kei4埼
Jyutpingkei4
Yalekèih
Definition
Headland; cape; also used to describe having difficulties on a journey.
- headland; cape
- having difficulties on the way
colloquialdescriptionsdaily actions
How it's used
Used primarily in spoken Cantonese to describe a situation where progress is hindered or things are not going smoothly. It often implies a sense of being stuck or facing obstacles that make a task feel cumbersome. While it can refer to physical terrain, it is frequently applied metaphorically to work, projects, or personal progress.
Examples
The road ahead is very difficult, let's walk a bit slower.
You are having such a hard time with your work, how will you manage to finish it?
Related words
Common phrases
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the standard character for difficult, which is 難. 埼 is specifically used for situations that are awkward, bumpy, or physically/metaphorically uneven, rather than just generally hard.
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).
