ABSTRACT
To express negation, Cantonese uses negative words that all begin with the nasal consonant m and have low tones: Negative word Used with: m̀h 唔 not adjectives, verbs referring to the present móuh 冇 have not nouns, verbs referring to the past meih 未 not yet verbs mhaih 唔係 is not sentences m- 唔 un- antonyms of adjectives and verbs m̀h 唔 is used to negate:
most adjectives: Lī gihn sāam m̀h péhng ga 呢件衫唔平喋 This shirt is not cheap. Dī jih m̀h chīngchó 啲字唔清楚 The writing is not clear. Ngóh gīngyihm m̀h gau 我經驗唔夠 My experience is not sufficient (lit. enough)
verbs referring to the present: Ngóh gāmyaht m̀h fāan-hohk 我今日唔返學 I’m not going to school today. Kéuihdeih m̀h sāu yihn-gām 佢哋唔收現金 They do not accept cash. Gūngsī jaahmsìh m̀h chéng yàhn 公司暫時唔請人 The company is not hiring anyone right now.
móuh 冇 is the negative form of yáuh 有 (Unit 6), used in two main ways:69as a main verb: Kéuih móuh làahm-pàhngyáuh ge 佢冇男朋友嘅 She doesn’t have a boyfriend. Ngóhdeih yìhgā móuh gūngyàhn 我哋而家冇工人 We don’t have a (domestic) helper now. Ngóh móuh leng sāam jeuk 我冇覬衫著 I have no nice clothes to wear.
as an auxiliary verb: Ngóh gāmyaht móuh gin dóu kéuih a 我今日冇見到佢呀 I haven’t seen her today. Kéuih móuh làih hōi-wúi 佢冇嚟開會 He didn’t come to the meeting. Kéuihdeih móuh tūngjī ngóhdeih 佢哋冇通知我哋 They didn’t inform us.
móuh 冇 used in this way serves as the negative counterpart to jó 咗 (Unit 18), as can be seen in pairs like the following: a Ngóh kàhmyaht máaih-jó choi 我琴日買咗菜 I bought vegetables yesterday. b Ngóh kàhmyaht móuh máaih choi 我琴日冇買菜 I didn’t buy (any) vegetables yesterday. a Gūngsī chéng-jó kéuih 公司請咗佢 The company has hired him. b Gūngsī móuh chéng kéuih 公司冇請佢 The company has not hired him. meih 未 as an auxiliary has the specific meaning ‘not yet’: Ngóhdeih juhng meih būn ūk 我哋仲未搬屋 We haven’t moved house yet. Lóuhbáan meih fāan làih 老闆未返嚟 The boss hasn’t come in yet. Jaahmsìh meih yáuh sīusīk 暫時未有消息 So far there hasn’t been any news. Attached to the end of a statement, meih 未 makes a special form of question, typically with jó 咗 or gwo 過 (see Unit 18):Léih jouh-jó gūngfo meih a? 你做咗功課未呀?
Have you done your homework (yet)?
Léih heui-gwo Hóiyèuhng Gūngyún meih a? 你去過海洋公園未呀?
Have you ever been to Ocean Park?
70 mhaih 唔係 ‘it’s not’ is the negative form of the verb haih 係 ‘to be’. It is used in negating adjectives modified by an adverb (see Unit 9): mhaih hóu leng 唔係好靓 It’s not very pretty. mhaih géi gūngpìhng 唔係幾公平 It’s not quite fair. Ngóhdeih mhaih gam suhk 我哋唔係咐熟 We’re not that familiar (with each other)