sam1 tang4心疼
Jyutpingsam1 tang4
Yalesām tàhng
Definition
A beloved or treasured person.
colloquialpeopleemotion
How it's used
Using this term to mean a beloved person is highly intimate and carries a sense of deep, protective affection. It implies that the person is so precious that seeing them suffer causes you physical pain. It is much more emotionally charged than standard terms like 鍾意嘅人 or 另一半.
Examples
She is my beloved, nobody is allowed to bully her.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin usage where 心疼 is primarily a verb meaning to feel sorry for or to feel heartache. In Cantonese, while it can describe the feeling of heartache, using it as a noun to refer to a person is a specific, affectionate, and somewhat dramatic way to address or describe a partner or child.
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.
