tai3涕
Jyutpingtai3
Yaletai
Definition
Nasal mucus or tears.
- nasal mucus; snot
- literarytears
neutralbodyhealth
How it's used
The character 涕 is rarely used on its own in modern spoken Cantonese. It almost exclusively appears in the compound 鼻涕 for nasal mucus or in literary idioms like 破涕為笑. When referring to tears, speakers prefer the term 眼淚.
Examples
Your nose is running, wipe it off quickly.
He was crying so hard his face was covered in tears and snot.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse the written character 涕 with 淚, but 涕 specifically refers to nasal discharge in most contexts. Using 涕 alone in conversation will sound unnatural or overly formal.
Grammar color guide
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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).
