saang1 hei3生氣生气
Jyutpingsaang1 hei3
Yalesāang hei
Definition
Angry; mad.
colloquialemotion
How it's used
Native speakers almost exclusively use 嬲 or 㷫 in daily conversation instead of the Mandarin-influenced 生氣. While 嬲 is the standard colloquial term for being angry, 㷫 specifically carries the nuance of being hot-headed or feeling a sudden surge of irritation. Using 生氣 in spoken Cantonese can sound unnatural or overly formal, as if reading from a textbook.
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using 生氣 in casual speech as it is considered a Mandarin loanword. Learners often mistakenly use it because it appears in written materials, but it will make you sound like a non-native speaker.
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.
