Learn to read Cantonese
A short, active path into reading Cantonese: see how a character is built out of a meaning half and a sound half, learn the sixty characters a fable runs on, meet the grammar words 係 唔 嘅 咗 that mark written Cantonese out from Mandarin, and read a short story before opening your first book.
How a character is put together
- Every character fills one square of the same size, however many strokes it takes.
- Most characters are two pieces: one hints at the meaning, the other hints at the sound.
- A piece shrinks when it moves left: 水 becomes 氵.
What makes a complicated character readable is that it is almost never one drawing — it is two or three familiar pieces stacked in a square. Learn the pieces and the wall turns into combinations of things you have seen.
Meaning on one side, sound on the other
| Character | Meaning half | Sound half |
|---|---|---|
| 睇tai2“look at, watch” | 目“eye” | 弟dai6 — close, and the tone is different |
| 想soeng2“want to, think” | 心“heart” | 相soeng1 — same syllable, different tone |
The meaning half is the reliable one. 睇tai2 has an eye on the left — you can see what it is about long before you can say it.
The meaning pieces worth knowing
- 人 亻personabout peopleSquashed to a standing stick figure on the left.你nei5“you”
- 口mouthabout the mouth and speaking — and it marks most Cantonese-only grammar wordsThe mouth on the left of 唔 is the mark of a written-Cantonese word: Mandarin writes 不 instead.唔m4“not”
- 心 忄heartabout feeling and thinkingUnderneath it keeps its shape; on the left it stands up as two ribs and a spine.開心hoi1 sam1“happy”
- 水 氵waterabout water and liquidThree droplets on the left.河ho4“river”
- 手 扌handabout doing things with hands搵wan2“look for”
- 言speechabout speaking and wordsA mouth at the bottom with sound lines rising out of it.講gong2“speak, say”
- 木tree, woodabout trees and wooden things樹syu6“tree”
- 犬 犭dogabout animals, not only dogsOn the left it becomes a lean, crouching creature.狗gau2“dog”
- 辵 辶walkingabout movement and roadsA foot and a road, wrapping round the bottom-left corner.過gwo3“pass, cross”
- 目eyeabout seeingAn eye tipped on its end so it fits the square.睇tai2“look at”
Where two shapes are given, the second is what the piece shrinks to on the left. Noticing them is enough; none of this has to be memorised.
Pairs that differ by one stroke
What is this character about?
- Which of 人 and 入 means “enter”?
Its right stroke reaches the top.
Show answer +Hide answer −
入jap6“enter”. - 講 has 言 on the left. What sort of word?
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A speaking word: 講gong2“speak, say”.