cing3倩
Jyutpingcing3
Yaleching
Definition
Beautiful; winsome; pleasing.
writtendescriptions
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively found in literary contexts or classical idioms like 巧笑倩兮. It is rarely used in modern spoken Cantonese to describe beauty, as people prefer words like 靚 or 標緻. Using it in daily conversation will sound highly poetic or even archaic.
Examples
She looks really beautiful when she smiles.
Which girl is so beautiful?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for a common adjective, but it is a morpheme that functions more like a literary descriptor. It is not interchangeable with 靚 in any standard social setting.
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).
