Pronunciation
|
Character
|
Explanation
|
Example
|
| aa1 |
吖 or ㄚ |
Can indicate enthusiastic consent or a sarcastic
retort. Can also be used like 喇 laa1.
|
好吖! 我跟你返屋吖!
|
|
Okay! I'll follow you home!
|
|
我點返屋企吖?
|
|
How am I supposed to be able to go home?
(sarcastically)
|
|
返來吖
|
|
Come back [please].
|
aa4
|
吖 or 呀 |
Used in questions expecting agreement, sometimes
with a sense of disapproval.
|
你返屋企吖?
|
| You're going home? [But really I don't want you to.]
|
gaa4
|
㗎 |
Contraction of the combination 嘅吖
ge3 aa4.
|
你係今日返屋企㗎?
|
| You're going home today? [But really I don't want you to.
Can't you wait until tomorrow?] (the "today"
is emphasized)
|
| me1 |
咩 |
Used in questions expressing surprise or disbelief. |
佢今日返來咩?
|
| He's coming back today? [Really? I wasn't aware of
this.] |
ne1
|
呢 |
Used in follow up questions or when a question is
repeated but for a different subject. Also used for
rhetorical questions where an answer is not expected (especially
when the speaker is wondering to himself/herself).
|
佢返咗來,你返唔返來呢?
|
| He came back, are you coming back? |
| 佢點解返屋企呢? |
| I wonder why he's going home. |
maa3
|
嗎 |
Used to change a statement into a neutral question.
This is used more often in Mandarin/written Chinese, but can still
be heard in Cantonese.
|
你返屋企嗎?
|
|
Are you coming home?
|
zek1
|
啫 |
Can be used to mean "only" or
"that's all," or used to play down the significance of
the situation.
|
佢返一日啫
|
|
He's only coming back for one day.
|
ze1
|
嗻 |
(same as 啫 zek1)
|
|
zaa3
|
咋 |
Contraction of the combination 啫呀/嗻呀
ze1 aa3. |
佢返一日咋
|
| He's only coming back for one day. (slightly less abrupt
than 佢返一日啫)
|
zaa4
|
咋 |
Contraction of the combination 啫吖/嗻吖
ze1 aa4. |
佢返一日咋?
|
| He's only coming back for one day? [Only one day?
I
wish it was more.]
|
gwaa3
|
啩 |
Indicates uncertainty in a statement.
|
佢返咗屋企啩
|
| He went home [but I'm not completely sure of this]. |
wo3
|
喎 |
Indicates information is being reported. Pronouncing it as wo5 adds the indication that the
information is second-hand and the speaker may not agree with it.
|
爸爸叫你返屋企喎
|
| Father is telling you to come home.
|
bo3
|
噃 |
Indicates that the sentence is a reminder.
|
揸車返屋企好快噃
|
| It is quick to go home by car. (used in the context where
the person being addressed may not have thought about driving
home)
|
lo1
|
囉 |
Indicates a suggestion or conclusion that should be
obvious (usually occurs with 咪 mai6).
|
我冇車咪返唔到屋企囉
|
| Without a car, [then of course] I am unable to go home.
|
lo3
|
囉 or 咯 |
Indicates an agreement with the previous speaker.
|
好,我跟你返屋企囉
|
| Okay, I will follow you home.
|
haa2
|
吓 |
Used to soften an instruction, similar to adding
"okay?" in English.
|
記得買奶吓
|
| Remember to buy milk, okay? |
ho2
|
呵 |
Used to check whether a statement is correct,
similar to adding "right?" in English.
|
你買咗奶呵?
|
| You bought the milk, right? |
aa1 maa3
|
呀嘛 |
Used in response to a question where the answer is
obvious.
|
佢返屋企呀嘛!
|
| He's going home! [So of course he can't go to the movies
with us.]
|
laa1 maa3
|
啦嘛 |
Contraction of the combination 嘞呀嘛/嚹呀嘛
laa3 aa1 maa3.
|
佢返咗屋企啦嘛! |
| He went home! [So of course he can't be here right now.] |
gaa1 maa3
|
咖嘛 |
Contraction of the combination 嘅呀嘛
ge3 aa1 maa3.
|
我係聽日返屋企咖嘛!
|
| I'm coming home tomorrow! [So of course I won't be able to
see you today.] (the "tomorrow" is emphasized)
|
zaa1 maa3
|
咋嘛 |
Contraction of the combination 啫呀嘛/嗻呀嘛
ze1 aa1 maa3.
|
佢返一日咋嘛!
|
| He's only coming back for a day! [So of course he won't
have time to visit all of us.]
|
zi1 maa3
|
之嘛 |
Can be used to mean "only".
|
我返屋企之嘛
|
| I'm only going home. [...and nothing else.
What else
are you expecting from me?]
|
