baau3豹
Jyutpingbaau3
Yalebaau
Definition
Leopard; a collective term for several large wild cats with spotted coats, including leopards, jaguars, and snow leopards.
neutralanimals
How it's used
Refers specifically to wild big cats with spots, but is frequently used in fashion contexts to describe patterns. It carries a sense of sleekness or danger, often appearing in idioms related to speed or ferocity. When discussing the animal in a zoo or nature documentary, it is almost always paired with the classifier 隻.
Measure word
zek3隻jekExamples
That leopard at the zoo looks really fierce.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse 豹 with 貓 because both are felines, but 豹 implies a wild, dangerous predator rather than a domestic pet. Do not use it to describe a house cat regardless of its coat pattern.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Aspect markersCantonese has no tenses, but it does have aspect markers. Learn how zo2, gwo3, gan2, and hai2 dou6 show completion, experience, and ongoing action.
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
