gaa1 hau2家口
Jyutpinggaa1 hau2
Yalegā háu
Definition
The number of members in a family; household size.
colloquialfamilypeople
How it's used
Refers specifically to the number of mouths to feed or people living under one roof. It carries a slightly more practical or economic weight than simply saying 屋企人, as it often appears in contexts involving financial responsibility or the total headcount of a household.
Examples
His whole family loves to go traveling.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin term 家口, which can sometimes refer to a specific family member or servant in older literature. In Cantonese, it is almost exclusively used to refer to the collective group of people in a family unit.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
