Personal PronounsClick on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample.

I 我 o

you 你 lei

he, she, it 佢 köü

we 我哋  o dei

you (plural) 你哋 lei dei

they 佢哋 köü dei

Basic NounsClick on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample.

See also Household Items.

book 書 sü (MW: 本 bun )chair d n

car 車 tse (MW: 架 ga )

home 屋企 Uk kei

moon 月 yüt ; full moon mun yüt

person 人 y n (MW: 個 go )

plant 植物 dzIk m t (MW: po )

something 嘢 ye

star 星 sIng

sun 太陽 tai yœng

table 抬 toi

telephone 電話 din wa

TV 電視 din si

tree 樹 sü (MW: po )

water 水 söü (MW: glass bui )

Verbs 動詞Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample.

verb 動詞 dUng tsi

Ref 1

negation 唔 m + (verb)

completed 咗 (verb) + dzo

-ing 緊 (verb) + g n(verb) + dzü

will, would 會 wui + (verb)

be 係 h i

(locative) h i(with adjective) hou    Lit. very

not be 唔係 m h i ; (in questions) m i

have 有 y u

not have 冇 mou

go 去 höü

come l i

can, may 可以 ho yi

want, need 要 yiu

want to, would like to 想 sœng

do, make 整 dzIng

做 dzou

eat 食 sIk

drink 飲 y m

like 鍾意 dzUng yi

ask 問 m n

buy 買 mai

have enough 夠 g u

know 知道 dzi dou

know how to 識 sIk

learn 學 hok

leave 走 dz u

listen 聽 ten

live, reside 住 dzü h i

look for 搵 w n

love 愛 oi

return, back, re- 返 fan

   come back fan l i   go back fan höü

say, speak 講 gon

see 睇 t i

translate 翻譯 fan yIk

Ref 2

understand 明白 mIng bat

識聽 (language) sIk ten

wait for d n

Adjectives 形容詞One-syllable adjectives go directly in front of the noun. With adjectives of two syllables or more, use ge between the adjective and the noun.

See also Feelings, Personality Traits, Physical Traits, Comparisons and Similes and Colours.

Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample.

be  you are beautiful 

好 (used with adjective) hou    Lit. verylei hou len

beautiful 靚 len

big 大 dai

cheap 平 pen

cold 凍 dUng

crazy 黐線 tsi sin

cute 得意 d t yi

difficult 難深

lan s m

easy 容易 yUng yi

expensive 貴 gw i

fast 快 fai

few, a 幾 gei + (MW)

good 好 hou

happy 開心 hoi s m

hot 熱 yit

little 小細

siu s i

more, -er 啲 di

new 新 s n

sad 唔開心 m hoi s m

small 小細

siu s i

so g m

Ref 3

   so ugly g m w t d t (with tone change)

tired 癐 gui

too, excessively    not too

太      ...    喇   唔係太

tai (adjective) lam h i tai (adjective)

ugly 核突 w t d t

very 好 hou

warm 暖 lün

Adverbs 副詞The word d@k1 is used to introduce adverbs of manner that reflect personal impressions, e.g. You speak very well!

Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample.

a bit 一啲 y t di

a lot 多 do

again 再 dzoi

enough 夠 g u

maybe 可能或者

hou l n wat dze

quite, rather gei

together 一齊 y t ts i

too, as well 都 (noun) + dou

too, excessively    not too

太      ...    喇   唔係太

tai (adjective) lam h i tai (adjective)

Numbers 數目Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample. See also Quantity.

zero 零 lIng

one 一 y t

two 二兩

yi lœng (used when a noun follows)

three 三 sam

four 四 sei

Ref 4

five 五 m

six 六 lUk

seven 七 ts t

eight 八 bat

nine 九 g u

ten 十 s p ; (short form) a

11 十一 s p y t    Lit. ten and one

12 十二 s p yi    Lit. ten and two

20 二十廿

yi s p    Lit. two tensya or ye (short form)

30 三十 sam s p ; sa1 a6 (short form)

100 一百 y t bat

1,000 一千 y t tsin

10,000  一萬  y t man

-th 第 d i + (number)

half 半 bun

Numbers from 10 to 99 are formed by multiplying tens, e.g. 52 = 5 × 10 + 2.

52  五十二  m s p yi

Short forms

二十 (20) is commonly pronounced 廿 ya (or ye ) instead of yi s p , provided it is followed by another number, a measure word, or a noun.

十 (10) s p can be shortened to a in numbers from 31 to 99, when it is followed by another number, a measure word, or a noun.

41  四十一  sei s p y t , orsei a y t

Similarly, you can say sa for 三 sam , when it is followed by another number, a measure word, or a noun.

38  三十八  sam s p bat , orsa a bat

PeopleSee also Family, Occupations and Famous People.

Ref 5

person y n (MW: go )boy lam dz i (MW: go )fool so loufriend p n y ugirl löü dz i (MW: go )king wonman lam y nMiss siu dzeMr. sin sannamestudent hok sanWesterner s i y n , (slang for white man) gw i louwoman löü y n

Family

brother (older) go go(younger) s i lou

daughter löü (MW:go ) father ba ba ; (vocative) a bagrandmother (maternal) ma mahusband dzœng fumother ma mi ; (vocative) a marelative ts n tsIksister (older) dze dze

(younger) s i muison dz i (MW: go )wife tai tai

Occupations 職業

what do you do for a living? lei5 dzou sIng hon a ? ;lei dzou bin (y t ) hon a ?

where do you work? lei h i bin dou fat tsoi a ?

occupation dzIk yipactor 演員 yin yün

businessperson sœng y nchef dai tsücivil servant gUng mou yündentist a yi (s n )doctor yi s n1engineer gUng tsIng sifarmer lUng fufisherman yü fu

Ref 6

homemaker dzü fujournalist gei dzeking wonlawyer löt silooking for a job w n g n gUngmanager gIng leinurse wu sioffice worker dzIk yünpharmacistpolice officerpolitician dzIng dzi gaprostitute g i chickenreceptionist dzip doi yünsalesperson s u fo yün ; mai fo yünspeech-language pathologist,

speech therapist

言èªæ²»ç™‚師 �yin yü dzi liu si

student hok sansurgeonteacher gau sitranslator fan yIkwaiter si yIngwaitress löü si yIngwriter dzok ga

Timewhen? gei sinow yi gasometimes y u sinever tsUng loi mouyesterday k m y ttoday g m y ttomorrow tIng y tafternoon an dz uUnitsminute f n (no MW)5 minutes dzi (MW: go )quarter gw t (MW: go )half bunhour dzUngday y tweek l i bai ; sIng kei (MW: go )month yüt (MW: go )year lin

Ref 7

Clockat what time? gei dim dzUng awhat time is it? gei dim ao'clock dim (dzUng )9:30 g u dim bun5:03 m dim lIng sam f n 4:106:45 lUk dim sei s p m f n

Days of the Week

Use the numbers 1 to 6 with sing1 kei4 to form the days from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is an exception. You may also use l@i5 bai3 instead of sing1 kei4.

Monday sIng kei y t (weekday 1)Tuesday sIng kei yiWednesday sIng kei samThursday sIng kei seiFriday sIng kei mSaturday sIng kei lUk (weekday 6)Sunday sIng kei y tweekend dz u mut (MW: go )

Months

Put the numbers 1 to 12 before the word for month yuet6.

January y t yüt (1st month)February yi yütMarch sam yütApril sei yütMay m yütJune lUk yüt...November s p y t yütDecember s p yi yüt (12th month)Presentnow yi gatoday g m y tthis morning g m dziu (dzou ) ; li go dziu dzouthis afternoon li go an dz utonight g m man ; g m manthis month g m go yütthis year g m linPastjust nowyesterday k m y tday before yesterday tsin y t

Ref 8

last night k m manlast month sœng go yütlast year sœng lin...agoFuturelater tsi disoon y t dz ntomorrow tIng y tday after tomorrow h u y ttomorrow night tIng man ; tIng mannext month ha go yütnext year ha linin...DateWednesday, May 8, 2002Seasonsspring tsön gw isummer ha gw iautumn ts u gw iwinter dUng gw iDecades60s lUk s p lin doi70s ts t s p lin doi80s bat s p lin doi90s g u s p lin doiCenturies20th century ya s i gei21st century ya yi s i geiAdverbs

again dzoino longer dzoi m [verb] la

Physical TraitsSee also Parts of the Body.

bald

beautiful 靚 leng3

curvy 曲線美 kUk sin mei

cute 得意 d t yi

darkfat 肥 fei

Ref 9

fithairy 毛 mou yUng yUng

handsome 英俊 yIng dzön

leanmuscular 肌肉 gei yUk

old 老 lou

palepregnant wai (dzo ) y nsexy 性感 sIng g m

short 矮 i

skinny 皮包骨 pei bau gw t    Lit. skin-wrapped bone

slim 苗條 miu tiu

strong 强壯 kœng dzon

stouttall 高 gou

thin 瘦 s u

ugly 核突醜樣

w t d tts u yœng

young hou san

I'm... years old  我...歲  o (number) söü

Personality Traits 個性Click on any Chinese word with a beige background to hear an audio sample. See also Feelings.

absent-minded 心不在焉

s m b t dzoi yin

affectionate 親切 ts n chit

ambitious 有野心 y u ye s m

arrogant 自大 dzi dai    Lit. self big

blunt 直 dzIk

brave 勇 yUng

cattycold 冷淡 lan dam

conceited 自大 dzi dai    Lit. self big

Ref 10

confident 自信 dzi sön    Lit. self-believing

conservative 保守 bou s u

controlling

crazy 黐線 tsi sin

癲 din

cruel 殘忍 tsan y n

curious 好奇 hou kei    Lit. fond of strange

deceitfuleasy-goingeducated 有學識 y u hok sIk

emotionalenergeticenthusiasticextraverted 外向 oi hœng    Lit. out-facing

friendly 友善 y u sin

funny 狡笑 gau siu

generous 大方 dai fon

greedy 貪心 tam s m

hard-working 勤力 k n lIk

honest 誠實 sIng s t

ignorantimpatient 冇耐性 mou loi sIng

impolite mou l i (mau )intelligent 聰 tsUng mIng

醒 sIng

叻 lek

intenseintroverted 內向 loi hœng    Lit. in-facing

kind 善良 sin lœng

lazy 懶 lan

logicalloud 嘈 tsou

mean 賤格 dzin gat

söümodest 謙虛 him höü

nosy bat gwaobnoxiousobsessedodd 怪 gwai

Ref 11

open-minded 冇偏見 mou pin gin

patient 有耐性 y u loi sIng

polite 冇禮貌 y u l i (mau )

psychoreliable 靠得住 kau d t dzü

resourcefulresponsible 有責任

感y u dzat y m g m

selfish 自私 dzi si

sensitive 敏感 m n g m    Lit. swift-feeling

sensualshy 怕醜 pa ts u

silly 儍 so

smart 聰 tsUng mIng

醒 sIng

叻 lek

spitefulstraightforward 直 dzIk

strange 怪 gwai

stubborn 固執 gu dz p a Japanese guy stuck in goo and doesn't want to get out: a stubborn goo Jap

stupid 蠢 tsön

superstitious 迷信 m i sön

unreliable 靠唔住 kau m dzü

vain 自大 dzi dai    Lit. self big

weird 怪 gwai

wise 聰明 tsUng mIng

witty

Ref 12