bat1 zou6不做
Jyutpingbat1 zou6
Yalebāt jouh
Definition
To not do; to refrain from doing.
colloquialdaily actions
How it's used
Cantonese speakers almost exclusively use 唔做 instead of the formal 不做 in daily life. The character 唔 is the standard negation marker for verbs, making 唔做 the natural way to express the refusal or absence of an action. Using the formal 不做 often sounds like you are reading from a textbook or a legal document.
Related words
Common phrases
to give up on being a decent person
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly use 不 as a universal negation marker because of Mandarin influence, but in Cantonese, 唔 is required for almost all verbs. Using 不做 in casual conversation will make you sound like you are speaking Mandarin with Cantonese pronunciation.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
