gau6 tung4 si6舊同事旧同事
Jyutpinggau6 tung4 si6
Yalegauh tùhng sih
Definition
An old colleague; a former coworker.
colloquialpeoplework
How it's used
Refers specifically to someone you worked with in the past, regardless of whether you are still friends. It does not necessarily imply that the person is elderly, as the character 舊 simply denotes the former nature of the relationship. It is common to add a classifier like 個 or 幾位 before it to specify the number of people.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
I have a date to eat with an old colleague tomorrow.
Are you still in touch with that old colleague?
Common phrases
to meet up with an old colleague
to contact an old colleague
Common mistake
Avoid using 老同事 to mean an old colleague, as this often implies the person is elderly or has been at the company for a very long time, rather than just being a former coworker.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
