koi3丐
Jyutpingkoi3
Yalekoi
Definition
Relating to beggars; a beggar.
writtenpeople
How it's used
This character is almost exclusively encountered in the compound 丐幫, which refers to the fictional martial arts organization from wuxia literature. It is not used in everyday speech to describe actual homeless people or beggars, for which 乞兒 is the standard term. Using this character in isolation to describe a person will sound archaic or confusing to native speakers.
Examples
He is wandering around like a member of the Beggar Sect.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use this character to refer to a person begging on the street, as it is a literary morpheme rather than a functional noun in modern Cantonese.
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.
