Cantonese Level UpCantonese Level UpLesson 4 · Core Grammar
佢 keoi5 (he/she/it unified), 我哋/你哋/佢哋, and 人哋 — how Cantonese pronouns differ from Mandarin 他/她/它.
For Mandarin Speakers
The biggest difference: Cantonese uses a single character 佢 keoi5 for he, she, and it — there is no written gender distinction like Mandarin's 他/她/它. Plurals use the suffix 哋 dei6 instead of Mandarin's 們 men.
Cantonese personal pronouns are simpler than Mandarin in one key way: 佢 keoi5 covers all third-person references regardless of gender. In speech, Mandarin also doesn't distinguish (tā sounds the same), but in writing Mandarin uses 他 (he), 她 (she), and 它 (it). Cantonese just writes 佢 for all three.
The basic pronouns are: 我 ngo5 (I/me), 你 nei5 (you), and 佢 keoi5 (he/she/it). These are the same concepts as Mandarin 我 wǒ, 你 nǐ, and 他 tā, just with different pronunciations.
To form plurals, Cantonese adds 哋 dei6 after the pronoun: 我哋 ngo5 dei6 (we), 你哋 nei5 dei6 (you all), 佢哋 keoi5 dei6 (they). This replaces Mandarin's 們 suffix. Note that 哋 is unique to Cantonese — you won't see this character in Mandarin text.
A useful expression is 人哋 jan4 dei6, which means 'other people' or 'someone else'. It can also be used as a coy way to refer to oneself (similar to how some Mandarin speakers use 人家 rénjia). For example: 人哋唔鍾意 jan4 dei6 m4 zung1 ji3 — 'Other people don't like it' (or coyly, 'I don't like it').
The reflexive pronoun 自己 zi6 gei2 (oneself) works the same as in Mandarin. You can combine it with any pronoun: 我自己 ngo5 zi6 gei2 (myself), 你自己 nei5 zi6 gei2 (yourself), 佢自己 keoi5 zi6 gei2 (himself/herself).
Mandarin: 他/她是我朋友 tā shì wǒ péngyǒu
佢 covers he/she/it — no gender distinction in writing
Mandarin: 我們去吃飯 wǒmen qù chīfàn
哋 dei6 replaces Mandarin 們
Mandarin: 人家不喜歡啊 rénjia bù xǐhuān a
人哋 = other people, or coy self-reference like Mandarin 人家
Mandarin: 你自己決定吧 nǐ zìjǐ juédìng ba
自己 zi6 gei2 works the same as Mandarin 自己
Mandarin: 他們很開心 tāmen hěn kāixīn
佢哋 = they (any gender)
Multiple Choice
How does Cantonese handle the Mandarin distinction between 他 (he), 她 (she), and 它 (it)?
Fill in the Blank
To say 'we' in Cantonese, you say 我___ (ngo5 ___). Fill in the plural suffix.
Translate
Translate to Cantonese (with Jyutping): 'They are my friends.' (他們是我朋友)
Multiple Choice
What does 人哋 jan4 dei6 mean?