Thank you. The symbol would be handy on the flash cards. This is the main way I have been building my vocabulary. Maybe I’ll reorganise my decks into written only and spoken since I have a mix at the moment.
Hi Jason,
In our audio/video series, we separate the written/spoken Cantonese format more distinctively. But in vocab lists like this, it could become a mix of both. Apologies for the confusion, we've been discussing about adding an icon for learners to know in which scenario the term is used. Meanwhile, I will provide the info below:
取消 (ceoi2 siu1) "cancel" -- both written & spoken
做 (zou6) "do" -- both written & spoken
去 (heoi3) "go" -- both written & spoken
吃 (hek3) "eat" -- written; in spoken form, it's 食(sik6)
來 (loi4) "come" -- written; in spoken form, it's 嚟(lai4/lei4)
死 (sei2) "die" -- both written & spoken
到達 (dou3 daat6) "arrive" -- written; in spoken form, it's 到 (dou3)
休息 (jau1 sik1) "rest" -- both written & spoken
煮 (zyu2) "cook" -- both written & spoken
回家 (wui4 gaa1) "return" -- written; in spoken form, it's 返(屋企) (faan1 uk1 kei2)
睡覺 (seoi6 gaau3) "sleep" -- written; in spoken form, it's 瞓覺 (fan3 gaau3)
醒 (seng2) "wake up" -- both written & spoken
感覺 (gam2 gok3) "feel" -- written; in spoken form, it's 覺得 (gok3 dak1)
畫畫 (waat6 waa2) "draw" -- both written & spoken
回答 (wui4 daap3) "answer" -- written; in spoken form, it's 答 (daap3)
讀 (duk6) "read" -- both written & spoken
教 (gaau3) "teach" -- both written & spoken
問 (man6) "ask" -- both written & spoken
收 (sau1) "receive" -- both written & spoken
計劃 (gai3 waak6) "plan" -- both written & spoken
解釋 (gaai2 sik1) "explain" -- both written & spoken
能 (nang4) "can" -- written; in spoken form, it's 可以 (ho2 ji3/ji5)
關 (gwaan1) "close" -- written; in spoken form, it's 閂 (saan1)
買 (maai5) "buy" -- both written & spoken
想要 (soeng2 jiu3) "want" -- both written & spoken
I am learning lots of words from the lists, but people point out that some are only used in written Chinese and not in spoken Cantonese. How can I tell which words in the list are written only so that I can concentrate on learning to speak instead.
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for your question. Your understanding is correct, we use 食(sik6) in Cantonese, while we also use 吃 (hek3) but only limited to written language. 😉
Ada
Team CantoneseClass101.com
Hi
In this list, we have 吃 for to eat, which I recognise from Mandarin, but I have seen 食 so far in Cantonese. Is this actually used?
Thanks
Anthony
Hi Jason Marshall,
Thank you! 😉
Ada
Team CantoneseClass101.com