daan1 daan1單單单单
Jyutpingdaan1 daan1
Yaledāan dāan
Definition
Only, merely, or specifically; often used to highlight an exception.
colloquialdescriptions
How it's used
Focuses on isolating one specific person or item from a group to highlight an exception. It carries a slightly stronger sense of exclusion or singling out compared to just using 淨係. It is frequently paired with 得 to emphasize that only one subject remains in a specific state.
Examples
Everyone is going, except for him.
Everyone got a gift, except me?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 單單 meaning 'one by one' or 'simply' in Mandarin. In Cantonese, it is strictly used to highlight an exception within a group.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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Classifier
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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).
