ling4 sing1 lok6 sok3零星落索
Jyutpingling4 sing1 lok6 sok3
Yalelìhng sīng lohk sok
Definition
Scattered, sparse, or few and far between.
colloquialdescriptions
How it's used
This idiom describes things that are sparse, spread out, or lacking in order. It is often used to describe a scene that feels empty or abandoned, such as a shop with very few customers or a room with items left randomly about. It carries a slightly melancholic or untidy tone compared to more neutral descriptions of quantity.
Examples
The people on the street are scattered here and there, it is very quiet.
The books on his shelf are scattered all over the place, it is so messy.
Related words
Common phrases
a few scattered people
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin idiom 零零星星, which is used more frequently in standard written Chinese. While they share a similar meaning, 零星落索 is specifically used in Cantonese to emphasize a sense of disorder or desolation.
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).
