gaa1 baan1加班
Jyutpinggaa1 baan1
Yalegā bāan
Definition
To work overtime; to stay and work extra hours past the regular clock-out time.
Example
I work overtime all the time.
colloquialwork
How it's used
加班 is a very common term in the fast-paced Hong Kong work culture. It is frequently used with the particle 咗 to indicate that someone has already put in extra hours, such as in 加咗班. It is also common to hear people complain about having to 加通宵班, which specifically refers to working through the entire night.
Examples
Are you going to work overtime again tonight?
The company has been very busy lately, I have to work overtime every day.
Related words
Common phrases
to work the overnight shift
unpaid overtime
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with the Mandarin usage of working extra hours. In Cantonese, it is strictly used for professional or school-related tasks, not for doing extra chores or personal activities at home.
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).
