Learn the top 25 Cantonese verbs
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| Hi guys! Welcome to Cantonese Top Words! Today we are going to talk about the Top 25 Cantonese Verbs. We use it everyday, every hour, a lot of the time. |
| 係 (hai6) “be” |
| 我係Olivia。 (ngo5 hai6 Olivia.) “I am Olivia.” |
| 喺 (hai2) “be (somewhere)” |
| Notice that it’s very similar to the last “to be”, it’s 係 (hai6) and 喺 (hai2). 係 (hai6) is in 6th tone, and this one is in 2nd tone, 喺 (hai2). It means “to be (somewhere)”, it’s always linked to a location. In a sentence: 喺 (hai2) |
| 我喺香港。 (ngo5 hai2 hoeng1 gong2.) “I'm in Hong Kong.” |
| 唔係 (m4 hai6) “not be” |
| 我唔係男人。 (ngo5 m4 hai6 naam4 jan2.) “I'm not a guy.” “I'm not a man.” as you can tell. |
| 有 (jau5) “have” |
| 我有三隻狗。 (ngo5 jau5 saam1 zek3 gau2.) “I have three dogs.” They’re really cute! |
| 冇 (mou5) “not have” |
| 冇 (mou5) is the opposite of 有 (jau5), which is “to not have”. |
| 我冇錢。 (ngo5 mou5 cin2.) “I don't have money.” |
| 去 (heoi3) “go” |
| 去 (heoi3) is “to go” |
| 我去夏威夷。 ngo5 heoi3 haa6 wai1 ji4.) “I go to Hawaii.” |
| 嚟 (lei4) “come” |
| 你嚟啦！ (nei5 lei4 laa1!) “(You) come over here.” It’s like “you come here!” |
| 可以 (ho2 ji3) “can; may” |
| 可以 (ho2 ji3) is “can” of “may”. |
| 我可以彈琴。 (ngo5 ho2 ji3 taan4 kam4.) “I can play piano.” |
| 我可以彈琴。 (ngo5 ho2 ji3 taan4 kam4.) |
| 要 (jiu3) “want; need” |
| 我要食飯！ (ngo5 jiu3 sik6 faan6!) “I need to eat (rice or something)!” |
| 我要食嘢！ (ngo5 jiu3 sik6 je5!) “I need to eat something!” |
| 想 (soeng2) “want to; would like to” |
| 想 (soeng2) is “to want to” or “would like to” |
| 我想... (ngo5 soeng2…) what do I want…? |
| 我想飲咖啡。 (ngo5 soeng2 jam2 gaa3 fe1.) “I want to drink coffee.” |
| 我想飲咖啡。 (ngo5 soeng2 jam2 gaa3 fe1.) |
| 整 (zing2) “make” |
| 整 (zing2) “to make” |
| 我整鞋。 (ngo5 zing2 haai4.) “I make shoes.” |
| 我整鞋。 (ngo5 zing2 haai4.) |
| 做 (zou6) “do” |
| 做功課 (zou6 gung1 fo3) “to do homework” |
| 做功課 (zou6 gung1 fo3) |
| 食 (sik6) “eat” |
| 包 (baau) “bun” |
| “I eat a bun, a bread.” 我食包。 (ngo5 sik6 baau1) |
| 飲 (jam2) “drink” |
| 飲 (jam2) “to drink” |
| 我飲茶。 (ngo5 jam2 caa4.) “I drink tea.” |
| 飲 (jam2), 我飲茶。 (ngo5 jam2 caa4.) |
| 鍾意 (zung1 ji3) “like” |
| 鍾意 (zung1 ji3) “to like”, “to be fond of” |
| 我鍾意你呀！ (ngo5 zung1 ji3 nei5 aa3!) “I like you!” |
| 學 (hok6) “learn” |
| 學 (hok6) “to learn” |
| 我學廣東話。 (ngo5 hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2.) “I learn Cantonese.” |
| So that’s something you can tell people now that you saw our videos. |
| 問 (man6) “ask” |
| 我問問題。 (ngo5 man6 man6 tai4.) “I ask a question.” |
| 講 (gong2) “say; or speak” |
| 講 (gong2) is “say” or “speak” |
| 我講廣東話。 (ngo5 gong2 gwong2 dung1 waa2.) “I speak Cantonese.” |
| 聽 (teng1) “listen” |
| 聽 (teng1) “to listen” |
| 我聽音樂。 (ngo5 teng1 jam1 ngok6.) “I listen to the music.” |
| 諗 (lam2) “think” |
| 諗 (lam2) is “to think” |
| 我諗我遲到。 (ngo5 lam2 ngo5 ci4 dou3.) “I think I'm late.” |
| 知道 (zi1 dou3) “know” |
| 知道 (zi1 dou3) is “know (something)”, “know (a fact)” |
| 我知道你呃我。 (ngo5 zi1 dou3 nei5 ak1 ngo5.) “I know you lied to me.” |
| 我知道 (ngo5 zi1 dou3 ) “I know” |
| 識 (sik1) "know", or “know how to” |
| So 識 (sik1) is “to know”, “to be skillful of (something)” |
| So 我識廣東話。 (ngo5 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2.) “I know Cantonese.” |
| You can tell people that now. 我識廣東話。 (ngo5 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2.) “I know Cantonese.” |
| 買 (maai5) “buy” |
| 買鞋 (maai5 haai4) “buy shoes” |
| There are a lot of things we can buy. |
| 睇 (tai2) “see” |
| 睇 (tai2) “to see” or “to watch” |
| For example, 睇戲 (tai2 hei3) “to watch a movie” |
| 睇星星 (tai2 sing1 sing1) “to watch the stars (in the sky)” |
| 走 (zau2) “leave” |
| 走 (zau2) “to leave”, “to go”, or “to exit” |
| “to leave” |
| 我走喇，拜拜！ (ngo5 zau2 laa3, baai1 baa3!) “I'm leaving now, bye!” |
| And I’ll see you next time in other Cantonese videos. If you want to check out more of our videos, please subscribe! And check out CantoneseClass101.com. See-ya! |
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