Reported Speech & 話 waa6

Reporting what someone said or thought is essential for conversation. Cantonese uses 話 waa6 as the primary verb for 'say' and 'tell', replacing Mandarin 說 shuō.

話 waa6 = say: 佢話好好食 keoi5 waa6 hou2 hou2 sik6 (he said it's very tasty). 你話咩話？nei5 waa6 me1 waa2? (What did you say?). Direct quotes simply follow 話: 佢話「我唔去」keoi5 waa6 'ngo5 m4 heoi3' (he said 'I'm not going').

話俾...知 waa6 bei2...zi1 = tell someone: This is a key Cantonese pattern meaning 'tell' (lit. say-give-know). 話俾我知 waa6 bei2 ngo5 zi1 (tell me). 話俾佢知 waa6 bei2 keoi5 zi1 (tell him/her). Mandarin uses 告訴 gàosu: 告訴我.

叫 giu3 = tell/ask (someone to do something): 佢叫我去 keoi5 giu3 ngo5 heoi3 (he told/asked me to go). 老闆叫我做 lou5 baan2 giu3 ngo5 zou6 (the boss told me to do it). Similar to Mandarin 叫 jiào.

Thought verbs: 諗 nam2 = think/ponder (replaces Mandarin 想 xiǎng in the 'think about' sense): 我諗吓先 ngo5 nam2 haa5 sin1 (let me think about it first). 覺得 gok3 dak1 = feel/think (opinion): 我覺得OK ngo5 gok3 dak1 OK (I think it's OK). 以為 ji5 wai4 = mistakenly thought: 我以為你走咗 ngo5 ji5 wai4 nei5 zau2 zo2 (I thought you had left).

Important: 想 soeng2 in Cantonese primarily means 'want to' (= Mandarin 想要), NOT 'think about'. For 'think/ponder', use 諗 nam2. 我想去 ngo5 soeng2 heoi3 = I want to go. 我諗吓 ngo5 nam2 haa5 = let me think.