Using adjectives to describe objects in Cantonese

Let's use this sentence as an example:

香港好靚 (hoeng1 gong2 hou2 leng3) - Hong Kong is beautiful.

香港 (hoeng1 gong2) - Hong Kong

靚 (leng3) - beautiful

A common mistake that Cantonese learners make is to translate the sentence word-for-word, which becomes 香港係靚 (hoeng1 gong2 hai6 leng3) for the verb 'to be' in Cantonese is 係 (hai6). But this is not a correct wat to connect adjectives and nouns.

Instead, we replace the verb 'to be' with an adverb of degree.

Adverbs of degree in an English adjective sentence is optional, but is essential in a Cantonese adjective sentence.

Here are the most common adverbs of degree in Cantonese.

Now, let's explore each of their usages.

好 (hou2) - very

For context, 好 (hou2) is the default adverb of degree. Even if you just want to say 'Hong Kong is beautiful' without wanting it to sound like 'Hong Kong is VERY beautiful', you would still say 香港好靚 (hoeng1 gong2 hou2 leng3).

Below are some more examples.

我好攰 (ngo5 hou2 gui6) - I'm tired

今日好熱 (gam1 jat6 hou2 jit6) - Today is hot

佢屋企好大 (koei5 uk1 kei2 hou2 daai6) - His/Her house is big

菠蘿包好好食 (bo1 lo4 baau1 hou2 hou2 sik6) - Pineapple buns are delicious

The first 好(hou2) in this statement is the adverb of degrees, while the adjective 好食 (hou2 sik6) means to taste good. Hence there are two 好 (hou2) in the sentence.

幾 (gei2) - quite

我今日幾忙 (ngo5 gam1 jat6 gei2 mong4) - I'm quite busy today

呢個遊戲幾好玩 (ni1 go3 jau4 hei3 gei2 hou2 waan2) - This game is quite fun

佢幾開心 (koei5 gei2 hoi1 sam1) - He/She is quite happy

日本幾凍 (jat6 bun2 gei2 dung3) - Japan is quite cold

唔係好 (m4 hai6 hou2) - not quite/not very/ not that

唔係好 (m4 hai6 hou2) is simply the negated version of 好 (hou2).

我隻狗唔係好大 (ngo5 zek3 gau2 m4 hai6 hou2 daai6) - My dog is not that big

個橙唔係好甜 (go3 caang2 m4 hai6 hou2 tim4) - The orange is not that sweet

條褲唔係好長 (tiu4 fu3 m4 hai6 hou2 coeng4) - The pants are not that long

今日天氣唔係好好 (gam1 jat6 tin1 hei3 m4 hai6 hou2 hou2) - Today's weather is not very good

The first 好(hou2) in this statement is the adverb of degrees, while the second 好(hou2) means good.

唔 (m4) - not

唔 (m4) simply negates the adjective.

最近天氣唔好 (zeoi3 gan6 tin1 hei3 m4 hou2) - The weather recently is not good

呢個麵包唔鹹 (ni1 go3 min6 baau1 m4 haam4) - This bread is not salty

呢個小朋友唔乖 (ni1 go3 siu2 pang4 jau5 m4 gwaai1) - This child is not well-behaved

呢啲衫唔乾淨 (ni1 di1 saam1 m4 gon1 zeng6) - These clothes are not clean

In the next post, we will explore how to connect actions to adjectives.