ABSTRACT

To ask a question to which the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no’, Cantonese in effect asks ‘verb–not-verb?’ This is rather like asking ‘Is X the case or not?’ without the ‘or’ being expressed:

Kéuihdeih làih-m̀h-làih a? 佢哋嚟唔嚟呀?

Are they coming?

Léih seun-m̀h-seun a? 你信唔信呀?

Do you believe it?

Léih dáng-m̀h-dáng kéuih a? 你等唔等佢呀?

Will you wait for her?

The same pattern applies to adjectives: Ga chē gwai-m̀h-gwai a? 架車貴唔貴呀? Is the car expensive? Dī hàhngléih chúhng-m̀h-chúhng a? 啲行李重唔重呀? Is the luggage heavy? Léih gāan fóng daaih-m̀h-daaih a? 你間房大唔大呀? Is your room big? With auxiliaries (see Unit 20), the auxiliary is repeated before the verb:

G.myaht wuih-m̀h-wuih lohk yuh a? 今日會唔會落雨呀?

(lit. today will (or) will not fall rain)

Will it rain today?

Leih s.k-m̀h-s.k gong Yahtman a? 你識唔識講日文呀?

Can you speak Japanese?

Leih yiu-m̀h-yiu heui sai-sau-g.an a? 你要唔要去洗手間呀?

Do you want to go the bathroom?

119Applying this pattern to the verb haih 係 ‘to be’, we have haih-mhaih 係唔係 it the case’, a form which is especially useful in checking information: Léih haih-mhaih sing Tàahm ga? 你係唔係姓譚喋? Is your surname Tam? Ngóhdeih haih-mhaih gāmyaht heui a? 我哋係唔係今日去呀? Is it today we are going? Some points to notice:

The particle a 呀 is usually added: this is felt to make the question more polite, less of an imposition on the listener (see Unit 25).

If the verb, adjective or auxiliary being questioned has more than one syllable, only the first syllable is repeated: jūngyi like Léihdeih jūng-m̀h-jūngyi Hēunggóng a? 锺意 你哋鐘唔鐘意香港呀? Do you like Hong Kong? sānchíng apply Léih sān-m̀h-sānchíng lī fahn gūng a? 申請 你申唔申請呢份工呀? Will you apply for this job? hōisām happy Léih gāmyaht hōi-m̀h-hoisám a? 開心 你今日開唔開心呀? Are you happy today? hóyíh 可 can Ngóh hó-m̀h-hāyíh chóh a? 以 我可唔可以坐呀? Can I sit down? yīnggōi should Ngóh yīng-m̀h-yīnggōi douh-hip a? 應該 我應唔應該道歉呀? Should I apologize?