廣東話 · Cantonese
Six tones, clipped final stops, and the same characters as Mandarin read completely differently.
Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic) · compare with Mandarin Chinese
Sounds
42 phonemes, 74 spelling rules. Trace any word letter by letter.
Words
610 concepts carry a Cantonese form. Switch Cantonese on at the top and browse any field.
Grammar
12 of 12 chapters written.
🎵 Cantonese is a tone language. Open the tone lab to hear every pitch on the same syllable, compare any two back to back, and settle the “six or nine tones?” question.
🎚️ What Cantonese does with pitch, stress and rhythm — the layer that isn't spelled.
Sound snapshot
Cantonese syllables are (initial) + final + one of SIX tones, written 1–6 in Jyutping: 1 high ˥, 2 rising ˧˥, 3 mid ˧, 4 low falling ˨˩, 5 low rising ˩˧, 6 low ˨. Unlike Mandarin it keeps the old final stops -p -t -k (unreleased — the syllable just stops: sap6 十) and final -m (saam1 三). Long and short a are different letters: aa is long /aː/ (saam1), a is short /ɐ/ (sam1 心 — different word!). b/d/g are unaspirated /p t k/, p/t/k aspirated; z/c are /t͡s/ /t͡sʰ/ (often toward /t͡ʃ/). Two syllables are just nasals: m4 唔 'not', ng5 五 'five'. The same characters as Mandarin, utterly different sounds: 香港 is xiānggǎng in Mandarin, hoeng1gong2 in Cantonese.
Grammar chapters
Articles
the, a — definite and indefinite, and how they bend to gender and number.
Nouns & gender
Does the language sort nouns into classes, and can you guess which?
Plurals
How to make more than one.
Pronouns
I, you, he/she/it, we, they — subject, object, and the formal 'you'.
Present tense
Regular verbs now, and the handful of irregular ones you can't avoid.
Negation
Saying no: where the 'not' goes.
Questions
Yes/no questions and question words.
Word order
Where the verb goes, where adjectives go, what moves and why.
Past tenses
Finished vs ongoing, spoken vs written past.
Future & conditional
Will, going to, would.
Adjectives
Agreement, position, comparison.
Prepositions
In, on, at, to — the small words that never translate one-to-one.
Words by field
🏠Home
The house, room by room — the words you touch every day.
🌲Nature
Out of the city: landscapes, weather, creatures.
🧩Little words
Adverbs, prepositions, connectors — small words that carry the sentence.
🧱Essentials
The bedrock: numbers, yes and no — the words you need on day one.
🧰Trades & expertise
Jargon of people who do things with their hands — and their heads.
💭Concepts
Abstract words: feelings, ideas, character.
🧭Navigation
Finding your way: streets, junctions, the places you're heading for — and how to say you're lost.
🧑People
Who someone is: what they do, and what you call them.
🎬Actions
Everyday verbs, in the form that follows 'I want to…' — go, eat, buy, see, say.
🍽️Food
What's on the plate and in the cupboard — the staples first.
🫀The body
Head to ankle — the words you need at the doctor, the physio and the gym.
🥋Sport & fighting
The gym, the cage and the corner — built for fighters learning English.
🎭Register
The same idea said in the street, at the office, or in a textbook.