can1 ngaan5親眼亲眼
Jyutpingcan1 ngaan5
Yalechān ngáahn
Definition
With one's own eyes; personally seeing something happen rather than hearing about it.
colloquialdaily actionspeople
How it's used
Emphasizes the directness of an experience to validate a claim or express shock. It is frequently paired with verbs of perception like 見到 or 睇到 to stress that the information is firsthand rather than hearsay. Using this word adds a sense of authority or personal testimony to a story.
Examples
I saw him take the wallet with my own eyes.
Did you see the incident happen with your own eyes?
Related words
Common phrases
to see with one's own eyes
to witness personally
Common mistake
Avoid using this to describe hearing about something, even if you heard it directly from the source. It strictly refers to visual evidence, so using it with 聽到 is logically inconsistent.
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.
