mai5 cou4咪嘈
Jyutpingmai5 cou4
Yalemáih chòuh
Definition
Shut up; keep quiet.
colloquialdaily actionscommunication
How it's used
This phrase functions as a direct imperative to stop making noise. It carries a slightly impatient or stern tone, making it more forceful than simply asking someone to be quiet. It is common to add the particle 呀 at the end to emphasize the command or to soften the bluntness depending on the speaker's intonation.
Examples
Keep quiet inside the library.
Related words
Common phrases
don't make noise for now
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for a general way to say quiet, but it is strictly an imperative verb phrase. You cannot use it to describe a quiet room or a quiet person; for those, use 靜.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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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).
