In a previous article, we introduced you to the most important beginner Cantonese words for those who are new to this fantastic language. But what if you’re not a newbie anymore? No worries—we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together this guide to intermediate Cantonese words, so you can continue adding to your Cantonese vocabulary well past the beginner stage. 

Learn the intermediate words you need!

In this article, we’ll list the essential Cantonese words for the intermediate level that will allow you to handle many everyday situations, whether you want to talk, listen, or both. Keep reading!

Table of Contents

1. Numbers
2. Nouns
3. Verbs
4. Adjectives
5. Adverbs
6. Prepositions
7. Conjunctions
8. Final Particles
9. How CantoneseClass101.com Can Help You Learn More Cantonese

1. Numbers

As a beginner, you should be able to handle most situations knowing the basic numbers 1-10. But as you advance to the intermediate level, you’ll need to become familiar with even larger numbers!

→ Should you need a more thorough guide to Cantonese numbers, check out our article on how to count in Cantonese.

Here’s a quick reminder of the numbers 1-10 in Cantonese—we’ll need all of these numbers to count up to 1,000!

➢ 1: 一 (jat1)
➢ 2: 二 (ji6)
➢ 3: 三 (saam1)
➢ 4: 四 (sei3)
➢ 5: 五 (ng5)
➢ 6: 六 (luk6)
➢ 7: 七 (cat1)
➢ 8: 八 (baat3)
➢ 9: 九 (gau2)
➢ 10: 十 (sap6)

• Count from 10 to 99

Now, if you want to express the tens (twenty, thirty, and so on), all you need to do is add the Cantonese equivalent of the first digit in front of 十 (sap6). 

Take 20, for example. The Cantonese equivalent of the first digit (“2”) is 二 (ji6). Adding 二 (ji6) in front of 十 (sap6) gives us 二十 (ji6 sap6) for 20.

➢ 10: 十 (sap6)
➢ 20: 二十 (ji6 sap6)
➢ 30: 三十 (saam1 sap6)
➢ 40: 四十 (sei3 sap6)
➢ 50: 五十 (ng5 sap6)
➢ 60: 六十 (luk6 sap6)
➢ 70: 七十 (cat1 sap6)
➢ 80: 八十 (baat3 sap6)
➢ 90: 九十 (gau2 sap6)

Expressing the numbers from 11 to 99 in Cantonese is easy and similar to English. 

For example:

• 11 = 10 + 1 ➨ 十 (sap6) + 一 (jat1)
• 21 = 20 + 1 ➨ 二十 (ji6 sap6) + 一 (jat1)

As you can see, you only need to know the name of the appropriate “ten” in Cantonese and then add one of the numbers from 1-9 after it. 

➢ 11: 十一 (sap6 jat1)
➢ 22: 二十二 (ji6 sap6 ji6)
➢ 33: 三十三 (saam1 sap6 saam1)
➢ 44: 四十四 (sei3 sap6 sei3)
➢ 55: 五十五 (ng5 sap6 ng5)
➢ 66: 六十六 (luk6 sap6 luk6)
➢ 77: 七十七 (cat1 sap6 cat1)
➢ 88: 八十八 (baat3 sap6 baat3)
➢ 99: 九十九 (gau2 sap6 gau2)

• Count from 100 to 1,000

百 (baak3) is equivalent to “hundred” in English. If you want to express 100, 200, and so on, just add the Cantonese equivalent of the first digit in front of 百 (baak3). 

Take 200, for example. The Cantonese equivalent of the first digit (“2”) is 二 (ji6). Adding 二 (ji6) in front of 百 (baak3) gives us 二百  (ji6 baak3) for 200.

When the number reaches a thousand, we use 千 (cin1) in place of 百 (baak3). As such, 一千 (jat1 cin1) is 1000.

Counting by hundreds, here are the Cantonese numbers from 100 to 1,000:

➢ 100: 一百 (jat1 baak3)
➢ 200: 二百 (ji6 baak3)
➢ 300: 三百 (saam1 baak3)
➢ 400: 四百 (sei3 baak3)
➢ 500: 五百 (ng5 baak3)
➢ 600: 六百 (luk6 baak3)
➢ 700: 七百 (cat1 baak3)
➢ 800: 八百 (baat3 baak3)
➢ 900: 九百 (gau2 baak3)
➢ 1,000: 一千 (jat1 cin1)

Again, expressing 101 up to 999 in Cantonese is simple and similar to English. 

For example, if you wanted to express 121, you would just need to combine “100” (一百 [jat1 baak3]) and “21” (二十一 [ji6 sap6 jat1]). This would give you 一百二十一 (jat1 baak3 ji6 sap6 jat1). 

Note that if the second digit of a three-digit number is “0,” we need to add a zero 零 (ling4) in the corresponding position. Do not pronounce the ending zeros in 200 (二百 [ji6 baak3]) but do pronounce them in 201 (二百 [ji6 baak3 ling4 jat1]), for example. 

Let’s look at the Cantonese number for 207 to dissect this a little bit: 

• “200” 二百 (ji6 baak3) + “0” 零 (ling4) + “7” 七 (cat1)

Hence, 207 reads as 二百零七 (ji6 baak3 ling4 cat1).

When you encounter longer numbers in the future, no matter how many consecutive zeros you see, you’ll only need to say “zero” once to represent a row of zeros. For example, 3,047 reads as 三千零四十八 (saam1 cin1 ling4 sei3 sap6 baat3).

Here are some more examples of triple-digit Cantonese numbers: 

➢ 108: 一百零八 (jat1 baak3 ling4 baat3)
➢ 166: 一百六十六 (jat1 baak3 luk6 sap6 luk6)
➢ 230: 二百三十 (ji6 baak3 saam1 sap6)
➢ 344: 三百四十四 (saam1 baak3 sei3 sap6 sei3)
➢ 456: 四百五十六 (sei3 baak3 ng5 sap6 luk6)
➢ 550: 五百五十 (ng5 baak3 ng5 sap6)
➢ 612: 六百一十二 (luk6 baak3 jat1 sap6 ji6)
➢ 722: 七百二十二 (cat1 baak3 ji6 sap6 ji6)
➢ 805: 八百零五 (baat3 baak3 ling4 ng5)
➢ 910: 九百一十 (gau2 baak3 jat1 sap6)

2. Nouns

Nouns are vital in our everyday conversations. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to communicate effectively or talk about people, objects, places, or ideas.

In our guide to beginner words, we covered survival nouns like those for places around town, people, and food. Now let’s put more nouns in your pocket, ranging in topic from technology to hobbies!

• Technology – 科技 (fo1 gei6)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	互聯網	wu6 lyun4 mong5	“internet”
2	搜尋	sau2 cam4	“search”
3	下載	haa6 zoi3	“download”
4	上載	soeng6 zoi3	“upload”
5	網頁	mong5 jip6	“webpage”
6	社交媒體	se5 gaau1 mui4 tai2	“social media”
7	電子郵件	din6 zi2 jau4 gin2	“email”
8	電腦	din6 nou5	“computer”
9	手機	sau2 gei1	“mobile phone”
10	叉電器	caa1 din6 hei3	“charger”

• Appliances – 電器 (din6 hei3)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	微波爐	mei4 bo1 lou4	“microwave oven”
2	吸塵機	kap1 can4 gei1	“vacuum cleaner”
3	雪櫃	syut3 gwai6	“refrigerator”
4	風扇	fung1 sin3	“fan”
5	爐頭	lou4 tau4	“stove”
6	電視	din6 si6	“TV”
7	氣炸鍋	hei3 zaa3 wo1	“air fryer”
8	洗衣機	sai2 ji1 gei1	“washing machine”
9	冷氣機	laang5 hei3 gei1	“air conditioner”
10	風筒	fung1 tung2	“hair dryer”

• Transportation – 交通 (gaau1 tung1)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	飛機	fei1 gei1	“airplane”
2	地鐵	dei6 tit3	“subway”
3	小巴	siu2 baa1	“minibus”
4	巴士	baa1 si2	“bus”
5	渡輪	dou6 leon4	“ferry”
6	電車	din6 ce1	“tram”
7	的士	dik1 si2	“taxi”
8	巴士站	baa1 si2 zaam6	“bus stop”
9	機場	gei1 ceong4	“airport”
10	車費	ce1 fai3	(taxi/tram/bus/carriers with wheels) “fare”

• Hobbies – 興趣 (hing3 ceoi3)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	書法	syu1 faat3	“calligraphy”
2	結他	git3 taa1	“guitar”
3	鋼琴	gong3 kam4	“piano”
4	喇叭	laa3 baa1	“trumpet”
5	小提琴	siu2 tai4 kam4	“violin”
6	音樂	jam1 ngok6	“music”
7	搖滾音樂	jiu4 gwan2 jam1 ngok6	“rock music”
8	攝影	sip3 jing2	“photography”
9	棋	kei2	“chess”
10	閱讀	jyut6 duk6	“reading”

• Weather – 天氣 (tin1 hei3)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	温度	wan1 dou6	“temperature”
2	濕度	sap1 dou6	“humidity”
3	颱風	toi4 fung1	“typhoon”
4	風	fung1	“wind”
5	落雨	lok6 jyu5	“rain”
6	行雷	hang4 leoi4	“thunder”
7	閃電	sim2 din6	“lightning”
8	攝氏 [number] 度	sip3 si6 [num] dou6	“[number] degrees Celsius”
9	落雪	syut3	“snow”
10	彩虹	coi2 hung4	“rainbow”
11	太陽	taai3 joeng4	“sun”

• Dining – 用膳 (jung6 sin6)

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	貼士	tip1 si2	“tip”
2	侍應	si6 jing3	“waitress” / “waiter”
3	晚餐	maan5 caan1	“dinner”
4	中菜	zung1 coi3	“Chinese food“
5	筷子	faai3 zi2	“chopsticks”
6	餐單	caan1 daan1	“menu”
7	帳單	zoeng3 daan1	“bill”
8	水	seoi2	“water”
9	匙羹	ci4 gang1	“spoon”
10	刀	dou1	“knife”
11	叉	caa1	“fork”
12	信用卡	seon3 jung6 kaat1	“credit card”

3. Verbs

Here are some useful Cantonese verbs for you to learn as an intermediate student. Practicing these words will help you better express yourself and ensure you always have just the right action word at hand.

• Common Verbs

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	詛咒	zo3 zau3	“to curse”
2	閂	saan1	“to close”
3	醒	seng2	“to wake up”
4	返	faan2	“to return”
5	搵	wan2	“to find”
6	坐	co5	“to sit”
7	參加	caam1 gaa1	“to participate”
8	喊	haam3	“to cry”
9	整	zing2	“to make”
10	呃	aak1	“to deceive”
11	憎	zang1	“to hate”
12	怕	paa3	“to fear”

• Helping Verbs

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	有	jau5	“to have”
2	冇	mou5	“to not have”
3	識	sik1	“to know” (can)
4	要	jiu3	“to need”
5	想	soeng2	“to want”
6	做	zou6	“to do”
7	應該	jing1 goi1	“should”
8	肯	hang2	“to be willing to”
9	可以	ho2 yi5	“can”

• Linking Verbs

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	係	hai6	“to be”
2	唔係	m4 hai6	“not to be”

4. Adjectives

Adjectives are important in everyday language. They allow you to do everything from describing how pretty the girl sitting next to you is to expressing how spectacular you find the scenery. Below, you’ll find all the intermediate Cantonese adjectives you need to spice up your conversations or enrich your writing.

• Describing Colors

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	黑色	hak1 sik1	“black”
2	藍色	laam4 sik1	“blue”
3	灰色	fui1 sik1	“gray”
4	綠色	luk6 sik1	“green”
5	橙色	caang2 sik1	“orange”
6	紫色	zi2 sik1	“purple”
7	紅色	hung4 sik1	“red”
8	青色	ceng1 sik1	“cyan-blue”
9	米色	mai5 sik1	“beige”
10	粉紅色	fan2 hung4 sik1	“pink”
11	白色	baak6 sik1	“white”
12	黃色	wong4 sik1	“yellow”
13	啡色	fe1 sik1	“brown”

• Describing Values and Conditions

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	錯	co3	“wrong”
2	啱	ngaam	“right” / “correct”
3	好	hou2	“good”
4	差	caa1	“bad” / “poor”
5	難	naan4	“difficult”
6	易	ji6	“easy”
7	新	san1	“new”
8	舊	gau6	“old”
9	平	peng4	“cheap”
10	貴	gwai3	“expensive”
11	後生	hau6 saang1	“young”
12	老	lou5	“old”
13	快	faai3	“fast”
14	慢	maan6	“slow”
15	有用	jau5 jung6	“useful”
16	冇用	mou5 jung6	“useless”
17	壞	waai6	“bad” / “rotten”
18	乾淨	gon1 zeng6	“clean”
19	污糟	wu1 zou1	“dirty”
20	嘈	cou4	“noisy”
21	靜	zing6	“quiet”
22	弱	joek6	“weak”
23	強壯	koeng4 zong3	“strong” (physically)
24	空	hung1	“empty”

5. Adverbs

Verbs, nouns, and adjectives are essential for beginners, but as you advance to the intermediate level, it’s time to learn some adverbs too!

• Describing Time

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	已經	ji5 ging1	“already”
2	馬上	maa5 seong6	“immediately”
3	最近	zeoi3 gan6	“lately”
4	上星期	soeng6 sing1 kei4	“last week”
5	下星期	haa6 sing1 kei4	“next week”
6	而家	ji4 gaa1	“now”
7	好快	hou2 faai3	“soon”
8	仍然	jing4 jin4	“still”
9	今朝早	gam1 ziu1 zou2	“this morning”
10	今日	gam1 jat6	“today”
11	聽日	ting1 jat6	“tomorrow”
12	今晚	gam1 maam5	“tonight”
13	噚日	cam4 jat6	“yesterday”
14	仲未	zung6 mei6	“yet”
15	遲啲	ci4 di1	“later”
16	近排	gan6 paai2	“recently”
17	本來	bun2 loi4	“originally”
18	曾經	cang4 ging1	“at once”
19	初初	co1 co1	“in the beginning”
20	嗰陣時	go2 zan6 si6	“at that time”
21	前嗰排	cin4 go2 paai2	“a while ago”
22	暫時	zaam6 si4	“temporarily”
23	到時	dou3 si4	“then” (future)
24	前日	cin4 jat6	“the day before”
25	後日	hau6 jat6	“the day after”

• Describing Frequency

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	成日	seng4 jat6	“always” / “all the time”
2	永遠唔會	wing5 jyun5 m4 wui5	“never”
3	好少	hou2 siu2	“rarely”
4	有時	jau5 si4	“sometimes”
5	密密	mat6 mat6	“frequently”
6	平時	ping4 si4	“usually”
7	間中	gaan3 zung1	“occasionally”
8	唔常	m4 soeng4	“seldom”
9	再	zoi3	“again”
10	每	mui5	“every”

• Describing Degree

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	一啲	jat1 di1	“a bit”
2	好多	hou2 do1	“a lot”
3	夠	gau3	“enough”
4	太	tai3	“too” / “excessively”
5	唔係太	m4 hai6 tai3	“not too”
6	淨係	zing6 hai6	“only”
7	得	dak1	“only…left”
8	特別	dak6 bit6	“exceptionally”
9	零舍	ling4 se3	“particularly”
10	超	ciu1	“super”

6. Prepositions

For intermediate-level language learners, it’s vital to begin constructing more comprehensive sentences! Therefore, we have included a list of prepositions below:

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	喺…前面	hai2…cin4 min6	“in front of”
2	喺…後面	hai2…hau6 min6	“behind”
3	喺…上面	hai2…soeng6 min6	“on top of”
4	喺…下面	hai2…haa6 min6	“under”
5	外面	ngoi6 min6	“outside”
6	入面	jap6 min6	“inside”
7	之前	zi1 cin4	“before”
8	之後	zi1 hau6	“after”
9	直至	zik6 zi3	“until”
10	喺	hai2	“at” / “in”

7. Conjunctions

There’s lots to say and explain when it comes to Cantonese conjunctions. But luckily, you don’t need to use many of them when you first start learning Cantonese.

→ We recommend also having a look at our complete guide to Cantonese conjunctions. You’ll learn everything about how to connect phrases, express conditions and consequences, and much more.

• Coordinating Conjunctions

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	跟	gan1	“and” (more formal)
2	與	jyu5	“and” (more formal)
3	及	kap6	“and” (more formal)
4	共	gung6	“and” (more formal)
5	同	tung4	“and”
6	或	waak6	“or”
7	還是	waan4 si6	“or” (more formal)

• Subordinating Conjunctions / Adverbial Conjunctions

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	由於	jau4 jyu1	“since”
2	所以	so2 yi5	“so”
3	因此	jan1 ci2	“therefore” (more serious)
4	故此	gu3 ci2	“thereby” (more formal)

• Correlative Conjunctions / Adverbial Conjunctions

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Meaning
1	不但	bat1 daan6	“not only (…but also)” (more formal)
2	唔單止	m4 daan1 zi2	“not only”
3	況且	fong3 ce2	“additionally” / “not to mention”

8. Final Particles

In Cantonese, we have a special type of word called a “final particle.” Final particles themselves are meaningless, but when placed at the end of a sentence, they indicate the mood or attitude of the speaker. Using them also makes one’s speech more colloquial.

#	Chinese Characters	Romanization	Function
1	喎	wo3	Indicates surprise or disagreement
2	啩	gwaa3	Indicates assumption or uncertainty
3	啫	ze1	Indicates sarcasm; “only”
4	㗎喇	gaa3 laa3	Indicates an exclamation with an emphasis on the past; “already”
5	啦嘛	laa1 maa3	Indicates certainty (“of course”); used in questions to confirm a situation
6	先	sin1	Indicates something new; “first”
7	添	tim1	Indicates surprise due to unexpected changes; emphasizes an additional thing being mentioned
8	咋	zaa3	Indicates disapproval; “just”
9	之嘛	zi1 maa3	“only”
10	呀吓	aa4 haa2	Indicates disapproval, surprise, or discontentment
11	未	mei6	Used in neutral questions to inquire about whether an action has been taken or not
12	咩	me1	Indicates surprise or disbelief in question form
13	呢	ne1	Used in questions to soften the tone when inquiring about facts
14	嘛	maa3	Used in questions to soften the tone when inquiring about actions

→ Intrigued by how useful these “meaningless” final particles can be? Check out our complete guide to Cantonese final particles to learn more!

9. How CantoneseClass101.com Can Help You Learn More Cantonese

Did you know any of these words already, or were they all new to you? Now that you’ve learned some more advanced vocabulary, you can try and write different sentences on your own! 

→ If you want to learn more about Cantonese characters and the writing system, visit our guide on CantoneseClass101.com.

If you’re ready to move on to the next level of Cantonese after learning these intermediate Cantonese words, try out CantoneseClass101.com. With us, you can have your daily dose of Cantonese whenever and wherever you want, through mobile apps, desktop software, and our website. We offer entertaining, engaging, and effective lessons on various aspects of the Cantonese language and culture.

Until now, we’ve delivered more than 750,000,000 lessons to thousands of happy students from all around the globe. You can learn Cantonese with over 1060 audio and video lessons delivered by our knowledgeable and energetic hosts, detailed PDF lesson notes, an abundance of vocabulary learning tools, spaced repetition flashcards, and a lively community to discuss the lessons with fellow learners. What are you waiting for? Download our lessons, enjoy our audio and video files, and start learning now!

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