A2
就嚟…喇 — about to happen
How Cantonese says something is on the point of happening, why the sentence ends in 喇 despite being about the future, and the 差唔多 alternative.
就嚟 says something is on the point of happening, and the sentence ends in 喇 — the change-of-state particle — because a change is exactly what is about to arrive.
就嚟落雨喇。
Zau6lai4 lok6jyu5 laa3.
It’s about to rain.
火車就嚟開喇。
Fo2ce1 zau6lai4 hoi1 laa3.
The train’s about to leave.
我要走喇。
Ngo5 jiu3 zau2 laa3.
I’m off.
That last one is the everyday version — 要 plus 喇, with no 就嚟 at all, and it is what you will say most.
差唔多 — nearly
差唔多 is almost, and it works on an amount or an age as readily as on an action.
佢差唔多三十歲喇。
Keoi5 caa1m4do1 saam1 sap6 seoi3 laa3.
He’s nearly thirty.
差唔多喇。
Caa1m4do1 laa3.
Nearly there.
差唔多 is literally differs not much, built out of 差, 唔 and 多, and it is one of the most useful three-syllable words in the language — it also means roughly, about the same, and good enough.
Do not add a future word
There is no will to include. 就嚟 and 喇 carry the whole meaning between them, and adding 會 says the future twice.
天就嚟黑喇。
Tin1 zau6lai4 hak1 laa3.
It’s getting dark.
Asking
The usual 呀, after the 喇.
火車就嚟開喇咩？
Fo2ce1 zau6lai4 hoi1 laa3 me1?
Is the train about to leave?
咩 there carries a note of surprise — already? — which is exactly what it does everywhere else.