lai4嚟
Jyutpinglai4
Yalelàih
Definition
To come or arrive; to move towards the speaker's current location.
Example
colloquialdaily actions
How it's used
Functions as the standard directional verb for movement toward the speaker or the current location. It is frequently used as a complement after other verbs to indicate the direction of the action, such as 攞嚟 or 跑嚟. Unlike the Mandarin 来, it is almost exclusively used in spoken contexts and is written with the specific character 嚟 to distinguish it from the formal written form.
Examples
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse 嚟 with 去, which indicates movement away from the speaker. Remember that 嚟 is for movement toward you, while 去 is for movement away.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
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).
