ABSTRACT
The verbs heui 去 ‘go’ and làih 嚟 (or lèih) ‘come’ are used as follows:
by themselves as main verbs: Ngóhdeih yátcháih heui lā 我哋一齊去啦 Let’s go together. Kéuih tíngyaht m̀h láih la 佢聽日唔嚟喇 She’s not coming tomorrow.
Both can be followed directly by a place name or other expression of the destination, without a preposition as in English: Ngóh yát yuht heui Méihgwok 我一月去美國 I’m going to America in January. Ngóhdeih yìhgá heui fóchéjaahm 我哋而家去火車站 We’re going to the railway station now. Kéuihdeih m̀h làih Yínggwok 佢哋唔嚟英國 They’re not coming to England. Léih géisìh láih ngóh ükkéi a? 你幾時嚟我屋企呀? When are you coming to my place?
They can also take a verb phrase to show the purpose of the journey: heui (gwóng-chéuhng) yám-chàh 去(廣場)飲茶 Go (to the shopping centre) for dim sum (lit. to drink tea) láih (lídouh) tái hei 嚟(呢度)睇戲 Come (here) to see a film
following directional verbs: yahp heui 入去 go in yahp láih 入嚟 come in chéut heui 出去 go out chéut láih 出嚟 come out séuhng heui 上去 go up séuhng láih 上嚟 come up lohk heui 落去 go down lohk láih 落嚟 come down gwo heui 過去 go over gwo láih 過嚟 come over fáan heui 返去 go back fáan láih 返嚟 come back
75These combinations are used in the same way as the simple verbs, for example:Ngóh séuhng heui Bākgīng hōi-wúi 我上去北京開會
I’m going up to Beijing for a meeting.
Ngóhdeih lohk heui sihk-faahn lā 我哋落去食飯啦
Let’s go down and eat.
Léih géisìh gwo làih taam ngóh a? 你幾時過嚟探我呀?
When are you coming over to visit me?
A third verb may be added before the directional verb to express the manner of movement, resulting in a sequence of three verbs: (manner – direction – come/go): fēi yahp làih 飛入嚟 fly in fēi chēut heui 飛出去 fly out dit lohk làih 跌落嚟 come falling down dit lohk heui 跌落去 go falling down tiu séuhng làih 跳上嚟 jump up (here) tiu séuhng heui 跳上去 jump up (there) hàahng fāan làih 行返嚟 walk back (here) hàahng gwo heui 行過去 walk over (there) When used with a transitive verb, the directional verb and heui/làih 去/嚟 follow the object:Ngóhdeih séung daai dī sān tùhngsih yahp làih 我哋想帶啲新同事入嚟
We’d like to bring in some new colleagues.
Ngóh līng dī hàhngléih séuhng làih sīn 我拎啲行李上嚟先
I’ll bring the luggage up first.
Mgōi léih daih dī sung gwo làih 唔該遞啲餸過嚟
Could you pass the dishes over, please.
Aspect markers like jó 咗 and gán 緊 (Units 18–19) appear after the first verb of the sequence: Kéuihdeih chēut-jó heui hóu loih la 佢哋出咗去好耐喇 They’ve been out for a long time. Lóuhbáan fāan-gán làih ge la 老闆返緊嚟嘅喇 The boss is on his way (lit. coming) back. Jek jeukjái fēi-jó yahp làih chyùhfóng 隻雀仔飛咗入嚟廚房 The bird has flown into the kitchen. These sequences of verbs are known as serial verb constructions. One such pattern, using both làih 嚟 and heui 去, uses four verbs in a row: 76 hàahng làih hàahng heui 行嚟行去 walk to and fro fēi làih fēi heui 飛嚟飛去 fly back and forth lám làih lám heui 諗嚟諗去 think it over and over si làih si heui 試嚟試去 try and try again Directional verbs are also used as verbs in their own right, with a place expression as their object. This pattern includes a number of useful set phrases: séuhng/lohk chē 上/落車 get on/off a car, bus, etc. séuhng/lohk sāan 上/落山 go up/down a hill yahp/chēut gíng 入/出境 enter/leave a country (at the border) yahp/chēut yún 入/出院 enter/leave hospital gwo máhlouh 過馬路 cross the road gwo hói 過海 cross the sea, harbour, etc. fāan ūkkéi 返屋企 return home fāan-gūng 返工 go (lit. return) to work