Cantonese

Survival Guide
廣東話
Insider tips on useful daily Cantonese phrases

@outcastsfromthe853
 歡迎 WELCOME!
Nei5 hou2 你好! Thank you for downloading our Cantonese Survival Guide
Have you been wanting to learn Cantonese? or simply improve it? or maybe finally
learning about how Chinese characters are formed?

This guide includes essential vocabularies & phrases, with daily used questions,
greetings and more. Additionally, we'll introduce you to the basics of Chinese
characters, such as how they're formed and the concept of radicals.

We know all of this can sound intimidating but don’t worry, We’re here to make
Cantonese fun and easier to learn!

Iasmin
Paji

你好！我哋係Paji同Iasmin，
@outcastsfromthe853 嘅創辦人。我哋
兩個喺澳門出生, 宜家住係美國。我地想用
簡單同有趣嘅方式幫你學廣東話！
Hello! We are Paji & Iasmin, founders of
@outcastsfromthe853. We are both born
and raised in from Macau, currently living in
the US. We want to make it easy and fun for
you to learn Cantonese!

@outcastsfromthe853
 Jyutping Guide

If you’re new to Cantonese, Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese

developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK), an academic group, in
1993”.
Jyutping is also an easier way for English speakers to remember, rather than
memorizing Chinese Characters like we did, in schools in Macau.

So here’s a chart explaining the 6 different tones, and FYI all the J in Jyutping, are
pronounced Y like Spanish! so Jyutping is pronounced ‘Yutping’

@outcastsfromthe853
 GREETINGS &
FAREWELLS

1 你好 nei5 hou2 Hello

2 早晨 zou2 san4 Good morning

3 早唞 zou2 tau2 Good night

4 再見 zoi3 gin3 See you again (Good bye)

See you next time

5 下次見 haa6 ci3 gin3

6 聽日見 ting3 jat6 gin3 See you tomorrow

@outcastsfromthe853
 10 ESSENTIAL
WORDS & PHRASES

Please/ Thankyou (when

1 唔該 m4 goi1 someone does a favor for you)

Thank you (when someone gives

2 多謝 do1 ze6 you something)

3 唔使客氣 m4 sai2 haak3 hei3 You're welcome

Excuse me / Sorry
4 唔好意思 m4 hou2 ji3 si1

Sorry (my apologies)

5 對唔住 deoi3 m4 zyu6

6 係 hai6 唔係 m4 hai6 Yes No

7 冇問題 mou5 man6 tai4 No problem

8 呢個 ne1 go3 This

9 嗰個 go2 go3 That

10 我聽唔明 ngo5 ting3 m4 ming4 I don't understand you

@outcastsfromthe853
 10 ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS

1 我想問 ngo5 soeng2 man6 May I ask

2 可唔可以幫我 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 Can you help me?

bong1 ngo5

3 呢個咩嚟㗎 ne1 go3 me1 lai4 What is this?

gaa2

4 食咗飯未呀 nei5 sik6 zo2 Have you eaten yet?

faan6 mei6 aa1

5
你想食咩 nei5 soeng2 sik6 What do you want to eat?
me1

6 你想飲咩 nei5 soeng2 jam2 What do you want to drink?

me1

7 廁所喺邊 ci3 so2 hai2 bin1 Where is the bathroom?

8 點解嘅 dim2 gaai2 ge3 Why?

What time?
9 幾點 gei2 dim2

你住喺邊度
10 你住喺邊度
nei5 nei5
zyu6zyu6
hai2hai2
bin1bin1
dou6 Where do you live?
dou6

@outcastsfromthe853
 NUMBERS 1-20

1一 jat1 11 十一 sap6 jat1

2 二 ji6 12 十二 sap6 ji6

3 三 saam1 13 十三 sap6 saam1

4 四 sei3 14 十四 sap6 sei3

5 五 ng5 15 十五 sap6 ng5

6 六 luk6 16 十六 sap6 luk6

7 七 cat1 17 十七 sap6 cat1

8 八 baat3 18 十八 sap6 baat3

9 九 gau2 19 十九 sap6 gau2

10 十 sap6 20 二十 ji6 sap6

@outcastsfromthe853
 12 MONTHS

JAN FEB MAR APR

一月 二月 三月 四月
jat1 jyut6 ji6 jyut6 saam1 jyut6 sei3 jyut6

MAY JUN JUL AUG

五月 六月 七月 八月
ng5 jyut6 luk6 jyut6 cat1 jyut6 baat3 jyut6

SEP OCT NOV DEC

九月 十月 十一月 十二月
gau2 jyut6 sap6 jyut6 sap6 jat1 jyut6 sap6 ji6 jyut6

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 WEEKDAYS

禮拜一 禮拜二 禮拜三 禮拜四

lai5 baai3 jat1 lai5 baai3 ji6 lai5 baai3 saam1 lai5 baai3 sei3
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

禮拜五 禮拜六 禮拜日

lai5 baai3 ng5 lai5 baai3 luk lai5 baai3jat6

Friday Saturday Sunday

每個禮拜
mui5 go3 lai5 baai3
Every week
下個禮拜
haa6 go3 lai5 baai3
Next week
上個禮拜
soeng5 go3 lai5 baai3
Last week

@outcastsfromthe853
 SMALL TALK
ESSENTIALS

1 你叫咩名 nei5 giu3 me1 ming4 What’s your name?

2 你幾歲？nei5 gei2 seoi3 aa1 ? How old are you?

3 點呀你 dim2 aa1 nei5 How are you?

4 你鍾唔鍾意飲咖啡 How have you been recenetly?

nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 jam2 gaa1 fe1

5
你想食咩 Do you like to drink coffee?
nei5 soeng2 sik6 me1

6 最近點呀 zeoi3 gan6 dim2 aa1 How have you been recenetly?

7 你幾時生日 nei5 gei2 si4 When is your birthday?

saang1 jat6

@outcastsfromthe853
 CHINESE CHARACTERS
THAT JUST MAKES SENSE

Many Chinese characters are derived from simplified representations of

the objects, actions, or concepts they represent. These characters are
called pictographic characters or ideograms. They were originally drawn
to resemble the physical appearance of the object or convey a visual
impression of the concept.
 RADICALS 部首
bou6 sau2

In the Chinese language, each word is represented by a unique character. These

characters are formed by combining various components, including radicals, phonetics,
and meanings.

Radicals are smaller, meaningful components that help convey the meaning or provide
clues about the pronunciation of the character. Understanding radicals can be very
helpful when learning and understanding Chinese characters.

WATER

River Pond Ocean Sea Creek

Here you can see that the words shown are related to water, and they consist of the
“water” radical on the left side of each word.

WOOD

Forest cabinet Chess Tree Table

Same concept applies here for “wood” & “hand”, words that are related them usually
have the radical in or on the side of the word. Understanding this concept thoroughly can
help you read Chinese in no time.

HAND

Hit Press Touch Sweep Pick

 多謝晒!
do1 ze6 saai3

THANK YOU!

@outcastsfromthe853