ji1 paai2咿牌
Jyutpingji1 paai2
Yaleyī páai
Definition
Recently; lately; these days.
colloquialtime
How it's used
Often written as 呢排, this term is the standard way to refer to the current period of time in spoken Cantonese. It carries a casual, conversational tone and is used to frame questions about someone's recent activities or to describe a general state of affairs over the last few days or weeks.
Examples
What have you been doing lately?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with the Mandarin term 最近. While they share the same meaning, 咿牌 is strictly for spoken contexts and sounds unnatural if used in formal writing.
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.
