Cantonese (粵語)

travel phpto to inspire Cantonese language study
Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

ALPHABET MATCHING GAME VOCABULARY FLASHCARDS

Why learn Cantonese?

You can communicate in Cantonese. You are at a distinct advantage in the global market if you are bilingual. Creativity is increased with the study of Cantonese. it fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature.

How Long Does it Take to Learn Cantonese?

Cantonese is rated as a category 4 language by the Foreign Service Institute. It is considered exceptionally difficult for English speakers to learn and takes an average of 88 weeks (or 2200 class hours) to gain professional working proficiency.

Cantonese Alphabet & Pronunciation

Jyutping was created by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993 and is a popular romanization scheme for Cantonese. Each syllable is represented by an initial (b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, gw, kw, w, c, s or j), a final, and a number from 1-6 that represents the tone.

b
(巴)
p
(怕)
m
(媽)
f
(花)
d
(打)
t
(他)
n
(那)
l
(啦)
g
(家)
k
(卡)
ng
(牙)
h
(蝦)
gw
(瓜)
kw
(誇)
w
(蛙)
z
(渣)
c
(叉)
s
(沙)
j
(也)
aa
(沙)
aai
(徙)
aau
(梢)
aam
(三)
aan
(山)
aang
(坑)
aap
(圾)
aat
(剎)
aak
(客)
a
(㗎)
ai
(西)
au
(收)
am
(心)
an
(新)
ang
(笙)
ap
(濕)
at
(失)
ak
(塞)
e
(些)
ei
(四)
eu
(掉[)
em
(舐)
eng
(鄭)
ep
(夾)
ek
(石)
i
(詩)
iu
(消)
im
(閃)
in
(先)
ing
(星)
ip
(攝)
it
(洩)
ik
(識)
o
(疏)
oi
(開)
ou
(蘇)
on
(看)
ong
(康)
ot
(喝)
ok
(索)
u
(夫)
ui
(灰)
un
(寬)
ung
(鬆)
ut
(闊)
uk
(叔)
eoi
(需)
eon
(詢)
eot
oe
(鋸)
oeng
(商)
oet
oek
(削)
yu
(書)
yun
(孫)
yut
(雪)
m
(唔)
ng
(吳)

Basic Phrases in Cantonese

Hello你好 (Néih hóu)
Goodbye再見 (Joigin)
Yes (haih)
No唔係 (mh'haih)
Excuse me唔好意思 (M̀h'hóu yisi)
Please (Chíng)
Thank you唔該 (M̀h'gōi)
You are welcome
Do you speak english
Do you understand
I understand
I do not understand
How are you
Fine thanks
What is your name
My name is
Pleased to meet you

Cantonese Grammar

Cantonese Nouns

Man
Woman
Boy
Girl
Cat
Dog
Fish
Water
Milk
Egg
House
Flower
Tree
Shirt
Pants

Cantonese Adjectives

Colors in Cantonese

Black黑色 (hāk sīk)
White白色 (baahk sīk)
Red紅色 (hùhng sīk)
Orange橙色 (chàahng sīk)
Yellow黃色 (wòhng sīk)
Green綠色 (luhk sīk)
Blue藍色 (làahm̀ sīk)
Purple紫色 (jí sīk)
Pink粉紅色 (fán hùhng sīk)
Gray灰色 (fūi sīk)
Brown啡色 (fē sīk)

Numbers in Cantonese

Zero (lìhng)
One (yāt)
Two (yih)
Three (sāam)
Four (sei)
Five (ńgh)
Six (luhk)
Seven (chāt)
Eight (baat)
Nine (gáu)
Ten (sahp)
Eleven十一
Twelve十二
Twenty二十 (yihsahp)
Thirty三十 (sāamsahp )
Forty四十 (seisahp )
Fifty五十 (ńghsahp )
Sixty六十 (luhksahp )
Seventy七十 (chātsahp)
Eighty八十 (baatsahp)
Ninety九十 (gáusahp )
Hundred一百 (yātbaak)
Thousand一千 (yātchīn)

Cantonese Verbs

To be
To have
To want
To need
To help
To go
To come
To eat
To drink
To speak

Building Simple Sentences

More Complex Cantonese Sentences

And
Or
But
Because
With
Also
However
Neither
Nor
If
Then

Useful Cantonese Vocabulary

Cantonese Questions

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
How many
How much

Days of the Week in Cantonese

Monday禮拜一 (láihbaai yāt)
Tuesday禮拜二 (láihbaai yih )
Wednesday禮拜三 (láihbaai sāam)
Thursday禮拜四 (láihbaai sei)
Friday禮拜五 (láihbaai ńgh)
Saturday星期六 (Xīngqíliù)
Sunday禮拜日 (láihbaai yaht)
Yesterday尋日 (chàhm'yaht)
Today今日 (gām'yaht)
Tomorrow聽日 (tīngyaht)

Months in Cantonese

January一月 (yāt'yuht)
February二月 (yih'yuht)
March三月 (sāam'yuht)
April四月 (seiyuht)
May五月 (ńgh'yuht)
June六月 (luhk'yuht)
July七月 (chāt'yuht)
August八月 (baat'yuht)
September九月 (gáuyuht)
October十月 (sahpyuht)
November十一月 (sahpyāt'yuht)
December十二月 (sahpyih'yuht)

Seasons in Cantonese

Winter冬天 (doong teen)
Spring春天 (chun teen)
Summer夏天 (ha teen)
Autumn秋天 (chow teen)

Telling Time in Cantonese

What time is it
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
O clock
Half
Quarter past
Before
After