有 (to have / there is) in Cantonese

In Brief

Cantonese 有 (jau5) expresses both possession (“to have”) and existence (“there is/are”). Its negative is the special form 冇 (mou5), never 唔有. To ask “Do you have...?” or “Is/are there...?”, use 有冇 (jau5 mou5).

Overview

有 is one of the most useful Cantonese verbs. You can use it to say that someone has something, that a place contains something, or simply that something exists. English divides these jobs between “have” and “there is/are,” but Cantonese uses the same verb and lets word order show the intended meaning.

This is an A1 pattern, and the beginner rule is pleasantly compact: place the owner or location first, then 有, then the person or thing that is present. Cantonese verbs do not change for person or number, so 有 stays the same with “I,” “she,” “we,” one object, or several objects.

One feature does need special attention: ordinary Cantonese verbs are often negated with 唔 (m4), but 有 is not. Its negative is 冇. Learning 有 — 冇 — 有冇 as a three-part set will prevent the most common mistake with this verb.

How It Works

The three essential forms

Function	Cantonese	Jyutping	Basic meaning
Positive	有	jau5	have; there is/are
Negative	冇	mou5	do not have; there is/are not
Yes/no question	有冇	jau5 mou5	have or not?; is/are there?

Jyutping is a romanization system (a way of writing Cantonese pronunciation with Latin letters). The number marks the tone: jau5 and mou5 both have tone 5.

Possession: someone has something

The basic possession pattern is:

possessor + 有 / 冇 + possessed item

A possessor simply means the person or thing that has something.

• 我有錢。 (ngo5 jau5 cin2.) — I have money.
• 佢冇車。 (keoi5 mou5 ce1.) — He/She does not have a car.

Personal pronouns fit directly before 有: 我有 “I have,” 你有 “you have,” 佢有 “he/she has,” and so on. There is no equivalent of English has: third-person 佢有 still uses exactly the same form.

The possessor does not have to be a person. For example, 間酒店有泳池 means “the hotel has a swimming pool.” In English, possession can describe ownership, family relationships, characteristics, or something available to someone. 有 covers many of the same everyday relationships.

Existence: there is or there are

For existence, put the location first:

location + 有 / 冇 + person or thing

• 呢度有廁所。 (ni1 dou6 jau5 ci3 so2.) — There is a toilet here.
• 雪櫃入面冇牛奶。 (syut3 gwai6 jap6 min6 mou5 ngau4 naai5.) — There is no milk in the fridge.

The noun after 有 is the thing whose presence is being introduced. A noun is a word for a person, place, or thing, such as “teacher,” “station,” or “milk.” Unlike English, Cantonese does not insert an empty word equivalent to “there” at the beginning. 呢度 really means “here”; it names the location.

The location can be omitted when everyone already knows it:

• 有問題。 — There is a problem.
• 冇人。 — There is nobody / No one is here.

Context tells the listener where or in what situation the thing exists.

Asking yes-or-no questions with 有冇

Cantonese commonly forms a yes-or-no question by placing a positive and negative form together. This is called an A-not-A question: the listener chooses between “has/exists” and “does not have/exist.” With 有, the pair is 有冇, not 有唔有.

possessor or location + 有冇 + person or thing？

• 你有冇兄弟姊妹？ (nei5 jau5 mou5 hing1 dai6 zi2 mui6?) — Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• 附近有冇地鐵站？ (fu6 gan6 jau5 mou5 dei6 tit3 zaam6?) — Is there a metro station nearby?

A short answer can simply be 有 (“yes; there is/I do”) or 冇 (“no; there isn’t/I don’t”). Cantonese does not need a separate verb like English do in “Yes, I do.” You can repeat more information when useful: 有，我有一個哥哥 (“Yes, I have an older brother”).

Nouns, numbers, and classifiers

When you count a Cantonese noun, a classifier (a counting word placed between a number and a noun) is normally required:

有 + number + classifier + noun

• 我有兩個妹妹。 — I have two younger sisters.
• 枱面有一本書。 — There is one book on the table.

Here 個 (go3) is a common general classifier, while 本 (bun2) is used for bound volumes such as books. The rule belongs to the wider Cantonese classifier system, but it often appears in 有 sentences because learners naturally use this verb to count people and objects.

Time without conjugating 有

有 does not change into past or future forms. Put a time expression in the sentence and, where needed, use the appropriate aspect marker (a small form that shows how an event unfolds or is viewed).

• 我以前有架車。 (ngo5 ji5 cin4 jau5 gaa3 ce1.) — I used to have a car.
• 聽日會有雨。 (ting1 jat6 wui5 jau5 jyu5.) — There will be rain tomorrow.

For beginners, the key point is that 有 itself remains 有. Do not try to create a Cantonese equivalent of English had by changing the verb ending.

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
我有兩個妹妹。	ngo5 jau5 loeng5 go3 mui6 mui2.	I have two younger sisters.	Possession with a number and classifier
佢有一隻貓。	keoi5 jau5 jat1 zek3 maau1.	He/She has a cat.	隻 is a classifier for many animals
我冇錢。	ngo5 mou5 cin2.	I don’t have money.	Negative possession
你有冇時間？	nei5 jau5 mou5 si4 gaan3?	Do you have time?	A natural question about availability
你有冇兄弟姊妹？	nei5 jau5 mou5 hing1 dai6 zi2 mui6?	Do you have any brothers or sisters?	Possession question
呢度有冇廁所？	ni1 dou6 jau5 mou5 ci3 so2?	Is there a toilet here?	Existence question with a location
附近有間便利店。	fu6 gan6 jau5 gaan1 bin6 lei6 dim3.	There is a convenience store nearby.	間 classifies shops and rooms
枱面有一本書。	toi2 min6 jau5 jat1 bun2 syu1.	There is a book on the table.	Location comes first
雪櫃入面冇牛奶。	syut3 gwai6 jap6 min6 mou5 ngau4 naai5.	There is no milk in the fridge.	Negative existence
出面有好多人。	ceot1 min6 jau5 hou2 do1 jan4.	There are a lot of people outside.	Quantity expression after 有
有冇問題？	jau5 mou5 man6 tai4?	Are there any questions?	The understood setting is omitted
冇問題。	mou5 man6 tai4.	No problem.	Also a very common fixed response
今日有堂。	gam1 jat6 jau5 tong4.	There is class today. / We have class today.	Context supplies the participants
我以前有架車。	ngo5 ji5 cin4 jau5 gaa3 ce1.	I used to have a car.	Past time comes from 以前

Common Mistakes

Using 唔有 for “do not have”

• Wrong: 我唔有錢。
• Right: 我冇錢。
• Why: 有 has the special negative 冇. Memorize the pair rather than applying the regular 唔 + verb pattern.

Asking 有唔有 instead of 有冇

• Wrong: 你有唔有時間？
• Right: 你有冇時間？
• Why: The standard A-not-A pair for 有 is 有冇. The negative half must be 冇.

Copying English “there” into the sentence

• Wrong idea: looking for a separate Cantonese word that corresponds to the grammatical there in “There is a shop nearby.”
• Right: 附近有間舖頭。 (fu6 gan6 jau5 gaan1 pou3 tau2.)
• Why: Cantonese normally starts with the real location, then uses 有. English “there” in this construction is not translated word for word.

Reversing the order in an existence sentence

• Wrong for the intended meaning: 一本書有枱面。
• Right: 枱面有一本書。
• Why: To introduce something at a location, use location + 有 + thing. The sentence first sets the scene, then introduces what is there.

Omitting the classifier after a number

• Wrong: 我有兩妹妹。
• Right: 我有兩個妹妹。
• Why: A number normally needs a classifier before a Cantonese noun. Here the pattern is 兩 + 個 + 妹妹.

Trying to conjugate 有 like English “have/has/had”

• Wrong idea: using a different form after 佢, or changing 有 to mark the past.
• Right: 我有、佢有、我以前有.
• Why: Cantonese verbs do not change according to the subject. Time words and aspect markers carry information that English often puts into verb forms.

Usage Notes

Written forms and everyday speech

有 is shared with Standard Written Chinese, while 冇 is strongly associated with Cantonese and is normal in written Cantonese dialogue, messages, social media, and informal material. In formal writing based on Standard Written Chinese, you may instead encounter 沒有, but that does not replace the everyday spoken Cantonese pattern 冇.

The examples here use colloquial written Cantonese forms such as 呢度 (“here”) and 佢 (“he/she”). They represent the language you are likely to hear in ordinary conversation.

“Have” does not always mean 有

English uses have in many expressions where it is not true possession: have breakfast, have a shower, have a look. Cantonese does not automatically insert 有 in these expressions. For example, “eat breakfast” is 食早餐 (sik6 zou2 caan1), not a literal translation built with 有.

Use 有 when the meaning is genuinely “possess,” “be available,” or “exist.” Learn other English have expressions as Cantonese verb phrases in their own right.

Singular and plural are understood from the noun phrase

There is no change comparable to English “there is” versus “there are.” Both use 有:

• 有一個人。 — There is one person.
• 有好多人。 — There are many people.

Number words, classifiers, and quantity expressions tell you how many; the verb remains unchanged.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A1, but they show why 有 continues to appear at higher levels.

有 as part of larger constructions

有得 + verb often means that an opportunity, option, or benefit is available:

• 有得食。 (jau5 dak1 sik6.) — There is something to eat / We get to eat.
• 有得揀。 (jau5 dak1 gaan2.) — There is a choice / You get to choose.

This is more than simple possession, so treat 有得 as a useful construction rather than translating each word separately.

有啲 (jau5 di1) means “some” before a noun and can also soften a description with the sense “a little/somewhat”:

• 有啲人唔飲咖啡。 — Some people do not drink coffee.
• 今日有啲凍。 — It is a little cold today.

These patterns grow naturally from the broad idea of something being present in some amount.

冇 before another verb

At a later stage, you will also meet 冇 before a verb phrase, especially when saying that an event did not happen or an experience has not occurred:

• 我冇去。 (ngo5 mou5 heoi3.) — I didn’t go.
• 我冇去過澳門。 (ngo5 mou5 heoi3 gwo3 ou3 mun4.) — I have never been to Macao.

This use interacts with Cantonese aspect, so it should not be reduced to the A1 rule “冇 means don’t have.” For now, recognize that 冇 has an important grammatical life beyond the negative of possession.

Existence versus identification with 係

Do not confuse 有 with 係 (hai6), “to be.” 有 introduces the existence or availability of something; 係 identifies or classifies it.

• 入面有個人。 — There is a person inside.
• 佢係我老師。 — He/She is my teacher.

The first answers “What is present?” The second answers “Who or what is this person?” This distinction becomes especially useful as your sentences grow more complex.

Practice Tips

1. Drill the three-way set. Take ten familiar nouns and say one positive sentence, one negative sentence, and one question: 我有... / 我冇... / 你有冇...？ This builds the special negative into muscle memory.
2. Describe real places. Look around a room, café, or street and make pairs such as 枱面有... and 出面冇.... Starting with a visible location helps you internalize Cantonese word order instead of translating English “there is.”
3. Include classifiers from the start. When you add a number, say the whole chunk together: 兩個人, 一本書, 一隻貓. Practising the noun phrase inside an 有 sentence makes both grammar points more memorable.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — use 我, 你, 佢, and their plural forms as the possessor before 有.