tok3 ji4托兒托儿
Jyutpingtok3 ji4
Yaletok yìh
Definition
To arrange or provide child care services for young children and babies while parents are at work.
colloquialfamilydaily actions
How it's used
This term functions primarily as a verb phrase describing the act of delegating child care responsibilities to a third party. It is most commonly encountered in the context of professional services or formal arrangements rather than casual babysitting by relatives. The focus is on the institutional aspect of care, often implying a recurring or scheduled commitment.
Examples
Both of them have to go to work, so they have no choice but to arrange child care.
Which institution are you planning to use for child care?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 湊仔, which is a broader, more informal term for the general act of raising or looking after children. 托兒 specifically carries the nuance of outsourcing care to a service provider or facility.
Grammar color guide
Noun
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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).
