Last updated July 7, 2009

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Basic Conversation (1)

Basic Conversation 2 - 下

	Written 國		Oral 粵
yes	是	si6	係	hai6
no	不是	bat1 si6	唔係	m4 hai6
sorry / excuse me	失敬	sat1 ging3	對唔住	deoi3 m4 zyu6
thank you	謝謝	ze6 ze6	多謝	do1 ze6
thank you / please	請	cing2 / ceng2	唔該	m4 goi1
you're welcome	不用客氣	bat1 jung6 haak3 hei3	唔使客氣	m4 sai2 haak3 hei3
you're welcome (alt)			唔使唔該	m4 sai2 m4 goi1

Usage Note

係 and 唔係 can also mean "yes it is" or "no it isn't"
多謝 is only used when thanking someone for a gift, 唔該 would be used for all other occasions. More information...
唔使唔該 roughly means "you don't have to say thank you", it is sometimes shortened to just 唔使
唔使客氣 roughly means "don't be so grateful"

Character Analysis

失 = mistake, lose, fail (very similar to 矢 'arrow')
敬 = respect, honour, esteem
使 = use, make, act 該 = should; need to; obliged to; owe
用 = use, need 客 = guest, customer, stranger
對 = correct, proper, ascertain 住 = dwell, reside