dou3 gei6妒忌
Jyutpingdou3 gei6
Yaledou geih
Definition
To be jealous or envious of someone.
colloquialemotion
How it's used
Expressing jealousy in casual conversation often leans towards the more colloquial term 葡萄. While 妒忌 is perfectly acceptable, it carries a slightly more serious or formal weight compared to the playful or sarcastic tone often implied by calling someone a sour grape. Using 妒忌 suggests a genuine, often internal feeling of resentment rather than the lighthearted envy frequently described with 葡萄.
Examples
Why do you have to be so jealous of everything he has?
He felt very jealous inside when he saw others buying new cars.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse 妒忌 with 羨慕. 羨慕 is a positive feeling of admiration for someone's success or possessions, whereas 妒忌 implies a negative, bitter feeling because you lack what they have.
Grammar color guide
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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).
