ngaai4睚
Jyutpingngaai4
Yalengàaih
Definition
The corner of the eye.
colloquialbody
How it's used
The character 睚 is almost exclusively used in the compound 睚角 to refer to the outer corner of the eye. It is rarely seen in isolation in modern Cantonese and carries a slightly literary or descriptive tone. When describing the action of looking sideways, speakers often prefer the more common phrase 側眼.
Examples
He looked at me from the corner of his eye, as if he was very unhappy.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 眉角 which refers to the corner of the eyebrow or temple area. Ensure you are pointing to the eye itself when using this term.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Aspect markersCantonese has no tenses, but it does have aspect markers. Learn how zo2, gwo3, gan2, and hai2 dou6 show completion, experience, and ongoing action.
- 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.
