zap1 wai2執位执位
Jyutpingzap1 wai2
Yalejāp wái
Definition
To change or rearrange seating, especially before starting a game of mahjong.
colloquialother
How it's used
Refers specifically to the ritual of drawing tiles or using dice to determine who sits at which side of the mahjong table. It is a necessary social formality to ensure fairness before the game begins. While it sounds like a simple task, it is treated as a distinct phase of the gaming experience.
Examples
We need to organize the seating before playing mahjong, which seat are you taking?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 執嘢, which means to tidy up or pack things. 執位 is strictly about assigning positions in a game context.
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.
