Questions
Nothing moves in a Cantonese question — no inversion, no do. You either double the verb (去唔去? "go-not-go?"), add a final particle, or drop a question word into the slot where the answer will sit.
A-not-A: the workhorse yes/no question
Verb + 唔 + verb. Answer by echoing the verb:
| question | answer |
|---|---|
| 你去唔去呀? nei5 heoi3 m4 heoi3 aa3 — "are you going?" | 去 heoi3 / 唔去 m4 heoi3 |
| 好唔好食呀? hou2 m4 hou2 sik6 aa3 — "is it tasty?" | 好食 hou2 sik6 |
| 你係唔係學生呀? nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 hok6 saang1 aa3 | 係 hai6 / 唔係 m4 hai6 |
Two-syllable verbs repeat only the first syllable: 鍾唔鍾意 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 — "like (it) or not?". With 有: 有冇 jau5 mou5 — 有冇時間呀? jau5 mou5 si4 gaan3 aa3 — "got time?"
係唔係 contracts to the tag 係咪 hai6 mai6 — "…right?": 你係咪香港人? nei5 hai6 mai6 hoeng1 gong2 jan4 — "you're a Hongkonger, right?"
The 未 question: "…yet?"
Completed action + 未 at the end — the everyday greeting is one:
食咗飯未呀? sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3 — "have you eaten yet?" 你做完未? nei5 zou6 jyun4 mei6 — "are you done yet?"
Answers: 食咗喇 sik6 zo2 laa3 — "eaten" / 未呀 mei6 aa3 — "not yet".
Question particles
A statement + rising particle is a question. Cantonese leans on particles where Mandarin leans on 吗:
| particle | flavour | example |
|---|---|---|
| 呀 aa4 (rising) | neutral check | 你係新嚟㗎? … 係呀? hai6 aa4 — "oh, is it?" |
| 嗎 maa3 | plain yes/no, slightly bookish | 你好嗎? nei5 hou2 maa3 — "how are you?" |
| 咩 me1 | surprise, disbelief | 你唔去咩? nei5 m4 heoi3 me1 — "you're not going?!" |
| 呢 ne1 | "and…?" bounce-back | 我好好, 你呢? nei5 ne1 — "I'm fine — and you?" |
In real Hong Kong speech, A-not-A + 呀 does most of the work; 嗎 is far rarer than in Mandarin.
Question words stay in place
No fronting — the question word sits exactly where the answer goes:
| word | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| 乜嘢 mat1 je5 (or 咩 me1) | what | 你食乜嘢? nei5 sik6 mat1 je5 — "what are you eating?" |
| 邊個 bin1 go3 | who | 邊個話你知? bin1 go3 waa6 nei5 zi1 — "who told you?" |
| 邊度 bin1 dou6 | where | 你去邊度呀? nei5 heoi3 bin1 dou6 aa3 — "where are you going?" |
| 幾時 gei2 si4 | when | 你幾時嚟? nei5 gei2 si4 lai4 — "when are you coming?" |
| 點解 dim2 gaai2 | why | 點解唔得? dim2 gaai2 m4 dak1 — "why not?" |
| 點樣 dim2 joeng2 / 點 dim2 | how | 點去呀? dim2 heoi3 aa3 — "how do I get there?" |
| 幾多 gei2 do1 | how many/much | 幾多錢呀? gei2 do1 cin2 aa3 — "how much is it?" |
Compare: "Where are you going?" fronts where in English; Cantonese keeps it after the verb, because that's where places live.
What's easy, what's hard
- Easy: no inversion, no auxiliary do, question words don't move.
- Hard: choosing the particle — 呀/咩/呢 each change the tone of the question, and leaving them off entirely sounds abrupt.
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