Asking questions
Where question words go, and the verb-not-verb pattern
Asking questions
In English, question words like **what** and **where** jump to the front. In Cantonese they stay put, right where the answer would go. And to ask a yes or no question, you say the verb twice with **not** in the middle.
Question words stay in place
you + verb + question word
A question word sits in the same spot as the answer, not at the front. “What do you want?” is literally “you want what?”, and “Where are you going?” is “you go where?”. The question word stays put, as the examples show.
What do you want?
Where are you going?
The verb-not-verb question
verb + 唔 + verb
To ask a yes or no question, say the verb, then 唔, then the verb again: 好唔好 asks “are you well?”. The verb 有 (have) is special: its question form is 有冇, asking “do you have?”.
Are you well?
Do you have tea?
Keep it in place, double the verb
Question words stay where the answer goes, never at the front. And to ask yes or no, double the verb with **not** in between, as in *good-not-good* or *have-not-have*.