Lesson 29 · Bonus

Common Written → Spoken Substitutions

Quick reference of the most important written-to-spoken Cantonese mappings.

For Mandarin Speakers

Written Chinese (書面語) is essentially Mandarin-based and shared across all Chinese dialects. Spoken Cantonese (口語) uses entirely different words for many everyday concepts. This lesson covers the most important substitutions you need to convert written Chinese into natural spoken Cantonese.

Cantonese has a major split between written language (書面語 syu1 min2 jyu5) and spoken language (口語 hau2 jyu5). Written Chinese is Mandarin-based — newspapers, textbooks, and formal writing use the same vocabulary as Mandarin. But spoken Cantonese uses completely different words for many common concepts.

Verbs are the biggest category of substitutions. The most important ones: 食 sik6 replaces 吃 (eat), 飲 jam2 replaces 喝 (drink), 睇 tai2 replaces 看 (look/watch/read), 揾 wan2 replaces 找 (find/look for), 攞 lo2 replaces 拿/取 (take/get), 擺 baai2 replaces 放 (put/place), 諗 nam2 replaces 想 (think — as in ponder, not 'want to').

Common words and expressions: 嘢 je5 replaces 東西 (thing/stuff), 屋企 uk1 kei2 replaces 家 (home), 邊個 bin1 go3 replaces 誰 (who), 點解 dim2 gaai2 replaces 為什麼 (why), 咁 gam3 replaces 那麼/這麼 (so), 而家 ji4 gaa1 replaces 現在 (now), 嗰個 go2 go3 replaces 那個 (that one).

Adjectives and descriptions: 靚 leng3 replaces 漂亮/好看 (pretty/good-looking), 叻 lek1 replaces 聰明/厲害 (smart/impressive), 凍 dung3 replaces 冷 (cold — for weather/temperature), 攰 gui6 replaces 累 (tired), 嬲 nau1 replaces 生氣 (angry), 驚 geng1 replaces 害怕 (scared).

Function words: 係 hai6 replaces 是 (is), 唔 m4 replaces 不 (not), 冇 mou5 replaces 沒有 (don't have), 嘅 ge3 replaces 的 (possessive), 咗 zo2 replaces 了 (completed), 緊 gan2 replaces 在/正在 (progressive), 俾 bei2 replaces 給/讓/被 (give/let/passive). These function words appear in nearly every Cantonese sentence.

Examples

你食咗嘢未？nei5 sik6 zo2 je5 mei6?Have you eaten anything yet?

Mandarin: 你吃了東西沒有？ nǐ chī le dōngxi méiyǒu?

食→吃, 嘢→東西, 咗→了, 未→沒有 — four substitutions in one sentence!

我好攰，想返屋企瞓覺ngo5 hou2 gui6, soeng2 faan1 uk1 kei2 fan3 gaau3I'm tired, I want to go home and sleep

Mandarin: 我很累，想回家睡覺 wǒ hěn lèi, xiǎng huí jiā shuìjiào

攰→累, 返→回, 屋企→家, 瞓→睡 — all spoken Cantonese forms

你揾緊咩嘢？nei5 wan2 gan2 me1 je5?What are you looking for?

Mandarin: 你在找什麼東西？ nǐ zài zhǎo shénme dōngxi?

揾→找, 緊→在, 咩→什麼, 嘢→東西

佢好叻，乜都識keoi5 hou2 lek1, mat1 dou1 sik1He/She is very smart, knows everything

Mandarin: 他很聰明，什麼都會 tā hěn cōngmíng, shénme dōu huì

叻→聰明, 乜→什麼, 識→會 — spoken Cantonese vocabulary

唔好嬲我，我唔係故意㗎m4 hou2 nau1 ngo5, ngo5 m4 hai6 gu3 ji3 gaa3Don't be angry at me, I didn't do it on purpose

Mandarin: 不要生氣，我不是故意的 bùyào shēngqì, wǒ bù shì gùyì de

嬲→生氣, 唔好→不要, 唔係→不是, 㗎→的 (assertive)

Exercises

Fill in the Blank

Convert to spoken Cantonese: 看 (to look/watch) → ___

Multiple Choice

Which set are ALL spoken Cantonese replacements for written Chinese words?

Translate

Convert this written Chinese sentence to spoken Cantonese (with Jyutping): 他很累 (He is very tired)

Fill in the Blank

Convert to spoken Cantonese: 東西 (thing/stuff) → ___

Multiple Choice

Which spoken Cantonese word replaces BOTH 漂亮 and 好看?

← 28. Prepositions: Space & Time 30. Cantonese Slang & Colloquialisms →