The various ways of Saying yes

If you have been spending some time in a Cantonese speaking environment, watching enough Cantonese TV shows, hearing enough Cantonese, you might have noticed there are many ways of saying yes in a Cantonese conversation. Depending on how the question is asked, Cantonese people don’t necessarily just answer 係(Dummy PY: Hi) meaning yes. Let’s take a little close look today of how Cantonese people answer or say yes in different ways, so when you say yes in cantonese, it doesn’t sound strange.

The typical yes:

Typically speaking, there are tons of ways of asking yes and no questions in Cantonese, therefore, depending on how the question was asked, you will have to answer accordingly, this is when you really need your active listening skills. For the most typical question, questions that start with 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi), literally yes not yes. 係(Dummy PY: Hi) means yes, and 唔係 (Dummy PY: Um Hi) literally means not yes, so meaning no, for example:

你個名係唔係Dummy? (Dummy PY: Neigh Gor Meng Hi Um Hi dummy Ah?)

係。(Dummy PY: Hi)

Your name, yes or no, is Dummy?

Yes.

When you hear people ask 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi) literally yes not yes, that’s when you should reply either 係(Dummy PY: Hi) to mean yes or 唔係 (Dummy PY: Um Hi) to mean no. Another way you might hear 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi) questions, is 係咪(Dummy PY: Hi My) It’s just the shortened version for 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi). So for that question earlier, instead of saying 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi), you would say:

你個名係咪Dummy? (Dummy PY: Neigh Gor Meng Hi My dummy Ah?)

More on yes or no questions:

Another way to ask yes or no question is to ask the questions with 有冇 (Dummy PY: Yow Mow) meaning to have or not have, for example:

你有冇電話號碼？(Dummy PY: Neigh Yow Mow Dean Wa Ho Ma)

有。(Dummy PY: Yow)

You, have or not have, a phone number?

Have (yes).

電話(Dummy PY: Dean Wa) means phone and 號碼(Dummy PY: Ho Ma) Means numbers. Similar to 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi) questions, when you hear 有冇 (Dummy PY: Yow Mow), you will answer 有 (Dummy PY: Yow) for yes, you have, or 冇 (Dummy PY: Mow) for no, you don’t have.

Last example, I just want to show you, when you hear people ask questions with a word for example 係(Dummy PY: Hi) then the word 唔 (Dummy PY: Um) meaning not then the same word 係(Dummy PY: Hi) again, just like 係唔係 (Dummy PY: Hi Um Hi), you will know that someone is asking you a yes or no question. So to answer yes, you repeat that first word; to answer no you just need to add 唔 (Dummy PY: Um) before that word. So for example:

你今日要唔要返工？(Dummy PY: Neigh Gum Yat You Um You Farn Gong)

要 (Dummy PY: You)

You today need or no need to work?

Need (Yes).

*返工 (Dummy PY: Farn Gong) means going to work.

So here, the question is 要唔要(Dummy PY: You Um You) meaning need or no need, you should hear the first word 要 (Dummy PY: You) meaning need then 唔 (Dummy PY: Um) meaning not, then 要 (Dummy PY: You) meaning need again. So to answer yes, you repeat the first word 要 (Dummy PY: You) meaning yes, need; and to answer "no", you add the word 唔 (Dummy PY: Um) meaning not before the word 要 (Dummy PY: You). This applies to most yes or no questions in Cantonese, so if you apply this formula, you can have hundreds of ways of asking a yes or no question and hundreds of ways to say yes in Cantonese. You can essentially apply this formula to most other verbs in forming a yes and no question, say 食唔食 (Dummy PY: Sick Um Sick) literally eat not eat, meaning eat or not; 想唔想 (Dummy PY: Seung um Seung) literally want not want; 去唔去 (Dummy PY: Hui Um Hui) literally go not go. So really pay attention to what they are asking in order to reply with the right yes or no answer without confusing others.

The “That works” yes:

For regular situations, when you want to say “that works, yes”. Very simply you can answer OK. That’s pretty universal. For example:

我約你星期一食飯呀？(Dummy PY: Ngo Yuk Neigh Sing Kay Yat Sick Farn Ah?)

OK。

Literally: I date you Monday eat rice?

Meaning: Let’s go out for food with you on Monday?

OK.

*星期一(Dummy PY: Sing Kay Yat) meas Monday and 食飯 (Dummy PY: Sick Farn) means eating rice literally meaning having food.

Another way is to say o say alright, OK is to say 得 (Dummy PY: Duck)，literally means can. We use 得 (Dummy PY: Duck) to mean yes.

我約你星期一食飯呀？(Dummy PY: Ngo Yuk Neigh Sing Kay Yat Sick Farn Ah?)

得。

Let’s go out for food with you on Monday?

Can (yes).

Another way of saying “yes, that works” is 好(Dummy PY: Ho), literally means good, and in many situations it means “yes, that works”, using the previous example:

我約你星期一食飯呀？(Dummy PY: Ngo Yuk Neigh Sing Kay Yat Sick Farn Ah?)

好。(Dummy PY: Ho)

Let’s go out for food with you on Monday?

Good. (yes).

The acknowledging yes:

We also have sounds that are acknowledging yes sounds, a little like “uh-huh” in English when you are having a conversation. The first one is 嗯 (Dummy PY: Um). A very short utterance just to acknowledge to mean “yes, I am following.” or “yes”. For example, a mother is saying to her child:

你聽日要返學啦！(Dummy PY: Neigh Ting Yat You Farn Hog La)

嗯 (Dummy PY: Um)

You tomorrow need to go to school!

Yes.

*聽日(Dummy PY: Ting Yat) means tomorrow and 返學(dummy PY: Farn hog) means going to school or returning to school.

The second one is 哦 (Dummy PY: Or). 哦 (Dummy PY: Or) is another short utterance to mean “Oh, alright, yes.” Using the previous example:

你聽日要返學啦！(Dummy PY: Neigh Ting Yat You Farn Hog La)

哦 (Dummy PY: Or)

You tomorrow need to go to school!

Yes.

The third one is 額 (Dummy Uh-k). 額 (Dummy Uh-k) also serves similar functions as 哦 (Dummy PY: Or) and 嗯 (Dummy PY: Um).

你聽日要返學啦！(Dummy PY: Neigh Ting Yat You Farn Hog La)

額 (Dummy Uh-k)

You tomorrow need to go to school!

Yes.

The “of course” yes: When you want to say like “Of course” yes, you can use the term 梗係啦 (Dummy PY: Gunk Hi La) The word 梗(Dummy PY: Gunk) as a verb it means like upright standing up kind of meaning but in the noun form it means like the stem or stalk of a plant. 係(Dummy PY: Hi) is yes like I mentioned. So for 梗係啦 (Dummy PY: Gunk Hi La) it means like “straightup, yes” in other words, “for sure, yes”. For example:

你平時係唔係要返工？(Dummy PY: Neigh Ping See Hi Um Hi You Farn Gung?)

梗係啦 (Dummy PY: Gunk Hi La)

You regularly yes or no have to go to work?

Yes, of course.

Another way of saying of course is 當然啦(Dummy PY: Dong Yeen La). 當然(Dummy PY: Dong Yeen) by itself really means that’s how things are supposed to be, so in other words of course in this context of saying yes. Using the previous example:

你平時係唔係要返工？(Dummy PY: Neigh Ping See Hi Um Hi You Farn Gung?)

當然啦(Dummy PY: Dong Yeen La)

You regularly yes or no have to go to work?

Yes, of course.

The uncertain yes:

When you are not entirely certain about your yes to the question, a little like “yes, maybe”. You can say 係卦(Dummy PY: Hi Gwa). You already know 係(Dummy PY: Hi) meaning yes, 卦(Dummy PY: Gwa) is the emotion sound that we add at the end of the sentence to show emotions. A little like the 額 (Dummy Uh-k),哦 (Dummy PY: Or) and 嗯 (Dummy PY: Um) utterances earlier. For 卦(Dummy PY: Gwa) it expresses an uncertain emotion when put at the end of a sentence. For example:

你而家電話係咪$100 一個月啊？(Dummy PY: Neigh Yee Ga Dean Wa Hi My Yat Back Mon Yat Gor Yuet?)

係卦(Dummy PY: Hi Gwa)

Literally: You currently the phone yes or no $100 per month?

Meaning: Is your phone plan current $100 per month?

Yes maybe.

The “really” yes:

When someone says something that you really think it’s true, then you can say 真係呀(Dummy PY: Jan Hi Ah) to mean really yes, for example:

你覺唔覺得今年你好唔開心？(Dummy PY: Neigh Gock Um Gock Duck Gum Neen Neigh Ho Um Hoy Sum Ah?)

真係呀！(Dummy PY: Jan Hi Ah)

Literally: you feel not feel this year you are very unhappy?

Meaning: Do you feel you are very unhappy this year?

Really yes!

The “Oh yes, you are right” yes:

Finally, sometimes in a conversation, for example originally you were thinking something could be achieved with method A, and someone pointed out you could also try method B, now you realized they were also right or even sometimes better than your original idea, then you would say 係喎(Dummy PY: Hi Wor), similar to “Oh yes, you are right.” For example the friend is telling you there are 2 spellings of the word “Program”:

Program 呢個字，除左可以係串P-R-O-G-R-A-M 之外，你仲可以串P-R-O-G-R-A-M-M-E。 (Dummy PY: Program Ne Gor Ji, Chui Jaw Hoh Yee Chun PROGRAM Ji Ngoi, Neigh Chong Hoh Yee Chun PROGRAMME)

係喎(Dummy PY: Hi Wor)

Literally: Program this word, other than can be spelt P-R-O-G-R-A-M, you also can spell P-R-O-G-R-A-M-M-E.

Meaning: For the word program, other than spelling it as P-R-O-G-R-A-M, you can also spell it as P-R-O-G-R-A-M-M-E.

Oh yes, you are right.

Hopefully you are able to grasp the different yeses in Cantonese in this episode. With practice and awareness of the Cantonese language, I trust you will be able to master it.

Let’s go over the vocab today:

Typical yes:

係(Dummy PY: Hi)

The “That works” yes:

OK

得 (Dummy PY: Duck)

好(Dummy PY: Ho)

The acknowledging yes:

額 (Dummy Uh-k)

哦 (Dummy PY: Or)

嗯 (Dummy PY: Um)

The “of course” yes:

梗係啦 (Dummy PY: Gunk Hi La)

當然啦(Dummy PY: Dong Yeen La)

The uncertain yes:

係卦(Dummy PY: Hi Gwa)

The “really” yes:

真係呀！(Dummy PY: Jan Hi Ah)

“Oh yes, you are right”

係喎(Dummy PY: Hi Wor)

Name - 名 (Dummy PY: Meng)

Phone - 電話(Dummy PY: Dean Wa)

Number - 號碼(Dummy PY: Ho Ma)

Have a meal - 食飯 (Dummy PY: Sick Farn)

Go to school - 返學(Dummy PY: Farn Hog)

Go to work - 返工(Dummy PY: Farn Gong)

Unhappy - 唔開心(Dummy PY: Um Hoy Sum)

Normally/ regularly - 平時(Dummy PY: Ping See)

Monday - 星期一(Dummy PY: Sing Kay Yat)

Today - 今日(Dummy PY: Gum Yat)

Tomorrow - 聽日(Dummy PY: Ting Yat)

This year - 今年(Dummy PY: Gum Neen)

Now / currently - 而家(Dummy PY: Yee Ga)

A month/ Per month - 一個月(Dummy PY: Yat Gor Yuet)