How to say?

How to say 'yet' and 'not yet' in Cantonese

Rachel Yu

Rachel Yu

— 2 min read

If you are around Cantonese-speaking people a lot, you might have come across the phrase 你食咗飯未呀 (nei5 sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3?) - Have you eaten yet, in day to day conversations.
This phrase plays a huge role in Cantonese culture. It's basically our version of 'How are you'.

the 未(mei6) in Cantonese means 'yet' when it is in a question; though it means 'not yet' when put in an answer. In today's post we will look at both uses of 未(mei6) in Cantonese.

未 in a question

Asking if something has occurred yet

First, let's look at the classic Cantonese equivalent of 'How are you': 你食咗飯未呀？(nei5 sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3?) - Have you eaten yet?

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Here, we put the verb in past tense by adding the 咗 (zo2) suffix in the verb, and then we add 未(mei6) at the end.
  • 佢做咗功課未呀 (keoi5 zou6 zo2 gung1 fo3 mei6 aa3) - Has he/she finished the homework yet?
  • 你沖咗涼未呀 (nei5 cung1 zo2 loeng5 mei6 aa3) - Have you showered yet?

Asking if it is time for something/ if something is happening soon

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Here we don't use past tense, because we are not asking if an action has ended yet.
  • 開飯未呀 (hoi1 faan6 mei6 aa3) - Is it time to eat?
  • 你夠鐘出門口未呀 (nei5 gau3 zung1 ceot1 mun4 hau2 mei6 aa3) - Is it time for you to go out yet?
  • 你瞓覺未呀 (nei5 fan3 gaau3 mei6 aa3) - Are you going to bed soon?

未 (mei6) in an answer/statement

Stating that something has yet to occur

Let's take the same question as an example.

你食咗飯未呀？(nei5 sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3?) - Have you eaten yet?

我食咗飯喇 (ngo5 sik6 zo2 faan6 laa3) - I have already eaten

我未食飯呀 (ngo5 mei6 sik6 faan6 aa3) - I haven't eaten yet

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Notice how the suffix position with respect to the verb is different.

食咗飯 (sik6 zo2 faan6) - have eaten/ate

In the past tense, the past tense suffix 咗 (zo2) separate the components of the verb 食飯 (sik6 faan6). (learn more about verb separation in this post)

未食飯 (mei6 sik6 faan6) - have not eaten yet

Whereas when something hasn't occur yet, 未 (mei6) is followed by the verb, without being separated.

When the verb consists of two words, we put the verb component in the middle and the complimentary noun in the end. If you are not familiar with how the verbs are separated, please read this post below.

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Let's look at some more examples.

佢做晒啲功課 (keoi5 zou6 saai3 di1 gung1 fo3) - He/She has finished all the homework

佢未做晒啲功課 (keoi5 mei6 zou6 saai3 di1 gung1 fo3) - He/She hasn't finished all the homework

我開始咗煮飯 (ngo5 hoi1 ci2 zo2 zyu2 faan6) - I have started cooking

我未開始煮飯 (ngo5 mei6 hoi1 ci2 zyu2 faan6) - I haven't started cooking

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