min6 hau2面口
Jyutpingmin6 hau2
Yalemihn háu
Definition
Facial appearance or look; a familiar or unfamiliar face.
colloquialpeopledescriptions
How it's used
Focuses specifically on the appearance or familiarity of a person's face rather than the physical anatomy. It is most frequently used in the phrase 生面口 to describe someone you have never encountered before. Using it to describe a friend or family member sounds unnatural as it implies a sense of distance or lack of recognition.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
This person looks very unfamiliar, I have never seen them before.
Do you recognize their face?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 面孔, which is the standard term for face in written Chinese. Using 面口 in formal writing or professional contexts will sound overly colloquial or even dialectal.
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).
