Meeting people in Cantonese
How are you, what is your name, where are you from, I like it: the first five minutes. Play the ten Cantonese words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Cantonese phrases in this lesson
- 你好嗎？NEI HO maa
- How are you?
- 我好好，唔該NGO HO-ho, m-GOY
- I'm fine, thanks
- 你呢？NEI neh
- And you?
- 你叫乜嘢名？NEI GIU MAT-yeh MENG
- What's your name?
- 我叫...NGO GIU
- My name is...
- 你係邊度嚟㗎？NEI hai BIN-do LAI ga
- Where are you from?
- 我係...嚟嘅NGO hai ... LAI ge
- I'm from...
- 我鍾意NGO JUNG-yi
- I like it
- 好靚HO LENG
- It's beautiful
- 歡迎光臨FOON-ying GWONG-lam
- Welcome
This is the textbook form you will see in phrase books. In real Cantonese conversation, this question is used less than you might expect. Locals often greet each other with 食咗飯未 (have you eaten yet?) as a warm substitute.
好好 doubles 好 (HO), good, for emphasis. In real life people often say 幾好 (GEI HO), quite good.
The return question. Always ask it back; stopping after your own answer reads as abrupt in any culture.
Literally "what name are you called?".
Literally "I am called".
Literally "where do you come from?".
我係加拿大嚟嘅 (NGO hai GA-na-daai LAI ge), I'm from Canada.
Literally "very pretty", for the harbor at night and everything else.
What shop staff say as you walk in. A host at home just says 歡迎 (FOON-ying).