siu2 si4小時小时
Jyutpingsiu2 si4
Yalesíu sìh
Definition
Hour; a unit of time equal to sixty minutes.
colloquialtime
How it's used
While 小時 is understood in Hong Kong, native speakers almost exclusively use 鐘頭 to refer to an hour in spoken Cantonese. Using 小時 can sound slightly formal or like a direct translation from written Chinese. You will hear 鐘頭 used in almost every daily situation involving time duration.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse 鐘頭 with 鐘, which refers to a clock or a watch. If you say 我等咗兩個鐘, it is perfectly natural, but saying 我等咗兩個鐘頭 is also common and slightly more precise.
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.
