Basic Negation in Cantonese

In Brief

Use 唔 (m4) for general “not,” 冇 (mou5) for “do not have,” “there is no,” and a completed action that did not happen, and 未 (mei6) for “not yet.” The negative word normally goes directly before the verb or description: 我唔去 “I’m not going,” 我冇錢 “I don’t have money,” and 佢未返嚟 “He/She hasn’t come back yet.” Never use 唔有: the negative counterpart of 有 is 冇.

Overview

Negation means making a statement negative: changing “I go” into “I do not go,” for example. English often adds an auxiliary verb such as do or have and may change the verb form. Cantonese usually leaves the verb unchanged and places a short negative word immediately before it. This makes the basic sentence pattern compact, but choosing the right negative word matters.

At A1, the most useful contrast is among 唔 (m4), 冇 (mou5), and 未 (mei6). 唔 covers general refusal, habits, present states, and many future situations. 冇 is the negative of 有 (jau5, “to have; there is”) and also commonly says that an action did not occur. 未 presents something as still incomplete: it has not happened yet, but it may happen later.

Cantonese does not mark tense on verbs in the same way English does. Time words, context, and aspect—how an action is viewed as complete, ongoing, or experienced—help establish the time. That is why a Cantonese negative does not always match one fixed English construction word for word.

How It Works

The beginner choice: 唔, 冇, or 未?

Meaning you need	Negator	Jyutping	Basic pattern	Example
not; do not; will not	唔	m4	subject + 唔 + verb/description	我唔去。 “I’m not going.”
do not have; there is no	冇	mou5	subject/place + 冇 + noun	我冇時間。 “I don’t have time.”
did not; have not (an action did not occur)	冇	mou5	subject + 冇 + verb	佢冇食飯。 “He/She didn’t eat / hasn’t eaten.”
not yet	未	mei6	subject + 未 + verb	佢未返嚟。 “He/She hasn’t come back yet.”

Here, the subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. In all three patterns, the verb itself stays in its ordinary form.

唔 for general negation

Place 唔 before a verb when you mean that someone does not normally do something, is not doing it, refuses to do it, or will not do it. Context tells the listener which reading is intended.

• 我飲咖啡。 — I drink coffee.
• 我唔飲咖啡。 — I don’t drink coffee.
• 我聽日唔去。 — I’m not going tomorrow.

Many Cantonese words that English translates with adjectives behave like stative verbs—words that directly describe a state. They can therefore follow 唔 without a word meaning “be”:

• 貴 (gwai3) — to be expensive
• 唔貴 (m4 gwai3) — not expensive
• 凍 (dung3) — to be cold
• 唔凍 (m4 dung3) — not cold

Do not insert 係 (hai6, “to be”) merely because English uses is: 杯茶唔熱 means “The tea isn’t hot.”

唔係 for “is not” and correction

係 identifies or classifies something: “X is Y.” Its negative is 唔係 (m4 hai6), not 冇係.

• 佢係老師。 — He/She is a teacher.
• 佢唔係老師。 — He/She isn’t a teacher.
• 唔係今日，係聽日。 — Not today; tomorrow.

This differs from a direct description. Use 唔係 + noun/identity, but usually 唔 + descriptive word:

Affirmative	Negative	Meaning
佢係學生。	佢唔係學生。	He/She is not a student.
間房大。	間房唔大。	The room is not big.

冇 as the negative of 有

有 means “to have” or “there is/are.” Its negative form is the separate word 冇.

• 我有錢。 — I have money.
• 我冇錢。 — I don’t have money.
• 雪櫃有牛奶。 — There is milk in the fridge.
• 雪櫃冇牛奶。 — There is no milk in the fridge.

English uses different constructions for possession and existence, but Cantonese uses 有/冇 for both. The position before 有 that an English learner might expect is not available: 唔有 is not the standard negative form.

冇 before an action

Before an action verb, 冇 commonly means that the action did not take place. Depending on the context, English may use “didn’t” or “haven’t/hasn’t.”

• 我琴日冇返工。 — I didn’t go to work yesterday.
• 佢冇食飯。 — He/She didn’t eat / hasn’t eaten.

A completed affirmative action often uses the aspect marker 咗 (zo2), a small word showing that the event is viewed as completed: 我食咗飯 “I ate / have eaten.” In the ordinary negative, use 冇 + verb and leave out 咗: 我冇食飯. For a beginner, this is the safest pattern.

未 for “not yet”

Use 未 when an action remains undone up to the relevant time. Unlike plain 冇, it usually leaves open the expectation that the action may happen later.

• 我未食飯。 — I haven’t eaten yet.
• 佢未返嚟。 — He/She hasn’t come back yet.
• 套戲未完。 — The film isn’t over yet.

Compare the viewpoint:

Cantonese	Natural English	Main idea
我琴日冇食飯。	I didn’t eat yesterday.	The past event did not happen.
我未食飯。	I haven’t eaten yet.	Eating is still pending now.
我唔食。	I’m not eating it / I won’t eat it.	General choice, refusal, or intention.

Position in a longer sentence

A useful default order is:

subject + time + negator + verb + object

• 我今日唔飲咖啡。 — I’m not drinking coffee today.
• 佢琴日冇買飛。 — He/She didn’t buy a ticket yesterday.
• 我哋仲未食晚飯。 — We still haven’t eaten dinner.

The negator belongs immediately before the part it negates. An object—the person or thing affected by the action—normally remains after the verb.

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
我唔去。	ngo5 m4 heoi3.	I’m not going.	General decision or intention
我唔鍾意。	ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3.	I don’t like it.	唔 before a state or preference
佢唔飲茶。	keoi5 m4 jam2 caa4.	He/She doesn’t drink tea.	Habit or general preference
我聽日唔返工。	ngo5 ting1 jat6 m4 faan1 gung1.	I’m not going to work tomorrow.	Future time comes from 聽日
呢個唔貴。	ni1 go3 m4 gwai3.	This one isn’t expensive.	Directly negates a description
佢唔係醫生。	keoi5 m4 hai6 ji1 sang1.	He/She isn’t a doctor.	唔係 negates identity
我冇時間。	ngo5 mou5 si4 gaan3.	I don’t have time.	Negative possession
屋企冇人。	uk1 kei2 mou5 jan4.	There’s nobody at home.	Negative existence
佢冇食飯。	keoi5 mou5 sik6 faan6.	He/She hasn’t eaten.	The action has not occurred
我琴日冇見到佢。	ngo5 kam4 jat6 mou5 gin3 dou2 keoi5.	I didn’t see him/her yesterday.	A definite past non-event
佢未返嚟。	keoi5 mei6 faan1 lai4.	He/She hasn’t come back yet.	Return is still pending
我未做完。	ngo5 mei6 zou6 jyun4.	I haven’t finished yet.	The task is incomplete
我哋仲未食晚飯。	ngo5 dei6 zung6 mei6 sik6 maan5 faan6.	We still haven’t eaten dinner.	仲未 means “still not yet”
對唔住，我唔明。	deoi3 m4 zyu6, ngo5 m4 ming4.	Sorry, I don’t understand.	Useful conversational phrase

Common Mistakes

Using 唔有 instead of 冇

• Wrong: 我唔有錢。
• Right: 我冇錢。
• Why: 冇 is the standard negative counterpart of 有, whether 有 means “have” or “there is.”

Keeping 咗 after ordinary completed-action negation

• Wrong: 我冇食咗飯。 (for the basic meaning “I didn’t eat”)
• Right: 我冇食飯。
• Why: In the basic pattern, 冇 says that the action did not occur, so the completion marker 咗 is normally absent. More complex sentences can place aspect and negation in different scopes, but do not copy the affirmative pattern mechanically.

Using 唔 when “not yet” is intended

• Misleading: 我唔食飯。 — I don’t eat / I’m not eating / I won’t eat.
• Right: 我未食飯。 — I haven’t eaten yet.
• Why: 唔 can suggest habit, refusal, or intention. 未 specifically marks an action as still pending.

Using 冇 for identity

• Wrong: 佢冇係學生。
• Right: 佢唔係學生。
• Why: Negate 係 with 唔, producing 唔係. 冇 belongs with possession, existence, and actions that did not occur.

Adding 係 before a simple description

• Awkward for the intended meaning: 杯茶唔係熱。
• Right: 杯茶唔熱。 — The tea isn’t hot.
• Why: Words such as 熱 “hot” can act as the sentence’s description directly. 唔係熱 is possible only with a special contrastive sense, such as “It isn’t hot (it’s warm).”

Translating English tense word for word

• Problem: Assuming 佢冇食飯 can only mean either “didn’t eat” or “hasn’t eaten.”
• Better approach: Use the surrounding time and situation to choose the natural English translation.
• Why: Cantonese verbs do not change form for English-style tense. 琴日 “yesterday,” 今日 “today,” and conversational context do much of the work.

Usage Notes

In everyday speech, all three negators are extremely common and neutral. Sentence-final particles may follow the rest of the sentence to express attitude or manage the conversation, but they do not replace the negator: 我唔去喇 can mean “I’m not going, then / I won’t go.” Their exact effect belongs to a later topic.

Cantonese frequently leaves out information that is obvious from context. 未呀 can be a complete reply meaning “Not yet,” and 冇呀 can mean “No,” “I haven’t,” or “There isn’t any,” depending on the question. For careful beginner speech, a full answer such as 我未食飯 is easier to control; short replies will become natural through listening.

Written Cantonese commonly uses 唔 and 冇, as in messages, dialogue, and informal online writing. More formal Standard Written Chinese often uses forms such as 不 and 沒有 instead. Those are differences of written variety and register, not replacements you need for ordinary spoken Cantonese practice.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

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

Negative questions and short answers

Cantonese can repeat an affirmative and negative form to make an A-not-A question—a question like “go or not go?” 去唔去？ means “Are you going?” With 有, the pair is 有冇 rather than 有唔有:

• 你去唔去？ — Are you going?
• 你有冇時間？ — Do you have time?
• 你食咗飯未？ — Have you eaten yet?

The final 未 in the last question asks whether the action has happened yet. It is related to the statement 我未食飯, but the question pattern deserves separate practice.

唔好 for prohibitions

唔好 (m4 hou2) before a verb means “don’t” when telling or asking someone not to do something:

• 唔好走。 — Don’t leave.
• 唔好擔心。 — Don’t worry.

This is not simply a statement that something is “not good.” Before an action, it functions as a common negative command.

Scope and contrast

The scope of negation is the part of the meaning that “not” applies to. Stress and context can make 唔係 correct or reject one detail rather than the entire event:

• 唔係我買嘅。 — It wasn’t me who bought it.
• 我唔係今日去。 — I’m not going today (I’m going another day).

This explains why 唔係 + description may appear in contrasts even though a plain description normally takes 唔 directly. 呢個唔貴 simply says “This isn’t expensive”; 呢個唔係貴，係唔抵 contrasts “expensive” with another judgment: “It’s not that it’s expensive; it’s that it isn’t good value.”

冇 and 未 do not make the same commitment

Compare 佢冇嚟 “He/She didn’t come” with 佢未嚟 “He/She hasn’t come yet.” The first reports a non-event in the relevant time frame. The second treats the arrival as pending. Choosing 未 can therefore imply expectation, while 冇 does not by itself promise that the event will happen later.

Practice Tips

1. Make three versions of one idea. Start with 我食飯 “I eat,” then contrast 我唔食飯 “I don’t/won’t eat,” 我冇食飯 “I didn’t/haven’t eaten,” and 我未食飯 “I haven’t eaten yet.” Repeat with common verbs such as 去 “go,” 買 “buy,” and 做 “do.”
2. Sort by meaning before translating. Ask yourself: Is this a general negative, no possession/existence, an action that did not happen, or something still pending? Then choose 唔, 冇, or 未. This is more reliable than matching an English word such as not or haven’t.
3. Listen for complete chunks. Practise 唔係, 冇時間, 未食飯, and 仲未 as units. When watching Cantonese dialogue, pause after a negator and predict the verb or description that follows.

Related Concepts

• No prerequisite or downstream concepts are linked to this concept in the current grammar map. Useful topics to study alongside it include personal pronouns, time expressions, aspect, questions, and commands.