cing1青
Jyutpingcing1
Yalechīng
Definition
Blue, green, or cyan.
colloquialcoloursfood
How it's used
Refers primarily to green in modern Cantonese, especially when describing fruits, vegetables, or light colors. It is rarely used for blue unless in specific compound words like 青天 or 青色, where the latter can be ambiguous depending on the speaker's dialect or context. When describing the color of objects like clothes or cars, 綠色 is the standard choice for green.
Examples
This shirt is too green, it doesn't really suit me.
Why did you buy these green apples?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for blue because of the Mandarin meaning, but in Cantonese, it almost always describes shades of green or fresh, unripe items.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
