saam1 faan4 si5三藩市
Jyutpingsaam1 faan4 si5
Yalesāam fàahn síh
Definition
San Francisco, a major city in northern California, United States.
colloquialplacestravel
How it's used
Locals almost exclusively use 三藩市 when referring to the city in Cantonese. While 舊金山 is understood as the Mandarin or formal name, it sounds unnatural or overly formal in daily conversation. The name is a phonetic adaptation of the first two syllables of San Francisco.
Examples
I will fly to San Francisco next month to visit relatives.
Related words
Common phrases
go to San Francisco
San Francisco Airport
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin term 舊金山, which is rarely used in spoken Cantonese. Using the Mandarin name can make you sound like you are reading from a news report rather than speaking naturally.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
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.
