sIe - pronounce as ‘sigh’

v      We are spelling this ‘sIe’ = phonetic ‘s’ and ‘e’, Capital sounding’i’

v      Meaning 1 = wash + object

v      Meaning 2 = West character  西

v      Meaning 3 = Polite, self-depricating platitude, as used with ‘mmm goi’ below

Note:

  1. Most Cantonese cannot tell the difference between ‘L’ and ‘N’, when used as nasal sounds. As common to most local people, I have used the ‘L’ preference. Other phrasebooks and people from Hong Kong usually use the ‘n’ spelling

 

 

10 Words More – Being Polite

 

11

Please

mmm goi

There are about 20 variations of these two phrases – Only use these 4 to start with…

Local speakers may say ‘mmm goi-ah’ instead of ‘mmm goi sai’ – but first you need to speak the local languages

12

Thank you

mmm goi

13

Thank You for Service

mmm goi sai

14

My pleasure

You are welcome

mmm sai

15

My great pleasure

mmm sai hI hAi!

You are most welcome

16

No thank you

mmm sai mmm goi

Politely say ‘no’ to more: Food, drink, etc

17

Great thank you

doh d’zheei

Do not use this in normal speech. Reserved for receiving or giving a very special: gift, accolade, service or honour only. It is also very difficult to pronounce properly!

18

Great my pleasure

mmm doh d’zheei sai

19

Excuse me

mmm-hO yee see

Said as ‘mO-ee-see’, almost! Leaving a table, etc

20

Classifier / Counter:

Number of something

‘xxx of xxx’

gor

Mandarin ger.

 ‘r’ is silent for both languages, ‘o’ uses a nasal seal sound

Usage: 6 people, 5 x 4’s at dice, cards, repeated numbers.

 

Keywords:

 

mmm goi, mmm sai

v      Use for Please, Thank you, and all variations in daily speech

Note:

  1. Cantonese speakers do not have the ‘R’ sound at all!
    1. This is a very big problem for them, and they usually, use a non-nasal ‘L’ instead
    2. Mandarin speakers do have the ‘R’ sound, and can roll-it

 

 

10 Words More for Refreshments

 

21

Eat, meal, dinner

sic fan

Written as ‘xi fan’. fan = rice, min/fun = noodles

22

Drink

yuaam

General, non specific word for fluids

23

Hungry

tong-nor

 

24

Full, replete; burp

hO bao

Usually shortened to ‘bao-ah

25

Street restaurant

seeU yeahr

Usually late evenings – and throughout the night!

26

Female or Waitress

leun(g) loi

(g) is pronounced 10% only. Zhi as in ‘Zion’. leun(g) means beautiful. Mandarin = lang liU

27

Male or Waiter

leun(g) zhi

28

The bill

mai dan

Saying: ‘My Dan’ is fine. ‘My Dan-na’ is local speaking

29

Beer / alcohol

bAi d’zhao

‘bAi’ as in Bay leaf; Zh = J as in jow

Mandarin ‘Pee Jew’ (Versions:  ‘Bee Jew’)

30

Water

soi

Mandarin: Shway

 

Keyword:

 

zhao

  1. bAi d’zhao          Beer
  2. hong d’zhao       Wine
  3. bah d’zhao          Rice wine
  4. zhao dim              Hotel

 

Vegetarians:

  1. The official Cantonese phrase is ‘sic zhaai’ or ‘hek sou’, which nobody will understand!
  2. Your best bet is to convey that you are a Buddhist, as everybody knows Buddhists do not eat meat. Try ‘fat-fat’ and ‘fat gao tou’ when you get stuck, or…..
  3. Go to a Vegetarian Restaurant
  4. Calling a friend is ok, and may bring forth the required results?
    1. 50-50 and asking the audience will get you nowhere
    2. Vegan’s should pick another country, sorry

 

 

10 More and You Are on the Money

 

31

Money - Using

mun

Mandarin = kwai

32

Money - Currency

yuan

¥ = yuan = Money or RMB

Cantonese: yuan mun bai

Mandarin : Ren Min Be

¥

33

How much

gAy chin

Coll. ‘gAy chin-ah’

 

34

Too expensive

hO gui

hO gwi’ is ok to begin with

 

35

Maybe – weak

hO lan

Maybe I won’t

 

36

Maybe – strong

wah d’zhair

Maybe I will

 

37

Huge, Great, King

qin

Also ‘tian’,  ‘tien’ and ‘chin’ are correct

38

Large

dai

Often ‘dai-dai’

Mandarin ‘da’

39

Little, small

siU

Coll. siu-siu

Mandarin ‘xiao’

40

Few, smaller, less

siU

Said the same, but different character

 

Keywords:

 

mun

  1. Money
  2. Mosquito = same sound, same English spelling, different character, different usage. Splat!

 

gui means: ghost, hence:

v        gui-lo = white western person (Lit. interpretation: white ghost). There are other meanings of course lol; but used as Westerner’s say: ‘Chink’ or ‘Chinky’. Normally not offensive, but can be, or a compliment

 

gwi means: terrapin, turtle, or tortoise

 

 

10 Words for People

 

41

Person

yun

Includes: One person, Many, Male, Female, Mix

42

Me

n-gor

Try to say ‘Knorr’ as in the soup, but with the ‘o’ sounding like a seal or sea lion call (Hollow and Nasal)

43

You

lAi

As in ‘Lay Lady, Lay…’

44

Girl

moo-yi

If you talk to an ‘undefined’ girl, use the word ‘loi’. If you speak about a particular girl, no matter what age, use ‘mooi’ instead. Mooi-mooi = baby or young girl esp. ‘Sister’

45

Boy

zhI

You are very safe to use either ‘Girl’ or ‘Boy’ to define any person in China. Zhi-Zhi means young boy etc

46

Father

baba

For ‘Papa’. Cantonese usually say ‘b’ instead of ‘p’

47

Mother

mama

This is about the time you start worrying about how different the most basic words of human existence are…

48

Baby

ba-bAi

49

Friend

pun(g) - yaow

Often prefixed to denote sex or level of friendship

50

Name

gEU

20% ‘E’. ‘n-gor gEU xxx’ = my name is xxx.

 

Keyword:

 

n-gor

  1. A rapidly changing word, with older mainlanders using a very full pronunciation
  2. Modern young mainlanders will use the pronunciation given above
  3. 20-somethings in Hong Kong have already shortened this to ‘aw’ or even ‘o’ sounds

 

pun(g) yaow

  1. loi pung yaow                   girl friend
  2. lam pung yaow                  boy friend
  3. hO pung yaow                   good friend
  4.  

Notes:

Cantonese nearly always use ‘b’ instead of the more Western ‘p’; hence Baba vs Papa

‘P’ does exist in it’s own right.

 

 

Let’s Get Moving

 

51

Taxi

dak-CEi

Mainlanders usually swap ‘t’ for ‘d’. Hong Kong does not

52

Straight on

d’zhik hoi

Try ‘zik’ to begin with, then improve this sound

53

Turn left

jin jor

jin sounds very like the name Jean, but shorter like ‘jien’

54

Turn right

jin yaow

 

55

Left

jor bin

bin= On the, too the: + direction

56

Right

yaow bin

57

Traffic Lights

hong lop dAng

Lit. red green light. Alt. ‘dAng wei’

58

Bus

baah-CEE

CEi, CEE or see

59

Main Bus Station

cheir z’zham

1% 'r'. Bus Stop = baah-CEE z’zham

60

Aeroplane

fAi gAy

Airport =  fAi cheurng

 

Keywords:

‘cheir’ and ‘CEE’

v      We pronounce this ‘CEE’ as in ‘see’ – as a great generalisation. It may alter slightly depending upon the Chinese character it relates to and it’s common local daily useage

o        ‘cheir’ means car 1% ‘r’

o        four cheir means lorry

o        baa CEE means bus

 

 

10 Useful Words

 

61

Here

li-dO

As in English, these 2 words are relatively interchangeable.

‘r’ is pronounced correctly … weird!

62

There

gor-dO

63

Go, Come

hoi

To go … be somewhere else is actual meaning

64

Electricity

din

‘din wah’ means (mobile) phone (Simple version)

65

Bodily functions

au

au liu – urinate

au pAi = pass wind

au xi = number two

au xi soi = diarrhoea

Not polite, but not too bad either, and simple! Think ‘Piss’ vs ‘Urinate’

French ‘au’ sound used

66

Heah! or Hey!

wYEEi?

First word you say in a phone conversation

67

Where are you

hI bin dOh

Normal form of greetings for friends on the telephone

68

Where is ‘xyz’

hoi bin dOh

Use for both people and things

69

How are you?

lAi hO ma ?

Do not use this as a general greeting: see below…

70

Have you eaten (rice) today?

lAi sic fan mAi-ya?

Or

sic lAi mut yeahr?

This is what all-Chinese say as formal and informal greeting.

Only very good friends say ‘Wyeei. lAi-hO, hI bin dOh?’

 

Keywords:

 

din 

v      Basically anything to do with electricity

v      You can use this for such diverse things as: Lightning, power, light and light bulb, static shock, any electrical appliance or function

v      Try to learn ‘din wah’ = mobile phone. Lit. Electric talking

v      Similar with ‘jin’ and ‘lin’, there is a very slight 5% ‘e’ sound between the ‘i’ and ‘n’ = di(e)n

wah  

v      Means language or ‘way of speaking’ or talking

v      Sounds almost identical to the Mandarin ‘hua’

v      You will use this word far more than you imagine

 

 

More Useful Words

 

71

Very

fAi sheurng

‘sheurng’ is used in association with many other words

Shanghai is called ‘sheurng hOi’ in Cantonese

It can mean: ‘Up, top, previous, main, best, etc)

 

72

Photograph

ying sheurng

 

73

Wake up

sheurng jaw

 

74

Sleep

fun gao

 

 

75

Hot

ye-euh

hO ye-euh means very hot (Weather, drink, I’m hot, etc)

 

76

Cold

dong

As above usage : ‘hO dong’ it is cold. ‘dong-ah’ for cold drink

 

77

Hotel

zhao dim

 

酒店

78

Finish (Work)

gaao dim

9 o’clock = ‘gao dim’

 

79

Conversation

gong yeahr

Speak to somebody

 

80

Die

sAi jaw

Coll. Get married (End of a [boys] single life)

 

 

 

Let’s Count for 100

 

81

Zero

len

Actually ‘lien’ with 10% ‘i’

Mandarin Ling

82

1

yut

One (Person, Number, etc)

Mandarin = ee

83

2

leurng

or

yee

For Calculations & specified numbers use ‘yee’ (10% ‘y’)

Use ‘leurng’ whenever possible = pair, couple, double etc (Sounds very like Mandarin ‘ee’)

Mandarin = e’ur.

84

3

sam

Mandarin = san

85

4

sAy

Mandarin = s’eur

86

5

mmm

Mandarin = wu

87

6

lop

10% ‘P’ sound

Mandarin = liu

Cantonese phrasebooks will always use ‘luk’ = Wrong!

88

7

t’chyut

Please say ‘tut’ to begin, the ‘Tchy’ sound is complex

Mandarin = chee or qi

89

8

bak

Be very careful with this sound, very short, flat with sharp ‘k’

Mandarin = ba

90

9

gao

gao also means Dog (Coll. gao-gao)

Mandarin = niu (Also jiu)

91

10

sup

Written as ‘+’, so do not get confused with English ‘add’

Mandarin = sh-uer or shi

92

Defined number,

Classifier

Number + ‘gor’

Persons at a table, number of weeks, Dice and Card Games, etc

93

100

baak

Long and flat sound…

See ‘8’ above. Now practice saying 888…

Mandarin bai

94

1, 000

qin

Alt: ‘tien’, ‘qian’, ‘chin’. Can mean ‘Money’ & ‘A Grand’

Mandarin tian

95

10, 000

maah

Chinese do not count higher than this!

For higher numbers they simply add component parts

Mandarin wan

96

1, 000, 000

baak maah

1 million is said as ‘One Hundred, Ten-Thousand: (100 x 10,000)

百万

97

Half

boon

General word: ‘yut boon/ boon’ = ‘One half and a half’

Mandarin ‘ban’. Cantonese character is slightly different

98

50-50

mmm sup/ mmm sup

Used often - Has very similar usage to above

 

99

Decimal Currency 1

jiow

1 yuan = 10 jiao

1 jiao = 10 fen

Mandarin Jiao.

 

100

Dozen

daa

Mandarin ‘da’

 

Special Numbers and Using Numbers

 

Note:

1.       Special numbers:

                                                               i.      Not listed here, but special numbers do exist for: 20, 30, 40, etc.

                                                             ii.      As is ‘Old’ England, products are often sold by the dozen.

2.       Composite numbers - Highest first, hence: 888 = bak baak, bak sup, bak

3.       Using Numbers:

                                                               i.      10 people for dinner = ‘sup gor yun’

                                                             ii.      I have 3 x 6’s = ‘sam gor lop’

                                                           iii.      Phone numbers can be stated: 888002222 = ‘sam gor bak, leurng len, sai gor yee’

4.       Money, let’s say: 92.50 = “Gao sup leurng mun – boon” = ie Number + mun + ‘and a half’

5.       Year Date: Use numbers separately: Hence 2008 = yee len len bak lin

 

 

One-handed Counting

 

You will find it extremely useful to learn to count up to 19 using just the digits of your right hand. Not only is this very practicable in noisy situation – like playing dice in a nightclub – but you will also find it very useful  in daily situations. For example: You walk into a restaurant and the waitress immediately says something to you. She is asking how many people will be at your table. She may not speak Cantonese, nor any recognisable form of Mandarin. Simply say s above, but also hold out your hand indicating the number. Easy!

 

Here’s how we count:

Take your right hand and hold in front of you with palm inwards

 

1.         Closed fist, thumb hidden,  index finger extended horizontally

2.         As above, index and middle finger extended

3.         As above, index, middle and third finger extended

4.         As above, all fingers extended

5.         All fingers and thumb extended vertically

6.         Vertical closed fist with thumb and pinky extended horizontally ( --nnn-- )

7.         Closed fist, index finger pointing down, thumb pointing to your left – then rotate this to read 9.30 hours

8.         Two versions:

a)         Thumb and index finger either side of your nose, and pull away in a sweeping gesture

b)         As 7 above, but index finger at 9.30 and thumb at 12.30

9.         Closed fist sideways (Thumb to you). Raise the middle joint of your index finger

10.      Simply a closed fist

 

For numbers between 10 and 19, simply make two very quick number signs as one movement, so ten (Closed fist) first, followed by integer sign

 

You can actually use this method to count up to 99 – but this is quite rare. In this case there are three movements as if one: tens value, followed by closed fist (ten), followed by number less than ten

 

Usage for dice:

 Having learnt to count as above, here is a brief introduction to usage:

 

a.       Six fours is stated as two separate hand movements

b.       Repeating numbers as in ‘six sixes’ are usually indicated by emphasising the hand sign and waggling the whole fist repeatedly

c.        Twelve sixes would be stated as a ten sign flowing into a two sign as one movement, followed by a separate six sign

d.       To raise one time, lets say to thirteen sixes, simply tap your fist on your dice pot with thumb up

e.        To call ‘No Ones’ say ‘zhaI-ah’ (Upper case i) and indicate this using your fist with thumb extended in front of you, and move your arm to indicate this is behind your head – again one movement

 

And that’s all there is to it!