gwaan1鰥鳏
Jyutpinggwaan1
Yalegwāan
Definition
A widower or an elderly bachelor.
writtenpeoplefamily
How it's used
Literary in nature, this character is rarely used in isolation in spoken Cantonese. It almost exclusively appears as part of the compound 鰥夫 to describe a man who has lost his spouse. Using it on its own sounds archaic or overly formal, similar to how one might perceive the word 'bereaved' in English.
Examples
After his wife passed away, he became a widower.
Do you know where that widower lives?
Related words
Common phrases
widower
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 寡婦, which is the specific term for a widow. Remember that 鰥 refers to a man, while 寡 refers to a woman.
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.
