Numbers

Cantonese Lesson 6 (Numbers and School)

Duration: 30 mins

The 6th lesson teaches counting in cardinal and ordinal numbers in Cantonese. I also included a vocabulary list about school and finally common daily phrases. 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.

Numbers

Knowing how to count in Cantonese is essential and should be one of first things to learn. By simply knowing numbers from 1 to 9 you could express large numbers in a simplified way. Cardinal numbers are for counting such as "1, 2, 3 ...". Ordinal numbers represent order or rank such as "1st, 2nd, 3rd ...".

Below is a list of the first 20 cardinal and ordinal numbers 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.

Numbers in Cantonese

Numbers Cantonese Audio
One
jat1 
First第一
dai6 jat1 
Two
ji6 
Second
miu5 
Three
saam1 
Third第三
dai6 saam1 
Four
sei3 
Fourth第四
dai6 sei3 
Five
ng5 
Fifth第五
dai6 ng5 
Six
luk6 
Sixth第六
dai6 luk6 
Seven
cat1 
Seventh第七
dai6 cat1 
Eight
baat3 
Eighth第八
dai6 baat3 
Nine
gau2 
Ninth第九
dai6 gau2 
Ten
sap6 
Tenth第十
dai6 sap6 
Eleven十一
sap6 jat1 
Eleventh第十一
dai6 sap6 jat1 
Twelve十二
sap6 ji6 
Twelfth第十二
dai6 sap6 ji6 
Thirteen十三
sap6 saam1 
Thirteenth第十三
dai6 sap6 saam1 
Fourteen十四
sap6 sei3 
Fourteenth第十四
dai6 sap6 sei3 
Fifteen十五
sap6 ng5 
Fifteenth第十五
dai6 sap6 ng5 
Sixteen十六
sap6 luk6 
Sixteenth第十六
dai6 sap6 luk6 
Seventeen十七
sap6 cat1 
Seventeenth第十七
dai6 sap6 cat1 
Eighteen十八
sap6 baat3 
Eighteenth第十八
dai6 sap6 baat3 
Nineteen十九
sap6 gau2 
Nineteenth第十九
dai6 sap6 gau2 
Twenty二十
ji6 sap6 
Twentieth第二十
dai6 ji6 sap6 
Thirty three (31)三十三
saam1 sap6 saam1 
One hundred (100)一百
jat1 baak3 
Three hundred and sixty (360)三百六十
saam1 baak3 luk6 sap6 
One thousand (1000)一千
jat1 cin1 
Two thousand and fourteen (2014)二千零一十四
ji6 cin1 ling4 jat1 sap6 sei3 
One million一百萬
jat1 baak3 maan6 
Once一次
jat1 ci3 
Twice兩次
loeng5 ci3 

Now we will try to implement some of the numbers 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 Numbers in a Sentence

Numbers Cantonese Audio
I'm 30 years old我三十歲
ngo5 saam1 sap6 seoi3 
I have 2 sisters and 1 brother我有兩個姐妹同埋一個兄弟。
ngo5 jau5 loeng5 go3 ze2 mui6 tung4 maai4 jat1 go3 hing1 dai6 。
English is my first language英文係我嘅母語
jing1 man4 hai6 ngo5 ge3 mou5 jyu5 
Her second language is Spanish佢第二語言係西班牙文。
keoi5 dai6 ji6 jyu5 jin4 hai6 sai1 baan1 ngaa4 man4 。

Questions?

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

Vocabulary List about School

Below is a list of 26 words related to school and classrooms. If you can memorize them by heart, you will be able communicate to a teacher/students many objects in your class.

School Words in Cantonese

School Cantonese Audio
Answer答案
daap3 ngon3 
Book
syu1 
Books書/好多書
syu1 / hou2 do1 syu1 
Chair
dang3 
Desk書枱
syu1 toi4 
Dictionary字典
zi6 din2 
Laptop語言
jyu5 jin4 
Library圖書館
tou4 syu1 gun2 
Notebook (paper notebook)筆記簿
bat1 gei3 bou6 
Page
jip6 
Paper
zi2 
Pen
bat1 
Pencil鉛筆
jyun4 bat1 
Question問題
man6 tai4 
School學校
hok6 haau6 
Student學生
hok6 saang1 
Teacher老師
lou5 si1 
University大學
daai6 hok6 

Daily Conversation in Cantonese

Finally, a couple bonus sentences that you might find useful. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Cantonese Phrases page. Enjoy!

Common Expressions in Cantonese

English Cantonese Audio
I have a question我有問題
ngo5 jau5 man6 tai4 
To listen
ting3 
To read
duk6 
To speak講嘢
gong2 je5 
To think
lam2 
To understand理解/明白
lei5 gaai2 / ming4 baak6 
To write
se2 
What's the name of that book?嗰本書叫咩名?
go2 bun2 syu1 giu3 me1 ming4 ?
What do you do for a living?你做咩㗎?/你做盛行?
nei5 zou6 me1 gaa2 ?/ nei5 zou6 sing6 hang4 ?
I'm a (teacher / artist / engineer)我係一個 教師/藝術家/工程師
ngo5 hai6 jat1 go3  gaau3 si1 /ngai6 seot6 gaa1 /gung1 cing4 si1 
Oh! That's good!哬!太好啦!
哬 !taai3 hou2 laa1 !
Can I practice with you?我可唔可以同你一齊練習?
ngo5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 tung4 nei5 jat1 cai4 lin6 zaap6 ?

Fun Facts

Language Quote: Approximately one new word is added to the English language every two hours and around 4,000 new words are added to the English dictionary every year.

Congratulations! You finished your 6th lesson in Cantonese about numbers, and school terms. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Cantonese Lesson 7. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Cantonese homepage.