gaai3誡诫
Jyutpinggaai3
Yalegaai
Definition
To warn, admonish, or solemnly remind someone not to repeat a mistake.
writtencommunication
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used as a bound morpheme in formal compounds like 告誡 or 戒條. It carries a sense of serious, moral, or authoritative advice that goes beyond a casual reminder. You will rarely hear it used as a standalone verb in spoken Cantonese, where people would prefer 警告 or 提點 instead.
Examples
His father warned him not to spend money recklessly again.
Remember my warning, please do not go down the wrong path.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for 戒, which means to abstain from something like smoking or drinking. While they share a similar visual component, 誡 is about verbal warnings or rules, whereas 戒 is about personal discipline and self-restraint.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
