hat乞
Jyutpinghat
Yalehat
Definition
To beg; to lower oneself to make a request of others.
colloquialpeopledescriptions
How it's used
While the literal meaning is to beg, it is far more common in modern speech as part of the compound 乞人憎, which describes someone who is extremely annoying or detestable. Using 乞 alone as a verb for begging is often perceived as quite dramatic or literary, as people usually prefer 攞 or 叫 when asking for favors.
Examples
He is always so annoying, nobody wants to play with him.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use 乞 as a direct translation for begging in a casual context, as it carries a heavy sense of social degradation. It is almost exclusively used in the fixed expression 乞人憎 to describe an irritating person.
Grammar color guide
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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).
