Cantonese/Lesson 5
Introduction to measuring words
editUnlike English, measuring words are needed when you need to say an object. For example we only need to say a book in English, but in Cantonese, when have to put a measuring word in front of the object, like 一本書. Here is a table of some measuring words:
| Measuring word | Pronunciation | When to use | Example |
| 本 | bun2 | a flat object, but not very thin | Book書 |
| 個 | go3 | an irregular object | Apple蘋果, orange橙 |
| 塊 | faai3 | an irregular, flatten object | cookie曲奇餅 |
| 張 | zoeng1 | a very thin and flat object | paper紙, ticket飛 |
| 隻 | zek3 | an animal that is not flat; non-elongated object | chicken雞, cow牛, egg雞蛋, watch錶 |
| 條 | tiu4 | an animal that is flat; an elongated object | fish魚, crocodile鱷魚, rope繩, belt皮帶, trousers褲, straw飲管 |
| 部 | bou6 | machine | computer電腦 |
| 對 | deoi3 | pair of | shoes鞋, socks襪 (NOT trousers) |
| 座 | zo6 | building | high-rise building大廈, tower塔 |
| 嚿（正字係䊆) | gau6 | A piece of | Use for wood 木, rice 飯 etc. |
Practice
editImagine you are doing shopping and need to get some grocery from a shopkeeper. Study the following dialogues and make your own version with the above examples of measuring words:
店員：你想買乜嘢？
我：我想買一隻雞。
Translation:
Shopkeeper: What would you like?
Me: I want to buy a chicken.