Cantonese Grammar

The Cantonese grammar allows you to manipulate the vocabulary to obtain multiple forms of a word. The grammatical rules below are the most important in Cantonese and help connect words or shape the structure. We start with the prepositions:

And:   []	Under: 下面  [haa5 min6  ]
Before: 之前  [zi1 cin4]	After: 後  [hau6  ]
Inside: 入面  [jap6 min6  ]	Outside: 外面  [ngoi6 min6  ]
With: 一同  [jat1 tung4]	But: 但是  [daan6 si6]
For: 為  [wai4 ]	From: 由  [jau4 ]
To: 去  [heoi2  ]	In: 在  [zoi6 ]

Questions and Adverbs

To ask questions, use the following:

What?: 什麼  [sam6 maa1  ]	Who?: 誰?  [seoi4  ]
How?: 怎樣  [zam2 joeng6]	Why?: 為什麼  [wai4 sam6 maa1 ]
Where?: 在哪裡  [zoi6 naa1 lei5 ]

Some of the most important time adverbs:

Never: 永不  [wing5 bat1  ]	Rarely: 很少  [han2 siu2  ]
Sometimes: 有時  [jau5 si4 ]	Usually: 通常  [tung1 soeng4  ]
Always: 經常  [ging1 soeng4]	Very: 更加  [ang1 gaa1 ]

Most commonly used pronouns in Cantonese:

I: 我  [ngo5 ]	You: 你  [nei5]
He: 他  [taa1]	She: 她  [ji1]
We: 我們  [ngo5 mun4]	They: 他們  [taa1 mun4]

To express the possession of something [possessive form]:

My: 我的  [ngo5 di1 ]	Your: 你的  [ nei5 di1  ]
His: 他的  [taa1 di1 ]	Her: 她的  [ji1 di1]
Our: 我們的  [ngo5 mun4 di1]	Their: 他們的  [taa1 mun4 di1  ]

Grammar in a sentence

Some random verbs to show how it's being used:

I speak English: 我會講英文  [ngo5 kui2 gong2 jing1 man4 ]

You speak French: 你會講法文  [nei5 kui2 gong2 faat3 man4 ]

He speaks German: 他會講德文  [taa1 kui2 gong2 dak1 man4 ]

She speaks Italian: 她會講意大利文  [ji1 kui2 gong2 ji3 daai6 lei6 man4 ]

I visited France: 我去過法國  [ngo5 heoi2 gwo1 faat3 gwok3 ]

I will drink milk: 我將會飲牛奶  [ngo5 zoeng1 kui2 jam2 ngau4 naai1 ]

Some extra grammatical structures:

I understand you: 我明白你  [ngo5 ming4 baak6 nei5  ]

I don't understand you: 我不明白你  [ngo5 bat1 ming4 baak6 nei5 ]

I don't speak French: 我不會說法文  [ngo5 bat1 kui2 jyut6 faat3 man4]

This is my house: 這是我的房子  [ze2 si6 ngo5 di1 fong2 zi2  ]

That restaurant is far: 那間餐廳很遠  [na6 gaan1 caan1 teng1 han2 jyun5  ]

No problem: 無問題  [mou4 man6 tai4]

The above Cantonese grammar can provide tools to use in coordination with the Cantonese vocabulary to obtain some popular Cantonese phrases.