A1
呢 and 嗰 — this and that
How 呢 and 嗰 work in Cantonese, why they still need a classifier, and how they combine with 啲 and 度.
呢 is this and 嗰 is that. Neither looks anything like 这 or 那, and both take a classifier before a noun.
呢本書好好睇。
Ni1 bun2 syu1 hou2 hou2tai2.
This book is very good.
嗰個人係邊個？
Go2 go3 jan4 hai6 bin1go3?
Who’s that person?
呢書好好睇。
呢本書好好睇。
呢 cannot sit straight on a noun, exactly as 这 cannot in Mandarin. If the right classifier will not come, 個 is understood.
呢個 and 嗰個 on their own
With no noun following, they mean this one and that one — and they are among the most common words in the language.
呢個係我嘅。
Ni1 go3 hai6 ngo5 ge3.
This one’s mine.
我要嗰個。
Ngo5 jiu3 go2 go3.
I want that one.
Here and there
度 makes them places: 呢度 and 嗰度.
我住喺呢度。
Ngo5 zyu6 hai2 ni1dou6.
I live here.
佢喺嗰度做嘢。
Keoi5 hai2 go2dou6 zou6je6.
He works over there.
Plurals with 啲
呢啲 and 嗰啲 are these and those, and take no further classifier — 啲 is already one.
嗰啲人都係我朋友。
Go2 di1 jan4 dou1 hai6 ngo5 pang4jau5.
Those people are all my friends.
嗰 and 個 look alike
嗰 (go2, that) and 個 (go3, the general classifier) differ by one component and one tone, and 嗰個 contains both. Reading them apart takes a while; hearing them apart takes longer, and context does nearly all the work.