hau6后
Jyutpinghau6
Yalehauh
Definition
Queen consort or empress; the primary wife of a king or emperor.
writtenpeople
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively used as a bound morpheme in modern Cantonese, appearing in formal titles or historical contexts. It is rarely used in isolation to refer to a person, as the spoken language prefers specific terms like 王后 or 皇后 depending on the historical rank. It functions primarily as a component in compound nouns rather than a standalone noun in daily speech.
Examples
They are filming a movie about the life of a queen.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 後, which means after or behind. While they share the same pronunciation in many contexts, they are distinct characters with completely different meanings and cannot be used interchangeably.
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.
