(Note: This is the first “cheatsheet” in a continuing series aimed at helping people with a foundation in Mandarin transition into reading Cantonese)
Some people I know got into Cantonese after stumbling across a Hong Kong media source or forum (*cough cough* LIHKG) and discovering that their existing knowledge of “Standard Written Chinese” only got them so far. That’s because written vernacular Cantonese is a far cry from written Mandarin, employing a whole host of characters rarely seen up north. However, Mandarin readers still have a leg up over people with no character experience, as there is still a fair amount of overlap between the written colloquial forms of the two languages.
As someone who arrived at Cantonese after studying Mandarin, a lot of my early study focused on how the two languages differ so I could keep them straight in my head. Below are are five key divergences in terms of functional use. With these, a person literate in Mandarin should be able to start making simple sentences with Cantonese-specific characters.
The primary “to be” verb in Cantonese, corresponding with 是 in Mandarin. Its primary usage is for “A is B” style constructions like below:
我係香港人.
Ngóh haih Hēunggóng yàhn.
我是香港人.
I am a Hongkonger.
我係醫生.
Ngóh haih yīsāng.
我是醫生.
I am a doctor.
2. 喺 hái (vs. 在)
This coverb functions fairly similarly to 在 in Mandarin. However, the huge thing to pay attention to is how close the pronunciation is to 係 (to be)—they only differ in tone. 係 is a low flat low tone while 喺 is a rising tone. They also differ by one radical.
我住喺香港.
Ngóh jyuh hái Hēunggóng.
我住在香港.
I live in Hong Kong.
我喺公園食飯.
Ngóh hái gūngyún sihk faahn.
我在公園吃飯.
I eat in the park.
(Note the verbs for “to eat” differ here between Cantonese and Mandarin; verb differences are a whole other can of worms and will be covered in more detail later)
3. 唔 mh`, 未 meih, and 冇 móuh (vs. 不, 沒, and 沒有)
Cantonese uses distinct negative adverbs from Mandarin. The first, 唔, functions similar to 不 in that you will generally see it before a verb or adjective. (Note that it should be romanized as a low falling tone, but some people also just write m or mh) Some examples:
我唔係法國人.
Ngóh mh` haih Faatgwok yàhn.
我不是法國人.
I am not French.
我唔識法語.
Ngóh mh` sīk Faatyúh.
我不會法語.
I don’t know French/I can’t speak French.
Just like Cantonese has its own standard negative adverb, it also has a separate one for lacking or having not done something. Thus, we see 未 instead of 沒:
我未去過日本.
Ngóh meih heui gwo Yahtbún.
我沒去過日本.
I have never been to Japan.
The one major exception comes up with the verb 有. In that case, Cantonese has a word that efficiently blends the sounds of meih and yáuh together while also conveying the sense of “not having” in a single, genius character: 冇 móuh.
我冇朋友.
Ngóh móuh pàhng yáuh.
我沒有朋友。
I have no friends.
4. 佢 kéuih, 佢哋 kéuihdeih, 你哋 néihdeih, 我哋 ngóhdeih (vs. 他/她/它，他們，你們，我們)
The characters for the pronouns “I/me” (我) and “you” (你) do not differ between Mandarin and Cantonese (though you could argue Cantonese song lyrics still use the feminine 妳 more than contemporary Mandarin does, as in the case of 《喜歡妳》).
However, it’s another story with the third person when speaking about people or animals. In that case, 他/她/它 becomes 佢 (kéuih).
佢又靚又高.
Kéuih yauh leng yauh gōu.
他又帥又高.
He is both handsome and tall.
佢係我大哥.
Kéuih haih ngóh daaihgō.
他是我大哥.
He is my big brother/boss/triad leader. (check your context!)
(In the last example, note the lack of possessive particle between the pronoun and 大哥—for many close/familial relationships, a possessive particle is not obligatory.)
Cantonese also has its own particle for pluralizing pronouns, similar to 們 in Mandarin: 哋 (deih).
我哋唔想返屋企.
Ngóhdeih mh` séung fāan ūkkéi/ngūkkéi.
我們不想回家.
We don’t want to go home.
5. 嘅 ge… and other measure words （vs. 的 and much more)
In Cantonese, 嘅 (ge) functions like 的 when it comes to marking a general sense of possession or attaching adjectives to nouns. Some examples:
呢個係佢嘅.
Nī go haih kéuih ge.
這個是她的.
This (thing) is hers.
我鍾意飲好辣嘅湯.
Ngóh jūngyi yám hóu laaht ge tōng.
我喜歡喝很辣的湯.
I like eating/drinking very spicy soup.
佢唱歌嘅時候好似好開心.
Kéuih cheung gō ge sìhhauh hóuchíh hóu hōisām.
她唱歌的時候好像很快樂.
She seems very happy when she sings.
However, one major difference between Cantonese and Mandarin when it comes to marking possession is that for many nouns in Cantonese, you use the measures word (e.g. 對，張，部，頭，隻, etc.) instead of 嘅 (嘅 being there for more general usage).
我隻貓好得意.
Ngóh jek māau hóu dāk yi.
我的貓很可愛.
My cat is very cute.
你間屋好大.
Néih gāan ūk/ngūk hóu daaih.
你的房子很大.
Your house is very big.
****
Anyway, this is just a starting point. Going forward, I’ll add more cheatsheets covering a wider variety of parallel structures. But I hope this helps people as they embark on reading more Cantonese texts. For those who read this and have suggestions/comments/elaborations, please share in the comments!
