hang4 dung6行動行动
Jyutpinghang4 dung6
Yalehàhng duhng
Definition
An action, operation, or move; an organized activity conducted for a specific purpose.
neutralworkother
How it's used
Often implies a coordinated or planned effort rather than a simple individual task. It frequently appears in contexts involving police, military, or organized group projects where a specific goal is being pursued. When used as a verb in Mandarin, it sounds formal, but in Cantonese, it is almost exclusively used as a noun to describe a specific event or mission.
Measure word
ci3次chiExamples
We have an operation tonight, are you joining?
The police took action and blocked the whole street.
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using this to mean general physical movement or walking, which is expressed by 行路 or 行. Using it to describe someone's daily physical activity will sound like you are referring to a secret mission or a police raid.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
