Feminine

Cantonese Lesson 5 (Feminine and Clothes)

Duration: 30 mins

The 5th Cantonese lesson teaches the use of the gender by creating the feminine from the masculine form. In addition to that, I included a vocabulary list about clothes and finally common phrases about origins. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. Going through the whole page should take about 30 min. Make sure to read the pronunciation and hear the audio as well. If you have any question about this course, please email me directly at Cantonese Classes.

Feminine

Knowing how to derive the feminine from the masculine form is very useful. It can make it easy to have a conversation about family members, pets, or professions. An example would be: "man", "woman", "Cat (fem.)", "cat (masc.)" etc.

Below is a list of 12 masculine and feminine forms that you might come across or use very often. The table contains 3 columns (English, Cantonese, and Audio). Make sure you repeat each word after hearing it by either clicking on the audio button or by reading the pronunciation. That should help with memorization as well as improving your pronunciation.

Masculine vs. Feminine in Cantonese

Feminine Cantonese Audio
Boy男仔
naam4 zai2 
Girl女仔
neoi5 zai2 
Man男人
naam4 jan4 
Woman女人
neoi5 jan4 
Father爸爸
baa1 baa1 
Mother媽媽
maa1 maa1 
Brother兄弟
hing1 dai6 
Sister姐/姊妹
ze2 /zi2 mui6 
Actor男演員
naam4 jin2 jyun4 
Actress女演員
neoi5 jin2 jyun4 
Cat (Masc.)貓公
maau1 gung1 
Cat (Fem.)貓乸
maau1 naa2 

Now we will try to implement some of the forms above into full Cantonese sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.

Cantonese Gender in a Sentence

English Cantonese Audio
He is tall佢好高
keoi5 hou2 gou1 
She is tall佢好高
keoi5 hou2 gou1 
He is a short man佢係一個矮男人
keoi5 hai6 jat1 go3 ngai2 naam4 jan4 
She is a short woman佢係一個矮女人
keoi5 hai6 jat1 go3 ngai2 neoi5 jan4 
He is German佢係德國人
keoi5 hai6 dak1 gwok3 jan4 
She is German佢係德國人
keoi5 hai6 dak1 gwok3 jan4 
Japanese men are friendly日本男人好友善
jat6 bun2 naam4 jan4 hou2 jau5 sin6 
Japanese women are friendly日本女人好友善
jat6 bun2 neoi5 jan4 hou2 jau5 sin6 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact me using the Cantonese contact form on the header above.

Vocabulary List about Clothes

Below is a list of 20 words related to clothes and wearable accessories. Memorizing them by heart can make it easy for you to shop for clothes and maybe get some good bargains.

Clothes List in Cantonese

Clothes Cantonese Audio
Belt皮帶
pei4 daai3 
Clothes衣服
ji1 fuk6 
Coat外套
ngoi6 tou3 
Dress
kwan4 
Glasses眼鏡
ngaan5 geng3 
Gloves手套
sau2 tou3 
Hat
mou6 
Jacket外套
ngoi6 tou3 
Pants (Trousers)
fu3 
Ring戒指
gaai3 zi2 
Shirt恤衫
seot1 saam1 
Shoes
haai4 
Socks
mat6 
Suit西裝
sai1 zong1 
Sweater過頭笠
gwo3 tau4 lap1 
Tie領呔
ling5 taai1 
Umbrella
ze1 
Underwear底衫
dai2 saam1 
Wallet銀包
ngan4 baau1 
Watch手錶
sau2 biu1 

Daily Conversation in Cantonese

Finally, these are a couple of phrases used in conversations to express where you are from or where you live etc. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Cantonese Phrases page.

Common Expressions in Cantonese

Do you like my dress?你鐘唔鐘意我條裙?
nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 ngo5 tiu4 kwan4 ?
I lost my socks我唔見咗對襪
ngo5 m4 gin3 zo2 deoi3 mat6 
It looks good on you你著得好好睇
nei5 zyu3 dak1 hou2 hou2 tai2 
She has a beautiful ring佢有隻好靚嘅戒指
keoi5 jau5 zek3 hou2 leng3 ge3 gaai3 zi2 
These pants (trousers) are long呢條褲太長
ne1 tiu4 fu3 taai3 coeng4 
These shoes are small呢對鞋太細
ne1 deoi3 haai4 taai3 sai3 
Where are you from?你係邊到人?
nei5 hai6 bin1 dou3 jan4 ?
I'm from the U.S我喺美國嚟
ngo5 hai2 mei5 gwok3 lai4 
I'm American我係美國人
ngo5 hai6 mei5 gwok3 jan4 
Where do you live?你住喺邊度?
nei5 zyu6 hai2 bin1 dou6 ?
I live in the U.S我住喺美國
ngo5 zyu6 hai2 mei5 gwok3 
Do you like it here?你鐘唔鐘意呢度?
nei5 zung1 m4 zung1 ji3 ne1 dou6 ?

Fun Facts

Language Quote: It has been estimated that the number of actively spoken languages in the world today is about 6,000..

Congratulations! You finished your 5th lesson in Cantonese about masculine, feminine, and clothes. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Cantonese Lesson 6. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Cantonese homepage.