dou6悼
Jyutpingdou6
Yaledouh
Definition
To mourn, grieve, or commemorate a deceased person or a lost thing.
writtenpeopleemotion
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used in formal or written contexts, such as in news reports, obituaries, or memorial services. It carries a heavy, solemn tone that is rarely encountered in casual daily speech. When expressing grief in a more personal or spoken way, speakers prefer using phrases like 懷念 or 唔開心。
Examples
Everyone is mourning that great person together.
He wrote an article to mourn his passed away pet.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly use this as a general verb for feeling sad, but it specifically refers to mourning the dead. It cannot be used to describe feeling sad about a bad day or a minor disappointment.
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).
