Cantonese Verbs with Two Characters

Verbs in Cantonese often come in just one character, such as “to eat” 食 sik6. However, sometimes you will come across Cantonese verbs with two characters, such as “to sleep” 瞓覺 fan3 gaau3. It’s not entirely accurate to say that both characters are verbs. Because for example, 游水 jau4 seoi2, 游 jau4 is “to swim” and 水 seoi2 is “water.” The latter part is not a verb, but it has to be used together with the verb in order to form a valid meaning.

Here is a quick list of common verbs with two characters:

• 瞓覺 fan3 gaau3 – sleep
• 跑步 paau2 bou6 – run
• 游水 jau4 seoi2 – swim
• 打波 daa2 bo1 – play ball games
• 沖涼 cung1 loeng4 – shower
• 刷牙 caat3 ngaa4 – brush teeth
• 做嘢 zou6 je5 – do things
• 結婚 git3 fan1 – marry
• 畢業 bat1 jip6 – graduate
• 執笠 zap1 lap1 – closing down (a business)
• 升職 sing1 zik1 – job promotion
• 退休 teoi3 jau1 – retire
• 移民 ji4 man4 – immigrate

Present Tense

Insert a present tense marker in between the characters. The present tense marker is 緊 gan2.

• 食飯 sik6 faan6
  • 食 緊 飯 sik6 gan2 faan6
• 結婚 git3 fan1
  • 結 緊  婚 git3 gan2  fan1
• 跑步 paau2 bou6
  • 跑 緊 步 paau2 gan2 bou6

Past Tense

Insert a past tense marker 咗 zo2 in between the characters.

Example:

• 食飯 sik6 faan6
  • 食 咗 飯 sik6 zo2 faan6
• 結婚 git3 fan1
  • 結 咗 婚 git3 zo2 fan1
• 跑步 paau2 bou6
  • 跑 咗 步 paau2 zo2 bou6

Negation

Use the negation marker 未 mei6 before the verb, meaning you “haven’t done” the action, implying that you would finish the action in the future.

• 食飯 sik6 faan6
  • 未 食飯 mei6 sik6 faan6
• 結婚 git3 fan1
  • 未 結婚  mei6 git3 fan1
• 跑步 paau2 bou6
  • 未 跑步 mei6 paau2 bou6

Use the negation marker 冇 mou5 before the verb, meaning you “didn’t do” the action, implying that you have no intention of doing it.

• 食飯 sik6 faan6
  • 冇 食飯 mou5 sik6 faan6
• 結婚 git3 fan1
  • 冇 結婚 mou5 git3 fan1
• 跑步 paau2 bou6
  • 冇 跑步 mou5 paau2 bou6

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Conclusion

Cantonese grammar can sometimes be confusing and unexplainable. But like learning other languages, we recommend not to focus too much on the grammar rules because grammar can never be learned and speaking fluent Cantonese doesn’t require perfect grammar. Speaking a language isn’t about being perfect, it’s about be able to communicate, so please stop stressing about being perfect. “When we quit pursuing perfect, we can perfect the pursuit.” We hope you enjoy this article and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram. We also have uploaded video tricks and tips onto our YouTube channel.