bou3 on3報案报案
Jyutpingbou3 on3
Yalebou on
Definition
To report a criminal case or incident to the police.
neutralother
How it's used
Focus on the formal act of notifying authorities about a crime rather than just making a general complaint. It is specifically used for police matters, whereas reporting other issues like lost items or minor disputes might use different phrasing depending on the context.
Examples
Do you need to go to the police station to report the crime?
He just reported the crime, the police will be here soon.
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using this word for general reporting or feedback, such as reporting a bug in software or a complaint about a restaurant, as those situations require different verbs.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
