siu1 zau2燒酒烧酒
Jyutpingsiu1 zau2
Yalesīu jáu
Definition
Soju or shochu; a type of distilled East Asian alcoholic beverage made from grain.
colloquialdrink
How it's used
Refers specifically to the Japanese distilled spirit known as shochu rather than the Korean soju, which is typically called 燒酎 in Hong Kong. It is often associated with izakaya culture and is frequently served either on the rocks or mixed with hot water.
Measure word
zi1支jīExamples
Are you used to drinking this kind of shochu?
They bought two bottles of shochu to drink at home tonight.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 燒酒 in a Chinese context, where it historically referred to generic high-proof distilled spirits like baijiu. In modern Hong Kong, using this term almost exclusively points to the Japanese variety.
Grammar color guide
Noun
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Adjective
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
