bou1哺
Jyutpingbou1
Yalebōu
Definition
To feed young children; to nurse.
writtenfamilyanimals
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used in formal or scientific contexts like 哺乳類. In everyday spoken Cantonese, people use 餵奶 to describe the act of nursing or feeding a baby. Using 哺 in casual conversation sounds overly literary or academic.
Examples
Do you know how mammals feed their young?
Related words
Common phrases
mammals
Common mistake
Do not use this character in daily speech to mean feeding a child, as it will sound unnatural or archaic. Stick to 餵奶 for nursing and 湊仔 or 養育 for the general act of raising children.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- 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.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
