ngat6汔
Jyutpingngat6
Yalengaht
Definition
Nearly or almost.
colloquialdescriptions
How it's used
Native speakers almost exclusively use the spoken form 差啲 to express 'nearly' or 'almost'. While 汔 is the formal or literary character sometimes seen in writing, it is rarely used in spoken Cantonese. Using 差啲 makes your speech sound natural and avoids sounding overly academic or archaic.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse 差啲 with 差唔多. While both relate to proximity, 差啲 indicates an event that almost happened but did not, whereas 差唔多 describes a state of being nearly equal or nearly finished.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
