ceon1 zit3春節春节
Jyutpingceon1 zit3
Yalechēun jit
Definition
Spring Festival, commonly known as Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year.
neutralfestivaltime
How it's used
Locals overwhelmingly prefer the term 農曆新年 over 春節 in daily conversation. While 春節 is perfectly understood and used in formal, written, or media contexts, it sounds slightly more literary or mainland influenced when used in casual speech. Using 農曆新年 feels more natural and grounded in the specific cultural context of Hong Kong.
Examples
Are you going home for dinner this Lunar New Year?
Many places in Hong Kong are closed during the Lunar New Year.
Related words
Common phrases
Lunar New Year holiday
Common mistake
Learners often mistake 春節 as the primary term for the holiday, but it is less common than 農曆新年 in everyday spoken Cantonese. Using it too frequently might make your speech sound like a textbook or a news report.
Grammar color guide
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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).
