coi3 ngaau4菜餚菜肴
Jyutpingcoi3 ngaau4
Yalechoi ngàauh
Definition
Dishes or food; particularly fine or delicious food.
writtenfood
How it's used
Refers to prepared food in a formal or appreciative context, often implying a higher quality or variety than everyday home cooking. While 餸 is the standard term for dishes served with rice, 菜餚 carries a slightly more elegant tone suitable for restaurant reviews or describing a feast. It is rarely used in casual, quick conversations about simple meals.
Measure word
mei2味méiExamples
The dishes tonight are very sumptuous.
The dishes you cook are so delicious, where did you learn?
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using this word for simple, everyday home-cooked meals, as it sounds overly formal or literary. Use 餸 or 餸菜 for daily situations instead.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
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Classifier
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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).
