zou2 mou5祖母
Jyutpingzou2 mou5
Yalejóu móuh
Definition
Paternal grandmother; one's father's mother.
neutralfamilypeople
How it's used
While 祖母 is the formal term used in writing or when referring to someone else's grandmother in a respectful way, it is rarely used in daily conversation. Most people use 阿嫲 or 嫲嫲 to address their father's mother. Using 祖母 in a casual setting can sound overly stiff or distant.
Measure word
go3個goRelated words
Common mistake
Do not confuse 阿嫲 with 外婆 or 婆婆, which refer to the mother's mother. In Cantonese, the distinction between the paternal and maternal sides of the family is strictly maintained in the kinship terminology.
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).
