Basic Question Patterns in Cantonese

In Brief

Cantonese normally keeps statement word order when asking a question: there is no equivalent of English do to move to the front. Ask a yes/no question with a choice such as 去唔去 (heoi3 m4 heoi3, “go or not go”), and put information words such as 咩 “what,” 邊個 “who,” and 邊度 “where” where the missing information belongs. Sentence-final particles such as 呀 help a question sound natural, but they do not replace the question pattern by themselves in every context.

Overview

Basic questions are an A1 skill that immediately turns vocabulary into conversation. You need them to check plans, ask where somebody lives, find out who did something, and keep everyday exchanges moving. The central idea is simple: Cantonese usually marks the unknown part inside the sentence, rather than changing the whole sentence order.

English often puts a question word first and adds or moves an auxiliary verb (a helping verb) such as do, is, or have: “Where do you live?” Cantonese does neither. In 你喺邊度住？, the question phrase 邊度 occupies the place where a location would naturally occur. This is sometimes called question word in situ, meaning “the question word stays in its normal position.”

Cantonese also makes many yes/no questions as explicit alternatives: “go or not go?”, “is or is not?”, “have or not have?” You will also hear sentence-final particles—short syllables at the end that express attitude, expectation, or conversational force. Learn the structural pattern first; particles and intonation then make it fit a real conversation.

How It Works

1. Yes/no questions with A-唔-A

In the label A-唔-A, A stands for the verb or adjective being questioned, and 唔 (m4) means “not.” Repeat A on both sides:

subject + A + 唔 + A + the rest?

• 你去唔去？ — Are you going?
• 佢忙唔忙？ — Is he/she busy?
• 你識唔識佢？ — Do you know him/her?

A subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. Unlike English, Cantonese does not add a general-purpose do: 你去唔去？ is complete.

With a longer verb phrase, only the key verb is normally repeated. Shared material follows the second verb:

• 你想唔想飲咖啡？ — Do you want to drink coffee?
• 佢會唔會嚟？ — Will he/she come?

Two very common verbs have compact patterns worth memorizing:

Form	Jyutping	Meaning	Note
係咪	hai6 mai6	is it / is …?	A-唔-A form of 係 “to be”; 唔係 contracts to 咪 in this pattern
有冇	jau5 mou5	is/are there; do … have?	The negative of 有 is 冇, not 唔有
得唔得	dak1 m4 dak1	is it okay; can it be done?	Often asks permission or feasibility

Thus 佢係咪老師？ means “Is he/she a teacher?”, while 你有冇時間？ means “Do you have time?”

Cantonese answers often echo the relevant word rather than using one universal word for “yes” or “no”:

• 去。／唔去。 — Yes, I’m going. / No, I’m not going.
• 係。／唔係。 — Yes, it is. / No, it isn’t.
• 有。／冇。 — Yes, there is/I have. / No, there isn’t/I don’t have.

2. Asking whether something has happened yet

For an action expected around now, a very common pattern is:

subject + verb + 咗 + object + 未 + (呀)?

咗 (zo2) presents the action as completed; 未 (mei6) asks “not yet?” The final 呀 (aa3) makes the conversational question flow naturally:

• 你食咗飯未呀？ — Have you eaten yet?
• 你做完未呀？ — Have you finished yet?

A short answer can be 食咗喇 “Yes, I’ve eaten” or 未呀 “Not yet.” In everyday speech, other word orders and shorter forms occur, but this model is an excellent beginner pattern.

3. Sentence-final 呀

呀 is a sentence-final particle. In questions its pronunciation is commonly written aa3, though particle pronunciation can vary with function and surrounding sounds. It can soften a question, invite an answer, or make an information question sound conversational:

• 你去邊度呀？ — Where are you going?
• 邊個呀？ — Who is it?

Do not treat 呀 as a mechanical Cantonese version of a question mark. A plain statement plus 呀 may be understood as surprise, confirmation-seeking, or another context-dependent attitude. The reliable beginner strategy is to include an A-唔-A form, 未, or a question word; add 呀 when it sounds natural.

4. Information questions

An information question asks for a person, thing, place, time, or reason. The most useful words in this lesson are:

Question word	Jyutping	Meaning	Typical position
咩	me1	what	Where the thing or description would go
邊個	bin1 go3	who; which person	Subject or object position
邊度	bin1 dou6	where; which place	In a location phrase or after a motion verb
幾時	gei2 si4	when	In the time position, often before the main verb
點解	dim2 gaai2	why	Usually before the verb phrase, after the topic or subject

The key contrast with English is visible in 你喺邊度住？ Literally, its order is closer to “you at where live?” You do not move 邊度 to the beginning or insert a word corresponding to do.

咩: what

Use 咩 where the unknown thing belongs:

• 你想食咩？ — What do you want to eat?
• 呢個係咩？ — What is this?

咩 can also be a sentence-final particle with other meanings at more advanced levels. In the examples above, it is the question word “what.”

邊個: who

邊個 may be the subject—the person doing the action—or the object, the person affected by it:

• 邊個嚟咗？ — Who came?
• 你搵邊個？ — Who are you looking for?

No special word order is required when 邊個 is the subject. It simply occupies the subject position.

邊度: where

Use 喺邊度 for a location (“at where”) and 去邊度 for a destination (“go where”):

• 你喺邊度住？ — Where do you live?
• 佢去邊度呀？ — Where is he/she going?

幾時: when

Time expressions usually occur before the main action:

• 你幾時返嚟？ — When are you coming back?
• 套戲幾時開始？ — When does the film start?

點解: why

點解 asks for a reason. It usually follows the subject and precedes the verb phrase:

• 你點解唔去？ — Why aren’t you going?
• 佢點解喊呀？ — Why is he/she crying?

An answer often begins with 因為 (jan1 wai6), “because”: 因為我冇時間。 — “Because I don’t have time.”

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
你去唔去？	nei5 heoi3 m4 heoi3?	Are you going?	Basic A-唔-A question
佢忙唔忙呀？	keoi5 mong4 m4 mong4 aa3?	Is he/she busy?	Adjective in A-唔-A
你想唔想飲茶？	nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 jam2 caa4?	Would you like tea?	Only 想 is repeated
聽日會唔會落雨？	ting1 jat6 wui5 m4 wui5 lok6 jyu5?	Will it rain tomorrow?	Questions the modal 會
呢度有冇洗手間？	ni1 dou6 jau5 mou5 sai2 sau2 gaan1?	Is there a restroom here?	有冇 asks about existence
佢係咪你朋友？	keoi5 hai6 mai6 nei5 pang4 jau5?	Is he/she your friend?	係咪 asks about identity
你食咗飯未呀？	nei5 sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3?	Have you eaten yet?	Completed-or-not-yet question
你想食咩？	nei5 soeng2 sik6 me1?	What do you want to eat?	咩 fills the object slot
邊個嚟咗？	bin1 go3 lai4 zo2?	Who came?	邊個 is the subject
你搵邊個呀？	nei5 wan2 bin1 go3 aa3?	Who are you looking for?	邊個 is the object
你喺邊度住？	nei5 hai2 bin1 dou6 zyu6?	Where do you live?	Location after 喺
你幾時返屋企？	nei5 gei2 si4 faan1 uk1 kei2?	When are you going home?	Time before the action
你點解學廣東話？	nei5 dim2 gaai2 hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2?	Why are you learning Cantonese?	Reason before the verb phrase
我哋搭巴士，好唔好？	ngo5 dei6 daap3 baa1 si2, hou2 m4 hou2?	Let’s take the bus, okay?	A proposal followed by a tag-like check

Common Mistakes

Adding an English-style “do”

• Wrong idea: Build “Where do you live?” word by word, with an extra verb meaning do.
• Right: 你喺邊度住？
• Why: Cantonese does not use a general question auxiliary corresponding to English do. Keep the normal Cantonese sentence frame and replace the unknown information with 邊度.

Moving every question word to the front

• Awkward for the intended neutral meaning: 邊度你住？
• Right: 你喺邊度住？
• Why: In a neutral information question, 邊度 remains inside the location phrase 喺邊度. Fronting can have marked discourse uses, but it is not the default beginner pattern.

Using 唔有 instead of 冇

• Wrong: 你唔有時間？
• Right: 你有冇時間？
• Why: The ordinary negative counterpart of 有 “have/exist” is 冇 “not have/not exist.” Memorize 有冇 as a pair.

Repeating too much in an A-唔-A question

• Clumsy: 你想飲咖啡唔想飲咖啡？
• Right: 你想唔想飲咖啡？
• Why: Normally repeat the verb or modal being questioned, not the entire phrase.

Treating 呀 as a universal yes/no marker

• Unclear without context: 你去呀？
• Clear neutral choice: 你去唔去呀？
• Why: 呀 contributes conversational tone, but context and intonation strongly affect what 你去呀？ means. A-唔-A clearly presents the yes/no choice.

Answering every question with one memorized “yes”

• Less useful strategy: Search for one Cantonese word matching English yes in every exchange.
• Right: 去／唔去, 係／唔係, 有／冇
• Why: Cantonese commonly answers by repeating or negating the word under question.

Usage Notes

Cantonese is a tonal language, so lexical tone—the pitch pattern that helps identify a word—still matters inside questions. Do not replace the tones of the whole sentence with the large rising pitch often used for English yes/no questions. Natural sentence intonation and final particles can affect the ending, but the words retain their tonal identities.

Subjects can be left unspoken when everyone knows who is being discussed. At a café, 要唔要？ can mean “Do you want it?” and 食咩呀？ can mean “What are you eating?” or “What will you eat?” Context supplies the missing subject and time reference.

Written Cantonese as used in messages, dialogue, and informal media represents spoken forms such as 咩, 邊度, and 冇. Formal Standard Written Chinese may use different vocabulary and structures. The forms in this article teach everyday Cantonese, not a word-for-word Cantonese reading of formal Mandarin-based writing.

Question particles are especially sensitive to tone, relationship, and expectation. 呀 is a useful neutral starting point in many information questions, but native speech also uses particles such as 呢, 㗎, and combinations of particles. Their meanings cannot always be captured by one English punctuation mark.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following distinctions at A1, but you will hear them often.

Alternative questions and confirmation questions

A-唔-A asks the listener to choose between positive and negative. Cantonese can also present two fuller alternatives with 定係 (ding6 hai6), “or”: 你飲茶定係咖啡？ — “Are you having tea or coffee?” This is not a yes/no question; the expected answer selects an option.

A statement followed by 係咪？ can ask for confirmation: 你聽日返工，係咪？ — “You’re working tomorrow, right?” This is closer to an English tag question than the neutral 你聽日返唔返工？ “Are you working tomorrow?” The confirmation version suggests that the speaker already has an assumption.

咩 as a particle

At the end of a sentence, 咩 may not mean “what.” It can express surprise, doubt, or a challenge to an assumption: 你唔知咩？ can mean “You don’t know?” with surprise. Compare this with object 咩 in 你想買咩？ “What do you want to buy?” Position and context distinguish the uses.

Question-word meanings beyond the basic list

Question words combine productively with classifiers (words used when counting or selecting nouns). For example, 邊個 can mean “which one/person,” while 邊間 asks “which establishment/room” and 邊本 asks “which volume/book.” 幾 also appears in quantity questions such as 幾多 “how many/how much.” These patterns belong to a broader system of question words and classifiers.

Question words can also appear in statements with meanings like “whoever” or “whatever” when paired with the right structure. That is an advanced construction; do not assume every sentence containing 邊個 is a direct question.

Directness and social tone

Grammatically correct questions can still sound abrupt if delivered without context. A greeting, a polite lead-in, or a suitable final particle often makes requests and personal questions warmer. Rather than translating English please into every sentence, listen to how Cantonese speakers combine wording, particles, and situation. Politeness is conveyed by the whole utterance, not by one mandatory question form.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-way drills. Start with a statement such as 你飲茶. Change it to 你飲唔飲茶？, then answer both ways: 飲 and 唔飲. Repeat with 去, 識, 想, 會, 係, and 有.
2. Use answer-slot substitution. Write 你喺香港住 “You live in Hong Kong,” replace 香港 with 邊度, and get 你喺邊度住？ Do the same with a person, thing, time, and reason. This trains Cantonese order instead of English question order.
3. Listen for the final syllable. In short clips or conversations, note whether a speaker uses A-唔-A, 未, a question word, or a sentence-final particle. Echo the complete sentence aloud with its Jyutping tones rather than practicing the question word alone.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — use 我, 你, 佢, and other pronouns as the subject of basic questions.