gwan2 seoi2滾水滚水
Jyutpinggwan2 seoi2
Yalegwán séui
Definition
Boiling or boiled water.
colloquialfooddaily actions
How it's used
Refers specifically to water that has reached its boiling point, often used when someone is actively preparing tea or noodles. While standard Mandarin speakers might use 開水 to mean boiled water, in Cantonese 滾水 emphasizes the state of being at or near boiling temperature. It is frequently used in the context of accidental burns or the act of boiling water itself.
Measure word
bou1煲bōuExamples
Be careful, there is still boiling water in the pot.
Could you boil some water for me to make tea?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 熟水, which refers to water that has been boiled and then cooled down to a drinkable temperature. Using 滾水 to describe room temperature boiled water sounds like you are offering someone scalding hot water to drink.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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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).
