A2
咁 — so, such, like this
How 咁 works as a degree word and as “like this” in Cantonese, why it appears in the negative comparison, and how 咁樣 differs from bare 咁.
咁 is so much, to that degree, like this. It is everywhere in speech and it maps onto no single English word, which is why it is worth its own page rather than a dictionary entry.
In front of an adjective — that much
今日咁凍！
Gam1jat6 gam3 dung3!
It’s so cold today!
唔好行咁快啦。
M4 hou2 haang4 gam3 faai3 laa1.
Don’t walk so fast.
This is the 咁 that shows up in the negative comparison — 我冇佢咁高, I’m not as tall as him — where it supplies the degree that 過 supplies in the positive. See comparison.
咁樣 — like this, in this way
With 樣 it describes a manner rather than a degree.
唔好咁樣講。
M4 hou2 gam2joeng6 gong2.
Don’t talk like that.
係咁樣㗎喇。
Hai6 gam2joeng6 gaa3 laa3.
That’s just how it is.
咁 opening a sentence — well then
At the start of a clause, 咁 hinges the conversation: so, in that case. It is doing what Mandarin 那 does in the same position, and it is extremely common.
咁我哋走啦。
Gam2 ngo5dei6 zau2 laa1.
Let’s go, then.
咁點算呀？
Gam2 dim2syun3 aa3?
So what do we do now?
Two tones, two jobs
咁 is gam3 as a degree word and gam2 as like this or as the sentence hinge. Written the same, said differently, and the tone is what tells 咁凍 (so cold) from 咁樣 (like this). Romanisation is the only place the difference is visible, which is one reason jyutping is worth learning properly.