lok6 sau2落手
Jyutpinglok6 sau2
Yalelohk sáu
Definition
To start doing something yourself; to set to work.
colloquialdaily actionswork
How it's used
Focuses on the physical act of getting involved in a task rather than just planning or supervising. It implies a sense of personal effort or manual labor, often used when someone has been procrastinating or delegating too much. It is frequently paired with 落腳 to emphasize the total physical involvement of the whole body.
Examples
If you don't start doing this yourself, who is going to help you?
He finally agreed to start cleaning up the room.
Related words
Common phrases
to do everything by oneself
to personally get involved in the work
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 落手落腳, which is a fixed idiom for doing all the work yourself. Using 落手 alone is a verb phrase for starting a task, while the four-character version acts as a descriptor for a person's hardworking nature.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
