ning4寗
Jyutpingning4
Yalenìhng
Definition
Peaceful; also used to mean to visit one's parents, or as a literary rhetorical question.
- literarypeaceful; tranquil
- literaryto visit one's parents
- literaryhow could it be; how can
writtenfamilypeople
How it's used
This character is primarily used in formal or literary contexts to describe the act of visiting one's parents or elders to show filial piety. It is rarely encountered in casual daily speech, where people would almost exclusively use 探望 instead. When used in the sense of 'how could it be', it functions as a rhetorical marker that carries a strong sense of disbelief or indignation.
Examples
Have you gone home to visit your elderly parents yet?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often mistake this for the common character 寧, which is used in 寧願 or 寧可. They are visually similar but share no semantic overlap in modern Cantonese usage.
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.
