Do you know enough basic Cantonese

Not that I am suggesting you to travel right now, with Covid going on and the political situation in Hong Kong. But if you were to travel there, do you think you know enough to get around? Not that you must know Cantonese before you travel, but definitely knowing some basic Cantonese is the way to show them that you care about the people enough to try to communicate in their language and care about their culture. That’s also what I like to do before I travel. When I went to Belgium, I was getting a ticket to the museum in French, they could understand me, although the gentleman in line behind me was smirking, I don’t care because I know he thought I was cute speaking broken French with an accent. Let’s see if you already know all these super simple phrases I will be talking about today.

Simple Cantonese greetings:

These have all been very detailly talked about in the greeting episodes, if you would like to know more, please go back to those posts.

Hello - 你好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho)

Hello you guys - 你哋好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Day Ho)

To say hi, very simply you can just say hello. But in Cantonese Cantonese, not Hong Kong Hybrid Cantonese, you can simply say 你好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho), meaning you good. If there’s more than one person, you can say 你哋好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Day Ho)meaning you guys good.

How are you? - 你好嗎? (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho Ma)

To ask how are you, you can simply say 你好嗎? (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho Ma) Meaning you good? 嗎(Dummy PY: Ma) is the emotion sound you add at the end of the sentence, for 嗎(Dummy PY: Ma) specifically it is used to indicate that this is a question.

How to say nice to meet you in Cantonese:

Nice to meet you - 好高興認識你。(Dummy PY: Ho Go Hing Ying Sick Neigh)

To say nice to meet you,好高興認識你。(Dummy PY: Ho Go Hing Ying Sick Neigh) This is pretty much a formal thing to say in Cantonese, usually only used in professional context. But perhaps for a very polite person they might also say “nice to meet you” 好高興認識你。(Dummy PY: Ho Go Hing Ying Sick Neigh) 高興(Dummy PY: Go Hing) is the formal way of saying happy for Hong Kongers, usually we would say 開心 (Dummy PY: Hoy Sum) for happy. 認識 (Dummy PY: Ying Sick) means to get to know. So literally 好高興認識你 (Dummy PY: Ho Go Hing Ying Sick Neigh) means very happy to get to know you.

How to say goodbye in Cantonese:

Goodbye - 拜拜 (Dummy PY: Bye Bye)

See you- 再見(Dummy PY: Joy Geen)

Super simple, you can simply say 拜拜 (Dummy PY: Bye Bye), same sound as the word bye in English. 拜 (Dummy PY: Bye) really means to bow or the pray (to god or deceased relatives), say for example in Chinese New Year we call going to visit friends and family, this activity 拜年 (Dummy PY: Bye Neen) meaning to pay respects to the upcoming year. So you can simply say 拜拜(Dummy PY: Bye Bye). To say see you, very simply you can say 再見(Dummy PY: Joy Geen), 再 (Dummy PY: Joy)means again, 見 (Dummy PY: Geen)means to see, so 再見(Dummy PY: Joy Geen) means to see you again. Cantonese people of older generations might say that it is unlucky to say 拜拜(Dummy PY: Bye Bye) instead of 再見(Dummy PY: Joy Geen), because at least 再見 (Dummy PY: Joy Geen)means you are sort of expecting to see this person again. But of course, if you don’t really care about seeing the person again, go ahead and just say 拜拜(Dummy PY: Bye Bye), pretty much everyone says it, just sometimes some people might be nitpicky, your choice.

How to say thank you and you are welcome:

Thank you - 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) / 多謝 (Dummy PY: Door Je)

Couple of posts ago I talked at length about how to say thank you in Cantonese, because it is quite a knowledge in itself in terms of how to use which thank you. So today, the simplest version of thank you would be 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) and 多謝 (Dummy PY: Door Je). 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) is used when someone did you a favour, usually smaller favours. 多謝 (Dummy PY: Door Je) is used when someone is giving you a gift or when they are doing you a bigger favour. So I am going to leave it at that, most of the time if you are just buying something or at a restaurant you will just say 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy), find out more from my previous episode on saying thank yous in 19 ways.

You are welcome - 唔駛(Dummy PY: Um Sigh) / 唔駛客氣(Dummy PY: Um Sigh Hack Hey)/ 唔好客氣(Dummy PY: Um Ho Hack Hey)

To say you are welcome, the easiest way is to say 唔駛(Dummy PY: Um Sigh) meaning, No need. You are fine. Or for the longer versions a little more polite would be 唔駛客氣(Dummy PY: Um Sigh Hack Hey) - (Literal: No need to be polite)/ you are welcome. 唔好客氣(Dummy PY: Um Ho Hack Hey) - (Literal: No politeness) / you are welcome.

How to say sorry or excuse me:

Sorry - 對唔住 (Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju) Sor/ Sorry

Excuse me - 唔好意思 (Dummy PY: Um Ho Yee See)

Excuse me for asking - 請問 (Dummy PY: Ching Men)

In Cantonese, 對唔住 (Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju) is sorry, in order to apologize. In Hong Kong, you will more often hear ----sorry rather than 對唔住 (Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju), even more informally sometimes you will hear people say “Sor” which is short for sorry. 對唔住 (Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju) is more formal, like when you are very serious about the situation, in Hong Kong anyways when things are not very serious, we would go with the English, because it feels like it’s less burdening or you don’t lose as much face when using the English terms rather than in Cantonese. Another example of that is, the phrase I love you, 我愛你(Dummy PY: Ngo Oi Neigh), it takes a lot for someone to say it in Cantonese 我愛你(Dummy PY: Ngo Oi Neigh), it’s a lot easier for us Cantonese people people to say I love you in English. And to say excuse me it will be 唔好意思 (Dummy PY: Um Ho Yee See), if you feel like you have to bother someone for asking something. In order to politely ask a question, you can start the question with 請問 (Dummy PY: Ching Men) meaning please excuse me for asking.

How to say you don’t speak Cantonese:

If you clearly don’t look like a local Hong Konger, sometimes it doesn’t have to be your race or ethnicity, sometimes it’s just how you dress and how you carry yourself, Hong Kongers can immediately spot out whether you are a local or not. So they might attempt to speak English with you, but if you are in a situation where sometimes, the person can’t speak English, but they will really try to communicate with you, in Cantonese, assuming you understand if you are acknowledging them, you can say:

I don’t understand - 我唔明 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming)

I don’t understand Cantonese - 我唔明廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming Gwong Dong Wah)

I don’t know Cantonese - 我唔識廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gwong Dong Wah)

我唔明 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming) meaning I don’t understand. 明 (Dummy PY: Ming)means understand, short for 明白 (Dummy PY: Ming Back), for not understand you can say 唔明 (Dummy PY: Um Ming) or 唔明白 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming Back) or you can say 我唔明廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming Gwong Dong Wah), meaning I don’t understand Cantonese. 廣東話(Dummy PY: Gwong Dong Wah) is Cantonese. Or 我唔識廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gwong Dong Wah) meaning I don’t know Cantonese. 識 (Dummy PY: Sick) means to know.

Do you know how to speak English? - 你識唔識講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Sick Um Sick Gong Ying Men)

Can you speak English? - 你可唔可以講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Ying Men)

You can also say in Cantonese 你識唔識講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Sick Um Sick Gong Ying Men) literally you know or not know speak English, meaning do you know how to speak English, 英文 (Dummy PY: Ying Men) is English or you can say 你可唔可以講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Ying Men)Literally you can or cannot speak English, meaning Can you speak English?

I know a little bit of Cantonese - 我識少少廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Sick Shoe Shoe Gwong Dong Wah)

If you know a little bit of Cantonese, you can say 我識少少廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Sick Shoe Shoe Gwong Dong Wah) literally I know less less Cantonese, meaning I know a little bit of Cantonese. 少少 (Dummy PY: Shoe Shoe) means a little bit.

Sorry, I don’t speak Cantonese - 對唔住(Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju), 我唔識講廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gong Gwong Dong Wah)

Or if you don’t know how to speak Cantonese, you can say 對唔住(Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju) or sorry, 我唔識講廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gong Gwong Dong Wah) meaning sorry, I don’t know how to speak Cantonese. 講 (Dummy PY: Gong) means to speak.

Can you speak slower? - 你可唔可以講慢啲? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Man Dee?)

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If you want someone to say it slowly, you can say 你可唔可以講慢啲? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Man Dee?) 慢 (Dummy PY: Man) means slow, and 啲 (Dummy PY: Dee)same pronunciation as the English letter D, here means the -er as in comparison. So 慢啲 (Dummy PY: Man Dee)means slower. On the other hand, to say faster, you can say 快啲 (Dummy PY: Fye Dee), or to say more you can say 多啲 (Dummy PY: Door Dee), and for less you can say 少啲 (Dummy PY: Shoe Dee).

Can you say it one more time?- 咩話?(Dummy PY: Meh Wah?)/ 你可唔可以講多一次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Yat Chee?)/ 你可唔可以講多次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Chee?)

If you want someone to repeat, you can say 咩話?(Dummy PY: Meh Wah?) literally, What language? To be a little more polite, you can say, 你可唔可以講多一次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Yat Chee?)/ 你可唔可以講多次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Chee?)Literally you can or cannot say more one time, meaning can you say it one more time?

How to say xxx in Cantonese? - xxx 廣東話點講?(Dummy PY: xxx Gwong Dong Wah Dim Gong?)

If you would like to ask how to say something in Cantonese, you can say: xxx 廣東話點講?(Dummy PY: xxx Gwong Dong Wah Dim Gong?) Say for example, “sorry 廣東話點講?” (Dummy PY: Sorry Gwong Dong Wah Dim Gong?) literally sorry Cantonese how say? Meaning how to say sorry in Cantonese?

How to ask for info while touring around Hong Kong?

How much is this? - 呢一個幾多錢? (Dummy PY: Knee Yat Gore Gay Door Chin)

First thing to know, is to know how much is a particular thing, if you were to buy something or grab food, for how much is something, you can say: 呢一個幾多錢? (Dummy PY: Knee Yat Gore Gay Door Chin) Literally this one how much money, meaning how much is this? 呢一個(Dummy PY: Knee Yat Gore) refers to this thing, so you don’t really have to know the Cantonese word for which you are intending to purchase. 幾多 (Dummy PY: Gay Door)means how many or how much, 錢(Dummy PY: Chin) means money.

Can you help me? - 你可唔可以幫我? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Bong Ngo)

To ask for help, you can say 你可唔可以幫我? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Bong Ngo) Literally you can or cannot help me? Meaning can you help me? 幫 (Dummy PY: Bong) means help.

Where is xxx? - xxx喺邊度? (Dummy PY: xxx Hi Bean Doe)

To ask for directions, you can say xxx喺邊度? (Dummy PY: xxx Hi Bean Doe) For example: 洗手間喺邊度? (Dummy PY: Sigh Sau Gan Hi Bean Doe)Meaning the washroom where is it? 洗手 (Dummy PY: Sigh Sau) means washing hands, which is something we should all be doing right now for Covid and 間 (Dummy PY: Gan) means like the stall, or the place. So 洗手間 (Dummy PY: Sigh Sau Gan)means the washroom.

Directional words:

Let me talk a little about some directional words so it’s easier for you to navigate if they respond in Cantonese.

For left is 左邊 (Dummy PY: Jor Bin)

For right is 右邊 (Dummy PY: Yow Bin)

Up front or in front of is 前面 (Dummy PY: Chin Mean)

In the back or behind is 後面 (Dummy PY: How Mean)

Next to something is 隔離 (Dummy PY: Gack Lay)

*this word can also mean quarantine or isolation as a noun

Around there is 附近 (Dummy PY: Foo Gun)

It’s close by is 好近 (Dummy PY: Ho Ken)

It’s far is 好遠 (Dummy PY: Ho Yun)

How to order food in Cantonese:

Many restaurants in Hong Kong will have an English menu, but the super local authentic restaurants might not have any English in the menu, therefore, I have had 2 posts on how to order food in two different types of Cantonese restaurants, if you have time, you can go back to those episodes. But to save your time, there are a couple of quick phrases you can use:

Menu, please - Menu, 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy)/ 餐牌(Dummy PY: Chan Pie), 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy)

To ask for the menu, you can say: Menu, 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) , meaning menu, thank you or please. If you want it say it completely in Cantonese you can say 餐牌(Dummy PY: Chan Pie), 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) , 餐牌 (Dummy PY: Chan Pie)means menu, 餐 (Dummy PY: Chan)means meal and 牌(Dummy PY: Pie) means many things, like a card or a board, many things, so 餐牌(Dummy PY: Chan Pie) means menu.

Bill please - 埋單(Dummy PY: Buy Darn), 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy)

To ask for the bill, you can say 埋單(Dummy PY: Buy Darn), 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy). I have explained last time in the episode that the literally meaning of 埋單(Dummy PY: Buy Darn)is literally to bury the bill. It might sound like from the literally meaning that you don’t want to pay, but no worries, 埋單(Dummy PY: Buy Darn) this term truly means to pay for the bill.

To dine in or to take out - 喺度食定係攞走? (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick Ding High Lor Jow)

To dine in - 喺度食 (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick)

Take out - 攞走(Dummy PY: Lor Jow)

​At a restaurant, especially with Covid time right now, they might ask you, to dine in or to take out? So you might hear this in Cantonese 喺度食定係攞走? (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick Ding High Lor Jow) 喺度 (Dummy PY: High Doe) means here, 食 (Dummy PY: Sick) means to eat, 定係 (Dummy PY:Ding High) means or, and 攞走 (Dummy PY: Lor Jow) means take and go. So maybe they will switch those two options and ask you instead, 攞走定係喺度食? Meaning to take out or dine in? So to say dine in you will say 喺度食 (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick)meaning here eat, and to take out you will say 攞走(Dummy PY: Lor Jow).

I want to have xxx - 我想要xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Seung You xxx)/ xxx, 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy)

To order you can say, I want xxx, in Cantonese it is 我想要xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Seung You xxx), say for example, 我想要魚蛋 (Dummy PY: Ngo Seung You You Darn). Meaning I want to have fishballs. 魚蛋 (Dummy PY: You Darn) literally means fish eggs, but don’t worry, they are not like fish roes like in Japan, they are just fish and flour made into a ball, which we call 魚蛋 (Dummy PY: You Darn). Or instead you can say xxx, 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy), here with the same example, is 魚蛋 (Dummy PY: You Darn), 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy).

How to start a conversation in Cantonese:

Now maybe you met someone on the trip to Hong Kong, and you would like to talk to this person a little further, after you say hi, and how are you, then you can go on introducing yourself, which I have an posts on it, called introducing yourself. Now I will tell you some super simple ones so you have something to start with. If they ask you 你好嗎? (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho Ma) - How are you,

For good you will say 好好丫 (Dummy PY: Ho Ho Ah), meaning very good.

Not bad, you can just say OK la,

bad you say 唔係好好 (Dummy PY: Um High Ho Ho), not very good.

My name is - 我叫xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Gill xxx)

For introducing yourself, to say my name is you can say: 我叫xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Gill xxx), so for example, 我叫Dummy (Dummy PY: Ngo Gill Dummy).

I came from xxx - 我係喺xxx 嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High xxx Lie Ge)

To say I am coming from a certain place, you can say 我係喺xxx 嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High xxx Lie Ge)，for example to say I came from Hong Kong you will say 我係喺香港嚟嘅(Dummy PY: Ngo High High Heung Gong Lie Ge). But obviously if you are in Hong Kong and you say you came from Hong Kong is not really making sense. So for example:

I came from Canada: 我係喺加拿大嚟嘅(Dummy PY: Ngo High High Ga Na Die Lie Ge)

I came from Australia: 我係喺澳洲嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High Oh Jow Lie Ge)

I came from the states USA: 我係喺美國嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High May Gwok Lie Ge)

I came from the UK: 我係喺英國嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High Ying Gwok Lie Ge)

Sorry for not including every place, to know more about the names of countries you can check out my episode on the “popular places Hong Kong people might move to” post. Thank you so much!

Vocab:

Hello - 你好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho)

Hello you guys - 你哋好 (Dummy PY: Neigh Day Ho)

How are you - 你好嗎? (Dummy PY: Neigh Ho Ma)

Nice to meet you - 好高興認識你。(Dummy PY: Ho Go Hing Ying Sick Neigh)

Bye bye- 拜拜 (Dummy PY: Bye Bye)

See you - 再見(Dummy PY: Joy Geen)

Thank you - 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy) / 多謝 (Dummy PY: Door Je)

You are welcome - 唔駛(Dummy PY: Um Sigh) / 唔駛客氣(Dummy PY: Um Sigh Hack Hey)/ 唔好客氣(Dummy PY: Um Ho Hack Hey)

Sorry - 對唔住 (Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju)

Excuse me - 唔好意思 (Dummy PY: Um Ho Yee See)

Excuse me for asking - 請問 (Dummy PY: Ching Men)

I don’t understand - 我唔明 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming)

Understand - 明 (Dummy PY: Ming)/ 明白 (Dummy PY: Ming Back)

Do not understand - 唔明 (Dummy PY: Um Ming) / 唔明白 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming Back)

I don’t understand Cantonese - 我唔明廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Um Ming Gwong Dong Wah)

I don’t know Cantonese - 我唔識廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gwong Dong Wah)

Do you know how to speak English? - 你識唔識講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Sick Um Sick Gong Ying Men)

Can you speak English? - 你可唔可以講英文? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Ying Men)

I know a little bit of Cantonese - 我識少少廣東話 (Dummy PY: Ngo Sick Shoe Shoe Gwong Dong Wah)

Sorry, I don’t speak Cantonese - 對唔住(Dummy PY: Deu Um Ju), 我唔識講廣東話(Dummy PY: Ngo Um Sick Gong Gwong Dong Wah)

Can you speak slower? - 你可唔可以講慢啲? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Man Dee?)

Can you say it one more time?- 咩話?(Dummy PY: Meh Wah?)/ 你可唔可以講多一次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Yat Chee?)/ 你可唔可以講多次?(Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Gong Door Chee?)

How to say xxx in Cantonese? - xxx 廣東話點講?(Dummy PY: xxx Gwong Dong Wah Dim Gong?)

How much is this? - 呢一個幾多錢? (Dummy PY: Knee Yat Gore Gay Door Chin)

Can you help me? - 你可唔可以幫我? (Dummy PY: Neigh Hoh Um Hoh Yee Bong Ngo)

Where is xxx? - xxx喺邊度? (Dummy PY: xxx Hi Bean Doe)

Left - 左邊 (Dummy PY: Jor Bin)

Right - 右邊 (Dummy PY: Yow Bin)

Front/ in front of- 前面 (Dummy PY: Chin Mean)

Back/ Behind - 後面 (Dummy PY: How Mean)

Next to - 隔離 (Dummy PY: Gack Lay)

Around the area- 附近 (Dummy PY: Foo Gun)

Very close - 好近 (Dummy PY: Ho Ken)

Very far - 好遠 (Dummy PY: Ho Yun)

Menu, please - Menu, 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy)/ 餐牌(Dummy PY: Chan Pie), 唔該 (Dummy PY: Um Goy)

Bill please - 埋單(Dummy PY: Buy Darn), 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy)

To dine in or to take out - 喺度食定係攞走? (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick Ding High Lor Jow)

To dine in - 喺度食 (Dummy PY: High Doe Sick)

Take out - 攞走(Dummy PY: Lor Jow)

I want to have - 我想要xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Seung You xxx)/ xxx, 唔該(Dummy PY: Um Goy)

Very good - 好好丫(Dummy PY: Ho Ho Ah)

Not bad - OK la Bad/ Not very good - 唔係好好 (Dummy PY: Um High Ho Ho)

My name is - 我叫xxx (Dummy PY: Ngo Gill xxx)

I came from xxx - 我係喺xxx 嚟嘅 (Dummy PY: Ngo High High xxx Lie Ge)

Hong Kong - 香港(Dummy PY: Heung Gong)

Canada - 加拿大(Dummy PY: Ga Na Die)

Australia - 澳洲(Dummy PY: Oh Jow)

The USA - 美國(Dummy PY: May Gwok)

The UK - 英國(Dummy PY: Ying Gwok)

A little bit - 少少 (Dummy PY: Shoe Shoe)

Speak - 講 (Dummy PY: Gong)

To know - 識 (Dummy PY: Sick)

Slow - 慢 (Dummy PY: Man)

Slower - 慢啲 (Dummy PY: Man Dee)

Faster - 快啲 (Dummy PY: Fye Dee)

More - 多啲 (Dummy PY: Door Dee)

Less - 少啲 (Dummy PY: Shoe Dee)

This one - 呢一個(Dummy PY: Knee Yat Gore)

Money - 錢(Dummy PY: Chin)

Help - 幫 (Dummy PY: Bong)

Washroom - 洗手間 (Dummy PY: Sigh Sau Gan)

Washing hand - 洗手 (Dummy PY: Sigh Sau)

Fishballs - 魚蛋 (Dummy PY: You Darn)

Quarantine/ isolation - 隔離 (Dummy PY: Gack Lay)

I love you - 我愛你(Dummy PY: Ngo Oi Neigh)

Happy - 開心 (Dummy PY: Hoy Sum)

To Know - 認識 (Dummy PY: Ying Sick)

Visiting friends and family during Chinese New Year - 拜年 (Dummy PY: Bye Neen)