ham1堪
Jyutpingham1
Yalehām
Definition
To be able to; to be worthy of; to endure.
- sufficiently; indeed; being worthy of
- to bear; to endure; to tolerate
writtendescriptions
How it's used
Functions almost exclusively as a formal or literary morpheme in modern Cantonese, often appearing in set phrases or written contexts. It carries a sense of degree or capacity, frequently paired with negative markers to express that something is beyond endurance or expectation. You will rarely hear it used as a standalone verb in casual daily speech.
Examples
His situation is really worrying.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the colloquial 咁, which sounds similar but functions as a degree adverb meaning 'so' or 'such'. Using 堪 in a casual sentence where 咁 is expected will make you sound overly formal or archaic.
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).
