Language/Yue-chinese/Grammar/How-to-Use-Have

Yue Chinese Grammar - How to Use "Have"

Hi Yue Chinese learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn how to use "have" in Yue Chinese. It is a fundamental concept in the language, and you will need to master it to form complete sentences. Let's get started!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Present Tense & Possibility and Certainty.

Basic Structure

In Yue Chinese, "have" is expressed by the following structure:

Verb + 了 + Object + 有/冇

Let's break it down:

• Verb: the action word in the sentence
• 了: a particle used for past tense
• Object: the thing that has been acted upon
• 有/冇: the verb that expresses "have" or "don't have"

For example:

Yue Chinese	Pronunciation	English
我食咗一個蘋果有	Ngóh sìk jó yāt go pìng gwō yáuh	I have eaten an apple.
佢冇去過廣州	Kéui móuh héui gwoh gwóng jāu	He/She has never been to Guangzhou.

Here are some other verbs you can use in this structure:

• 睇(tái) - see, watch
• 聽(tīng) - listen to, hear
• 講(góng) - speak, talk

Examples

Now let's see how to use this structure in a conversation:

• Person 1: 你點解冇交功課？ (néih dím gáai móuh gāau gūng fo1) (Why haven't you handed in your homework?)
• Person 2: 因為我昨晚睇緊足球冇做功課。 (yān wài ngóh jóuh máahn tái gánh jūk kàuh móuh jok gūng fo1) (Because I was watching the football match last night and didn't do my homework.)

In this example, "睇(tái)" was used to express "watching" and "冇(móuh)" was used to express "have not".

Here's another example:

• Person 1: 你點解淨係食嘢冇洗碗？ (néih dím gáai jihng haih sìk yeh móuh sáiy wóhun) (Why do you always eat but never wash the dishes?)
• Person 2: 因為我都嫌洗碗好麻煩啊！ (yān wài ngóh dōu yìm sáiy wóhun hóu máa sīn1 aa3) (Because washing dishes is such a hassle!)

In this example, "sik" was used to express "to eat".

Tips and Tricks

Sometimes "have" is implied in the sentence and is not explicitly expressed. For example:

• 你累唔累？ (néih lèui mh lèui) (Are you tired?)

In this example, "have" is not expressed, but it is implied that the speaker is asking if the listener has the feeling of being tired.

To improve your Yue Chinese Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Other Lessons

• Nouns
• Conditional Mood
• Future Tense
• Adjectives
• Plurals
• Give your Opinion
• Questions
• Pronouns
• How to Use Be