句法A1
Question Words
What, who, where, when, why, how in Cantonese
Learning Goal
I can ask WH-questions.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
你住喺邊度？
Where do you live?
你食咩？
What do you eat?
幾多錢呀？
How much does it cost?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Cantonese Question Words 疑問詞
Key rule: The question word stays IN PLACE — no movement to the front like English.
| Question Word | Jyutping | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 咩 | me1 | what | 你食咩？(What do you eat?) |
| 邊個 | bin1 go3 | who / which one | 邊個係你老師？(Who is your teacher?) |
| 邊度 | bin1 dou6 | where | 你住喺邊度？(Where do you live?) |
| 幾時 | gei2 si4 | when | 你幾時返嚟？(When are you coming back?) |
| 點解 | dim2 gaai2 | why | 你點解唔去？(Why aren't you going?) |
| 點樣 | dim2 joeng2 | how | 點樣去地鐵站？(How to get to the MTR station?) |
| 幾多 | gei2 do1 | how many/much | 幾多錢？(How much money?) |
Moving question word to front of sentence.
你住喺邊度？
Where do you live?
邊度 stays in the object position after 喺. NOT *邊度你住喺.
你食咩？
What do you eat?
咩 (what) replaces the object. Word order = S+V+QW.
幾多錢呀？
How much does it cost?
幾多錢 = how much money. 呀 softens the question tone.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises