jat1 go3 baa1 sin1一個巴仙一个巴仙
Jyutpingjat1 go3 baa1 sin1
Yaleyāt go bā sīn
Definition
One percent.
colloquialmoneynumbers
How it's used
Borrowed directly from the English word percent, this term is the standard way to express percentages in spoken Cantonese. It is almost exclusively used in financial or statistical contexts rather than casual conversation. While written Chinese uses 百分之, speakers almost always prefer this loanword for clarity and speed.
Examples
A one percent raise is really very little.
Do you know that the interest rate has gone up by one percent?
Related words
Common phrases
increase by one percent
decrease by one percent
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin term 百分之 which is rarely used in casual speech. Using the English word percent directly is also common, but 一個巴仙 remains the most natural way to integrate the concept into a Cantonese sentence.
Grammar color guide
Noun
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Adjective
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Pronoun
Classifier
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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).
