Final Particles
Cantonese has many final particles to change the moods or sometimes even the meaning of an utterance. There are also many combinations of these final particles.
| Particle | Jyutping | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 呀 | aa3 | Used in neutral questions. Also used to soften the tone of affirmative statements so they don't sound as abrupt. | 你去邊處呀? Where are you going? 我返屋企呀 I'm going home. |
| 嘅 | ge3 | Used in assertions where something is emphasized (usually 係 hai6 is in front of what is being emphasized). Pronouncing it as ge2 adds a sense of puzzlement about the situation. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/written Chinese 的 dik1. | 我係今日返屋企嘅 I'm going home today. (the "today" is emphasized) |
| 㗎 | gaa3 | Contraction of the combination 嘅呀 ge3 aa3. | 你係幾時返來㗎? When are you coming back? (the "when" is emphasized) |
| 喇 | laa1 | Used in requests and imperatives. This is one particle where leaving it out could make the sentence sound rude. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/written Chinese sentence final 吧 baa6. | 返來喇 Come back . |
| 囉 | lo1 | Indicates a suggestion or conclusion that should be obvious (usually occurs with 咪 mai6). | 我冇車咪返唔到屋企囉 Without a car, I am unable to go home. |
| 啫 | ze1 | Can be used to mean "only" or "that's all," or used to play down the significance of the situation. | 佢返一日啫 He's only coming back for one day. |
There are more final particles than those shown above, such as 嘞laak3, 囉lo1, 咯lo3, 吓haa2, 呵ho2, 吖aa4, 㗎gaa4, 喎wo5, 啩gwaa3, 噃bo3, 喎wo3 and 咩me1.
Final particles may sometimes combine to convey multiple moods. There are unwritten rules about which particles can be combined and in what order they occur which are probably too complicated to explain here. However, one good rule of thumb is that 嘅 ge3 always comes before the other particles. In addition, the particles used in questions (呀 aa3, 咩 me1, 呢 ne1, 嗎 maa3, etc.) always come last.
Read more about this topic: Cantonese Grammar
Famous quotes containing the words final and/or particles:
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—Donald Stauffer (b. 1930)
“In another’s sentences the thought, though it may be immortal, is as it were embalmed, and does not strike you, but here it is so freshly living, even the body of it not having passed through the ordeal of death, that it stirs in the very extremities, and the smallest particles and pronouns are all alive with it. It is not simply dictionary it, yours or mine, but IT.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)