How to ask questions in Cantonese?

Let’s talk a little about how you can form questions, how do we ask questions? 點樣問問題？ the what, which, who, where, why and how in Cantonese, in English we call these 6 question words the 5Ws and 1H - how. It’d be nice if you can start forming questions and really start conversing with others.

There is a conversation between a Cantonese speaker & a Cantonese learner, he is in Hong Kong Island and is lost. It’s late at night, he has to find a way back to his hotel in Hung Hom, Kowloon.

A: 唔[m4]好[hou2]意[yi3]思[si3]，我[ngo5]想[seung2]去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]，點[dim2]樣[yeung2]去[heui3]呢[ne1]？

B: 去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]？你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]巴[ba1]士[si2]或[waak6]者[je2]搭[daap3]地[dei6]鐵[tit3]。

A: 邊[bin1]一[yat1]㗎[ga3]巴[ba1]士[si2]？

B: 你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]101，111或[waak6]者[je2]116。

A: 喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]到[dou3/dou2]呢[ni1]啲[di1]巴[ba1]士[si2]呀[a3]？

B: 前[chin4]面[min6]咋[ja3]嘛[ma4]，你[nei5]要[yiu3]快[faai3]啦[la1]。

A: 點[dim2]解[gaai2]呀[a3]？

B: 而[yi4]家[ga1]已[yi5]經[ging1]12點[dim2]，巴[ba1]士[si2] 12:30就[jau6]停[ting4]駛[sai2]啦[la1]。

A: 咩[me1]話[wa2]？

B: 巴[ba1]士[si2]12:30就[jau6]唔[m4]行[hang4/haang4/hong4]㗎[ga3]啦[la1]，你[nei5]得[dak1]返[faan1]半[bun3]個[go3]鐘[jung1]咋[ja3]。

A: 咁[gam3/gam2]我[ngo5]要[yiu3]係[hai6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]站[jaam6]落[lok6]車[che1]啊[a1]？

B: 你[nei5]上[seung6/seung5]到[dou3/dou2]巴[ba1]士[si2]問[man6]吓[ha5]司[si1]機[gei1]啦[la1]。

A: 問[man6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]話[wa6/wa2]？

B: 你[nei5]要[yiu3]問[man6]司[si1]機[gei1]啊[a1]。

A: 哦[ngo4]！唔[m4]該[goi1]晒[saai3]！

A: Excuse me, I want to get to Hung Hom, how do I get there?

B: Going to Hung Hom? You can take a bus or take the MTR train.

A: Which bus?

B: You can take 101, 111, and 116.

A: Where can I take these buses?

B: Just up there. You got to be quick now.

A: Why?

B: It’s 12am now. The buses stop running at 12:30am.

A: What? What did you say?

B: The buses stop running at 12:30am, you only have half an hour left.

A: So which stop should I get off?

B: When you get on the bus, you can ask the driver.

A: Ask who?

B: You need to ask the driver.

A: Oh! Thank you so much!

Okay. In this conversation, the 5Ws are all used. Let’s first explore questions that start with the word what. In Cantonese, “What” is 咩[me1] Or 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5]， 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5] broken down word by word means “what thing?”, and 咩[me1] is kind of the lazy faster version of saying 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5] . So for example in the conversation just now, he asked 咩[me1]話[wa2]？What? What did you say? To break it down, 咩[me1]話[wa2]？mean what language? Basically to say, you didn’t catch what words the other person said and you are saying pardon me. The placement of the word 咩[me1] Or 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5] is interesting. For example, if you have to ask the other person what their name is, you would say:

你[nei5]叫[giu3]咩[me1]名[meng2]啊[a1]？

你叫咩名啊？

Literally You are called what name?

Or sometimes you can switch it around and say:

咩[me1]名[ming4/meng2/meng4]啊[a1]你[nei5]叫[giu3]?

咩名啊你叫? Literally What name you are called?

名 remember is name.

The answer or thing you are asking must follow 咩[me1] or 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5], even if the sentence fragments are moving around. Another example:

你[nei5]鍾[jung1]意[yi3]食[sik6]啲[di1]咩[me1]？

你鍾意食啲咩？

Literally you like eating what?

有[yau5]咩[me1]你[nei5]鍾[jung1]意[yi3]食[sik6]？

有咩你鍾意食？

Literally have what you like to eat?

When it comes to objects, if you want to start the sentence with 咩[me1] Or 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5] What, you will need to add the word 有[yau5] meaning have. What about questions that start with “what is/ am/ are”? For example:

佢[keui5]係[hai6]咩[me1]人[yan4]嚟[lai4]㗎[ga3]？

佢係咩人嚟㗎？

Literally: He is what person?

咩[me1]人[yan4]嚟[lai4]㗎[ga3]佢[keui5]係[hai6]？

咩人嚟㗎佢係？

Literally: What person he is?

Excellent. Moving onto the questions that start with the word “which”, in Cantonese, which questions usually start with the word 邊[bin1] meaning which. In the conversation:

B: 去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]？你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]巴[ba1]士[si2]或[waak6]者[je2]搭[daap3]地[dei6]鐵[tit3]。

A: 邊[bin1]一[yat1]㗎[ga3]巴[ba1]士[si2]？

B: 你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]101，111或[waak6]者[je2]116。

B: Going to Hung Hom? You can take a bus or take the MTR train.

A: Which bus?

B: You can take 101, 111, 116.

So to ask which, you would say 邊[bin1] then add the unit indicator, so it depends on what the unit is, for bus or other vehicles, it would be 㗎, therefore which bus would be 邊[bin1]一[yat1]㗎[ga3]巴[ba1]士[si2]？you can omit the word 一[yat1] if you want, 一 [yat1]just means one, if it’s 2 you can add the word 2 兩[leung5]，邊[bin1]兩[leung5]㗎[ga3]巴[ba1]士[si2]？ etc etc. Other examples are:

邊[bin1]隻[jek3]士[si6]多[do1]啤[be1]梨[lei2]好[hou2]食[sik6]？

邊隻士多啤梨好食？

Literally: Which kind of strawberries are good in taste?

士[si6]多[do1]啤[be1]梨[lei2]邊[bin1]隻[jek3]好[hou2]食[sik6]？

士多啤梨邊隻好食？

Literally: Strawberries which kind are good in taste?

士[si6]多[do1]啤[be1]梨[lei2] do you remember, is the onomatopoeia of the word strawberry. 隻[jek3] is the unit for kind, like which kind, it also can be the unit indicator for animals or many other things actually. But here it means which kind. Great. Moving onto something very similar, questions about who. In the conversation,

B: 你[nei5]上[seung6/seung5]到[dou3/dou2]巴[ba1]士[si2]問[man6]吓[ha5]司[si1]機[gei1]啦[la1]。

A: 問[man6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]話[wa6/wa2]？

B: 你[nei5]要[yiu3]問[man6]司[si1]機[gei1]啊[a1]。

B: When you are on the bus you can ask the driver.

A: Ask who?

B: You need to ask the driver.

Who in Cantonese when you need to ask a question, is 邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3] or 邊[bin1]個[go3], 邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3] just means which one, 邊[bin1]個[go3] is which. Who and which in Cantonese is very similar. Pay attention again to the placement of 邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3] or 邊[bin1]個[go3] in the sentence again, for example:

邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]係[hai6]你[nei5]老[lou5]師[si1]？

邊一個係你老師？

Literally: Who/ which one is your teacher?

你[nei5]老[lou5]師[si1]係[hai6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]?

你老師係邊一個?

Literally: Your teacher is who/ which one?

Or another variation would be:

邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]啊[a1]你[nei5]老[lou5]師[si1]係[hai6]?

邊一個啊你老師係?

老[lou5]師[si1] means teacher, to break down the words, it means kind of like老[lou5] means old, 師[si1] means master. So 老[lou5]師[si1] teacher. Don’t worry about it having the word old, no one (almost no one) will think that you are being offensive by saying they are the old master. It’s just what the term is. Also the positioning of the noun phrases and verb-to-be phrase is kind of flexible in that regard.

Very good. Then for where, it’s also a little similar, also has the word 邊[bin1]. For where, you will say, 邊[bin1]度[dou6]. Basically like i explained previously, 邊[bin1] means which, and 度[dou6] here means place. So to say where 邊[bin1]度[dou6], you are really asking which place. For example in the conversation:

A: 喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]到[dou3/dou2]呢[ni1]啲[di1]巴[ba1]士[si2]呀[a3]？

B: 前[chin4]面[min6]咋[ja3]嘛[ma4]，你[nei5]要[yiu3]快[faai3]啦[la1]。

A: Where can I take these buses?

B: Just up there. You got to be quick now.

In this question, the Cantonese learner used 喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6], 邊[bin1]度[dou6] like i said means where or which place, 喺[hai2] here is the preposition, like in, on, at. Not to confuse this word with 係[hai6] the verb to be, is/ am are. The preposition word喺[hai2] vs 係[hai6] the verb to be, is/ am are, can you hear the difference? You can omit the The preposition word喺[hai2] if you wish, instead of saying 喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]到[dou3/dou2]呢[ni1]啲[di1]巴[ba1]士[si2]呀[a3]？ At where can I take the bus, you can say 邊[bin1]度[dou6]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]到[dou3/dou2]呢[ni1]啲[di1]巴[ba1]士[si2]呀[a3]？ Where can I take the bus? But it depends on the context, if the sentence requires a preposition, then you would use the word 喺[hai2]. If you missed it, it would be completely fine as well, people can understand you. Although when people are typing, especially non-official documents, social media, casual typing situations, these two are seen to be used interchangeably. I guess it’s because for those who use typing input methods that are based on strokes, the more strokes there are, the harder it is to type. So the good thing for those of you who are also learning how to write, you need to only memorize one of them. Another example would be:

我[ngo5]副[fu3]眼[ngaan5]鏡[geng2]放[fong3]咗[jo2]喺[hai2]邊[bin1]？

我副眼鏡放咗喺邊？

My pair of glasses is put where?

眼[ngaan5]鏡[geng2] is glasses, 副[fu3] is the unit indicator meaning pair.

** notice here 我[ngo5]副[fu3]眼[ngaan5]鏡[geng2]放[fong3]咗[jo2]喺[hai2]邊[bin1]？the word度 was omitted. It is because when you say put your pair of glasses, the word 度[dou6] place is already implied.

Another variation would be:

喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6]呢[ni1]我[ngo5]放[fong3]咗[jo2]副[fu3]眼[ngaan5]鏡[geng2]？

喺邊度呢我放咗副眼鏡？

In where did I put my pair of glasses?

Again here, you can omit or not omit the word 度[dou6] place. With the example of where can I take these buses as well, you can omit or not omit the word 度[dou6] place.

Amazing! We are moving onto the question word why. Why is Cantonese is 點[dim2]解[gaai2], 點[dim2] can vaguely mean how, if I mean explain it. 解[gaai2] can mean explanation, there are other meanings like resolution as well , so 點[dim2]解[gaai2] here means how to explain, so meaning why. In the conversation for example:

B: 前[chin4]面[min6]咋[ja3]嘛[ma4]，你[nei5]要[yiu3]快[faai3]啦[la1]。

A: 點[dim2]解[gaai2]呀[a3]？

B: 而[yi4]家[ga1]已[yi5]經[ging1]12點[dim2]，巴[ba1]士[si2] 12:30就[jau6]停[ting4]駛[sai2]啦[la1]。

B: Just up there. You got to be quick now.

A: Why?

B: It’s 12am now. The buses stop running at 12:30am.

You remember the previous episode on linking words? When someone asks you 點[dim2]解[gaai2]呀[a3]？ Why, you can start with the word because 因[yan1]為[wai6]. Here in this conversation 因[yan1]為[wai6] is omitted because she was already giving an explanation, so the word 因[yan1]為[wai6] because can be omitted. Another example would be:

點[dim2]解[gaai2]你[nei5]要[yiu3]問[man6]點[dim2]解[gaai2]？

點解你要問點解？

Literally: why you need to ask why?

Great! Finally, the word how. Like I explain, the word 點can vaguely mean how if I must explain it, in order to ask how to do something, in Cantonese you will say 點樣, in the conversation example:

A: 唔[m4]好[hou2]意[yi3]思[si3]，我[ngo5]想[seung2]去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]，點[dim2]樣[yeung2]去[heui3]呢[ne1]？

B: 去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]？你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]巴[ba1]士[si2]或[waak6]者[je2]搭[daap3]地[dei6]鐵[tit3]。

A: Excuse me, I want to get to Hung Hom, how do I get there?

B: Going to Hung Hom? You can take a bus or take the MTR train.

In this conversation, the Cantonese speaker use 點[dim2]樣[yeung2] to form a how sentence. Sometimes the word 樣[yeung2] can be omitted and you can simply say 點[dim2]去[heui3]Another extremely common example would be: 點[dim2]算[syun3]？ 點算？ Literally: how to calculate? The meaning of 點[dim2]算[syun3]？is not actually how to calculate this math question, but how so how to calculate the situation or the next move. So say, for example, you lost your wallet, then you would say 點[dim2]算[syun3]？that is to say, What should I do? How should I go about dealing with this?

Great! We are all set. Let’s listen to this conversation in Cantonese one more time, and see how much you understand.

A: 唔[m4]好[hou2]意[yi3]思[si3]，我[ngo5]想[seung2]去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]，點[dim2]樣[yeung2]去[heui3]呢[ne1]？

B: 去[heui3]紅[hung4]磡[ham3]？你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]巴[ba1]士[si2]或[waak6]者[je2]搭[daap3]地[dei6]鐵[tit3]。

A: 邊[bin1]一[yat1]㗎[ga3]巴[ba1]士[si2]？

B: 你[nei5]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]101，111或[waak6]者[je2]116。

A: 喺[hai2]邊[bin1]度[dou6]可[ho2]以[yi5]搭[daap3]到[dou3/dou2]呢[ni1]啲[di1]巴[ba1]士[si2]呀[a3]？

B: 前[chin4]面[min6]咋[ja3]嘛[ma4]，你[nei5]要[yiu3]快[faai3]啦[la1]。

A: 點[dim2]解[gaai2]呀[a3]？

B: 而[yi4]家[ga1]已[yi5]經[ging1]12點[dim2]，巴[ba1]士[si2] 12:30就[jau6]停[ting4]駛[sai2]啦[la1]。

A: 咩[me1]話[wa2]？

B: 巴[ba1]士[si2]12:30就[jau6]唔[m4]行[hang4/haang4/hong4]㗎[ga3]啦[la1]，你[nei5]得[dak1]返[faan1]半[bun3]個[go3]鐘[jung1]咋[ja3]。

A: 咁[gam3/gam2]我[ngo5]要[yiu3]係[hai6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]站[jaam6]落[lok6]車[che1]啊[a1]？

B: 你[nei5]上[seung6/seung5]到[dou3/dou2]巴[ba1]士[si2]問[man6]吓[ha5]司[si1]機[gei1]啦[la1]。

A: 問[man6]邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]話[wa6/wa2]？

B: 你[nei5]要[yiu3]問[man6]司[si1]機[gei1]啊[a1]。

A: 哦[ngo4]！唔[m4]該[goi1]晒[saai3]！

Let’s move onto the vocab that we learned about today:

What- 咩[me1] Or 乜[mat1]嘢[ye5]

Which one? - 邊[bin1]/ 邊[bin1]一[yat1] Who? 邊[bin1]一[yat1]個[go3]

Where - 邊[bin1]度[dou6]

Why - 點[dim2]解[gaai2]

How - 點[dim2]樣[yeung2]

What to do - 點[dim2]算[syun3]？

Want - 想[seung2] Go - 去[heui3]

Take a Bus- 搭[daap3]巴[ba1]士[si2]

Take the subway - 搭[daap3]地[dei6]鐵[tit3]

Up front - 前[chin4]面[min6]

What did you say? - 咩[me1]話[wa2]？

Thank you so much - 唔[m4]該[goi1]晒[saai3]！

Stop - 停[ting4] Strawberry - 士[si6]多[do1]啤[be1]梨[lei2]

A pair of glasses - 一[yat1]副[fu3]眼[ngaan5]鏡[geng2]