Plurals
Cantonese nouns don't mark plural. 書 syu1 is "book" or "books" — context, numbers, and the little word 啲 di1 do the work. The only true plural marker, 哋 dei6, is reserved for pronouns.
Bare nouns cover both
我鍾意狗 ngo5 zung1 ji3 gau2 — "I like dogs" 隻狗喺出面 zek3 gau2 hai2 ceot1 min6 — "the dog is outside"
No -s, no ending, ever.
Counting: number + classifier + noun
The classifier is compulsory — you can't say 三書:
| 一本書 jat1 bun2 syu1 | "one book" |
| 三本書 saam1 bun2 syu1 | "three books" — noun unchanged |
| 兩個人 loeng5 go3 jan4 | "two people" — counting uses 兩 loeng5, not 二 ji6 |
| 好多人 hou2 do1 jan4 | "many people" |
| 幾本書 gei2 bun2 syu1 | "a few books" |
啲 di1 — the plural classifier
啲 is "some / the (plural or mass)" — an all-purpose plural handle:
| 啲書好貴 di1 syu1 hou2 gwai3 | "the books are expensive" |
| 呢啲人 ni1 di1 jan4 | "these people" |
| 買啲生果 maai5 di1 saang1 gwo2 | "buy some fruit" |
(Mandarin's counterpart is 些 xiē, but 啲 is busier — it also makes comparatives: see the Adjectives chapter.)
哋 dei6 — pronouns only
哋 turns the three pronouns plural, and stops there:
| singular | plural |
|---|---|
| 我 ngo5 — "I" | 我哋 ngo5 dei6 — "we" |
| 你 nei5 — "you" | 你哋 nei5 dei6 — "you all" |
| 佢 keoi5 — "he/she/it" | 佢哋 keoi5 dei6 — "they" |
You can't pluralize a noun with it — 學生哋 is out. One fossilized extra: 人哋 jan4 dei6 — "other people / someone else":
人哋唔鍾意呀 jan4 dei6 m4 zung1 ji3 aa3 — "other people don't like it"
(Mandarin 们 men stretches to nouns like 朋友们 "friends"; Cantonese 哋 never does.)
"Every" by doubling the classifier
Reduplicating the classifier means "every single one":
| 個個都識佢 go3 go3 dou1 sik1 keoi5 | "everyone knows him" |
| 本本都好睇 bun2 bun2 dou1 hou2 tai2 | "every one (book) is good" |
| 日日 jat6 jat6 | "every day" |
Note the 都 dou1 ("all") that tags along — reduplicated subjects want it.
What's easy, what's hard
- Easy: no plural forms to memorize, no irregular plurals, no agreement.
- Hard: remembering the classifier every time you count, and hearing that 書 alone tells you nothing about how many.
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