daa2 hat1 ci1打乞嗤
Jyutpingdaa2 hat1 ci1
Yaledá hāt chī
Definition
To sneeze; a reflex action of expelling air due to irritation in the nose or mouth.
colloquialbodyhealth
How it's used
This phrase is the standard way to describe the involuntary reflex of sneezing in Cantonese. Unlike some other languages where the verb might be a single word, Cantonese uses the verb-object construction where 打 acts as the action and 乞嗤 is the object. It is very common to insert the aspect marker 咗 or the measure word 個 between them, such as 打咗個乞嗤.
Examples
Are you catching a cold? Why are you sneezing?
Related words
Common phrases
cover your mouth when sneezing
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly try to use 噴 as the verb for sneezing, but 噴 is usually reserved for spraying liquids or gases. Stick to 打 when talking about this specific bodily reflex.
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).
