First let’s talk about 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also…
又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also… is used to connect 2 adjectives or phrases that describe the quality or attribute of someone or something. But these adjectives and attributes are not the opposites of one another, but a parallel. Meaning not the opposites like 好[hou2]食[sik6] delicious or yummy, 唔[m4]好[hou2]食[sik6] not delicious or yummy, but 好[hou2]食[sik6] delicious or yummy and 好[hou2]香[heung1] fragrant or smells good. You see what I mean?
Sometimes, you might hear people say, 又[yau6]乜[mat1]又[yau6]物[mat6] meaning this and that.
For example,
我[ngo5]去[heui3]到[dou3]醫[yi1]院[yun2], 佢[keui5]哋[dei6]同[tung4]我[ngo5]做[jou6]咗[jo2]好[hou2]多[do1]測[chak1]試[si3], 又[yau6]乜[mat1]又[yau6]物[mat6], 最[jeui3]後[hau6]話[wa6/wa2]我[ngo5]無[mou4]事[si6]!
I arrived at the hospital, they did a lot of test for me, this and that, finally said I was fine!
When you have two sentences that are describing someone or something’s attribute,
Eg.
呢[ni1]個[go3]蘋[ping4]果[gwo2]好[hou2]大[daai6]。
This apple is big.
呢[ni1]個[go3]蘋[ping4]果[gwo2]好[hou2]甜[tim4]。
This apple is sweet.
One way of shortening and combining the sentence is,
呢[ni1]個[go3]蘋[ping4]果[gwo2]好[hou2]大[daai6]同[tung4]好[hou2]甜[tim4]。
This apple is big and sweet.
Same thing as in English, we can use the word “and” to link the 2 sentences so as to avoid redundancy.
Another way you can also say,
呢[ni1]個[go3]蘋[ping4]果[gwo2]又[yau6]大[daai6]又[yau6]甜[tim4]。
Literal: This apple also big also sweet.
In the 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also… sentence structure, you can omit the first 好[hou2] meaning good or very. But of course if you keep the first 好[hou2] it’s not wrong either, it’s just not as natural. Unless you really want to emphasize the first 好[hou2]very.
So the most basic sentence structure is:
Subject + 又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute +又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute。
Another example,
佢[keui5]好[hou2]好[hou2]人[yan4]。
He/ She is kind.
佢[keui5]好[hou2]有[yau5]耐[noi6]性[sing3]。
He/ She is patient.
The way to say it with “and” 同[tung4]/ 同[tung4]埋[maai4] is
佢[keui5]好[hou2]好[hou2]人[yan4]同[tung4]好[hou2]有[yau5]耐[noi6]性[sing3]。
He/ She is kind and patient.
Using the 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also…
Subject + 又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute +又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute。
佢[keui5]又[yau6]好[hou2]人[yan4]又[yau6]有[yau5]耐[noi6]性[sing3]。
Literal: He/ She also kind also has patience.
Ok. Now you can try.
香[heung1]港[gong2]好[hou2]熱[yit6]。
Hong Kong is hot.
香[heung1]港[gong2]好[hou2]濕[sap1]。
Hong Kong is wet/ humid.
*Another way of saying humid is 潮[chiu4]濕[sap1].
With the regular “and” 同[tung4]/ 同[tung4]埋[maai4]:
香[heung1]港[gong2]好[hou2]熱[yit6]同[tung4]好[hou2]濕[sap1]。
Your turn to form the sentence with 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also…
Subject + 又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute +又[yau6]also + adjective or attribute。
香[heung1]港[gong2]又[yau6]熱[yit6]又[yau6]濕[sap1]。
Another example:
隻[jek3]貓[maau1]好[hou2]聰[chung1]明[ming4]。
The cat is smart.
隻[jek3]貓[maau1]好[hou2]可[ho2]愛[oi3]。
The cat is cute.
With the regular “and” 同[tung4]/ 同[tung4]埋[maai4]:
隻[jek3]貓[maau1]好[hou2]聰[chung1]明[ming4]同[tung4]好[hou2]可[ho2]愛[oi3]。
How about 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also… ?
隻[jek3]貓[maau1]又[yau6]聰[chung1]明[ming4]又[yau6]可[ho2]愛[oi3]。
Last one,
我[ngo5]哋[dei6]啲[di1]魚[yu4/yu2]好[hou2]平[peng4]。our fish are cheap.
我[ngo5]地[dei6]啲[di1]魚[yu4/yu2]好[hou2]靚[leng3]。 Our fish are pretty.
With the regular “and” 同[tung4]/ 同[tung4]埋[maai4]:
我[ngo5]哋[dei6]啲[di1]魚[yu4/yu2]好[hou2]平[peng4]同[tung4]好[hou2]靚[leng3]。
Our fish are cheap and pretty.
How about 又[yau6]...又[yau6]...also … also… ?
我[ngo5]哋[dei6]啲[di1]魚[yu4/yu2]又[yau6]平[ping4/peng4]又[yau6]靚[leng3]。
Let’s move on to 愈[yu6]/ 越[yut6]...愈[yu6]/ 越[yut6]... the more… the more… This is a very useful structure. First of all, the most common thing you will hear is 愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]../越[yut6]嚟[lai4]越[yut6]... Meaning more and more…
For example:
我[ngo5]個[go3]女[neui5]愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]大[daai6]。
My daughter is growing up more and more.
*大[daai6] means big, but it can also mean “old” “older” when talking about age. The opposite of 大[daai6] is 細[sai3].
The sentence structure is:
subject + 愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6] more and more + adjective
啲[di1]嘢[ye5]愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]貴[gwai3]。
Things are getting more and more expensive.
啲[di1]嘢[ye5] can mean things in general when you use it as a noun. 啲[di1] meaning the noun is plural. 嘢[ye5] means thing, matter or item. 貴[gwai3] is expensive and 平[ping4/peng4] is cheap.
佢[keui5]游[yau4]水[seui2]愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]勁[ging6]。
he/ she is swimming better and better.
Literal: he/she swim more and more awesome.
Now you try.
I want you to say,
“my hair is getting longer and longer.”
Hair is 頭[tau4]髮[faat3]
My hair is 我[ngo5]啲[di1]頭[tau4]髮[faat3]
More and more 愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]
Long is 長[cheung4/jeung2]
我[ngo5]啲[di1]頭[tau4]髮[faat3]愈[yut6]嚟[lai4]愈[yut6]長[cheung4/jeung2]。
my hair is getting longer and longer.
Another one you can try is
“My school result is getting better and better”
“My school results are getting better and better”
Result is 結[git3]果[gwo2] literally forming fruit however,
school result is 成[sing4]績[jik1]
My school result(s)
我[ngo5]嘅[ge3]成[sing4]績[jik1] (singular)/
我[ngo5]啲[di1]成[sing4]績[jik1] (plural)
我[ngo5]嘅[ge3]成[sing4]績[jik1]越[yut6]嚟[lai4]越[yut6]好[hou2]
“My school result is getting better and better”
我[ngo5]啲[di1]成[sing4]績[jik1]越[yut6]嚟[lai4]越[yut6]好[hou2]
“My school results are getting better and better”
Last one to try is
“The weather is getting colder and colder”
Weather 天[tin1]氣[hei3]
Cold 凍[dung3]
天[tin1]氣[hei3]越[yut6]嚟[lai4]越[yut6]凍[dung3]。
“The weather is getting colder and colder”
Excellent. Moving on the last one we will practice today is the 越[yut6]... 越[yut6]... structure. 越[yut6]... 越[yut6]... means the more… the more… This is used to connect an action to an adjective or to connect an adjective to an adjective. Sounds abstract so let’s look at the examples.
你[nei5]要[yiu3]幾[gei2]時[si4]收[sau1]到[dou2]呢[ni1]封[fung1]信[seun3]呀[a3]？
越[yut6]快[faai3]越[yut6]好[hou2]。
When do you need to receive this letter?
The faster the better.
This example is where you see 越[yut6]... 越[yut6]... connects two adjectives.
The sentence structure is:
subject (can be omitted) + 愈[yu6] the more + adjective + 愈[yu6] more + adjective
Another example,
你[nei5]要[yiu3]幾[gei2]多[do1]飯[faan6]?
越[yut6]多[do1]越[yut6]好[hou2]。
How much rice do you want?
The more the better.
To connect a verb with an adjective to mean the more an action, the more the adjective.
The sentence structure is:
subject (can be omitted) + 愈[yu6] the more + verb+ 愈[yu6] more + adjective
eg.
啲[di1]野[ye5]草[chou2]越[yut6]生[sang1/saang1]越[yut6]多[do1]。
The more the grass grows, the more there is.
In other words, The weeds are growing more and more.
Another example,
我[ngo5]隻[jek3]手[sau2]指[ji2]越[yut6]郁[yuk1]越[yut6]痛[tung3]。
The more my finger moves the more painful it is.
You can also reverse the subject with 越[yut6]郁[yuk1] “the more move”, to form,
越[yut6]郁[yuk1]我[ngo5]隻[jek3]手[sau2]指[ji2]越[yut6]痛[tung3]。
So the subject can be put after the verb.
Try,
The sentence structure is:
subject (can be omitted) (can be put after the verb)+ 愈[yu6] the more + verb+ 愈[yu6] more + adjective
The more the fried rice is eaten, the more yummy it is.
The more I eat the fried rice, the more yummy it is.
啲[di1]炒[chaau2]飯[faan6]越[yut6]食[sik6]越[yut6]好[hou2]食[sik6]。
越[yut6]食[sik6]啲[di1]炒[chaau2]飯[faan6]越[yut6]好[hou2]食[sik6]。
我[ngo5]越[yut6]食[sik6]啲[di1]炒[chaau2]飯[faan6]越[yut6]好[hou2]食[sik6]。
The more I think (about it) the more unhappy I get.
**Think/ think about something - 諗[nam2]
我[ngo5]越[yut6]諗[nam2]越[yut6]唔[m4]開[hoi1]心[sam1]。
越[yut6]諗[nam2]我[ngo5]越[yut6]唔[m4]開[hoi1]心[sam1]。
Lastly,
How do you say,
The older my son, the more well behaved he is.
The more grown up my son, the more well behaved he is.
Remember?
Son is 仔[jai2]
Grow up is 大[daai6]
Well behaved is 乖[gwaai1]
我[ngo5]個[go3]仔[jai2]越[yut6]大[daai6]越[yut6]乖[gwaai1]。
越[yut6]大[daai6]我[ngo5]個[go3]仔[jai2]越[yut6]乖[gwaai1]。
