咩 (me1 | mie1) : Cantonese question particle

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咩

me1

mie1

[1] [n] bleating of sheep
[2] [Cantonese] [Hakka] [final particle] transforms statements into questions that indicate doubt or surprise

咩 can be used as a contraction of 乜嘢.
There is a detailed thread about the tone contour of this contraction here: [www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk]

Stroke count: 9

Level: 2

Radical: 口 (#30)

This character is used in Cantonese, not Mandarin/Standard written Chinese. 粵

咩

Don't confuse with:
味

This word has been viewed 27783 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by sheik on 18th Mar 2007 21:22 and last edited on 8th Jul 2009 20:44

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羊咩 joeng4 me1 = goat 粵

咩呀 me1 aa3 = what? 粵

為咩 wai6 me1 = for what?

係咩 hai6 me1 = really? is that true? 粵

咩嘢 me1 je5 = variant of 乜嘢粵

羊咩鬚 joeng4 me1 sou1 = goatee 粵

茄士咩 ke1 si6 me1 = cashmere (as a loanword) 粵

咩咋 me1/mei1 zaa3 = major (as loanword) 粵

羊咩屎 joeng4 me1 si2 = constipation 粵

屙羊咩屎 o1 joeng4 me1 si2 = constipation 粵
See all 15 compounds

Showing all 27 examples containing 咩

做咩你咁慢㗎? 粵
How come you are so slow?
[http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?14,134219,134225#msg-134225]

請問你叫咩名？粵
May I know your name?

咩事呀? 粵
What's the matter?
[shortened form of 乜嘢事呀]

可惡，究竟係咩事呀。粵
Ugh, what actually happened [just now]?
[This is a common phrase in some TV shows. 可惡 is an interjection meaning "ugh". 究竟係咩事呀 is a shorter form of 究竟係發生咩事呀, so literally we have "ugh, actually is happen what?"]

你唔使返補習班咩？粵
Don't you need to go to cram school?
[Lit. you no need return cram-class [particle]. Std. Chinese: 你不是要上補習班嗎？]

你想要咩聖誕禮物呀？粵
What would you like for Christmas?
[(implying presents)]

先生，請問有啲咩可以幫到你嘅呢？粵
Sir, how can I help you?

請問喺伊到可以搭咩車去科大？粵
Excuse me, do you know what public transport can take me to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (from here)?

我Ｄ字好難睇咩？粵
Are my (Chinese) characters that hard to read?
[Lit. Me [plural counter] characters very hard read [particle]? D=啲 and is commonly used in Hong Kong.]

〝先進〞係咩詞性呀？／係一個形容詞粵
What part of speech does "先進" belong to? / It's an adjective.
[Lit. "advanced" is what part-of-speech [particle]? / is one [counter] adjective.]

𡃇啦，唔通冇晒廁紙咩？粵
Uh-oh, don't tell me we're out of toilet roll...
[Lit. Crap, could-it-be don't-have all toilet paper [particle]?]

你唔覺得英國凍得滯咩？粵 ?!
Don't you think the UK's too cold?
[Lit. You not feel UK cold too-much [particle expressing surprise]]

你以為我傻嘅咩？粵
Do you think I'm stupid?

淨係你至有咩﹐我夠有咯。粵
You aren't the only one who have it; I too have it.
[夠 is used as an adverb that means "too".]

你對鞋係咩(乜)牌子? 粵
What brand are your shoes?

我冇咩意見粵
No comment
[This sentence is discussed in more detail here: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?7,71102]

佢要嫁畀唐叔嘅仔你又唔肯，唔通要個女將來攝灶罅咩？粵
You disallow her despite her wanting to marry Ah Tong's son; don't tell me you want her to end up a spinster?

你食咗草龍咩咁好唱口粵
You are happily singing non-stop. Are you on drugs?

魚蛋粉有魚蛋，牛丸粉有牛丸，咁咩粉有雪糕同薯片? 些粉。粵
Fish ball noodles contain fish balls, beef ball noodles contain beef balls, what kind of noodles contain ice cream and potato chips? 7-Eleven.
[A joke in Cantonese that utilizes the pun between 粉 (noodles) and the Cantonese pronunciation of the second syllable of "seven". See entry for 些粉.]

我有壓力，你有壓力，你做咩要挑釁我？粵
"You have pressure, I have pressure, why do you want to provoke me?"
[This infamous quote from 巴士阿叔 ("Bus Uncle") was a cultural phenomenon in 2006. See the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bus_Uncle.]

如果阿明真係一個識飛嘅超人就好喇⋯⋯噉佢就唔會喺條街度踩咗啲米田共返嚟屋企，重要印到成條走廊嘅地板都係！抹死人咩⋯⋯ 粵
It'd be nice if Ah Ming were a superhero that knew how to fly … Then he wouldn't have brought home the poop that he stepped on in the street and printed it all over the floorboards in the hallway! Cleaning it up will be the death of me …

佢哋結咗婚?呃鬼食豆腐咩。粵
They got married! You're kidding!

究竟佢喺度打咩鬼主意？
What's evil plan is he actually executing?

我哋連佢咩動機都唔知道呀粵
We don't even know what his motive is.
[Lit. we even he what motive also not-know [particle].]

我啱啱睇嗰套卡通好似好𠵇𠺫，唔知發生咩事粵
The anime I was watching just now seemed strange, I'm not quite sure what was going on.
[Lit. I just-now see that [counter] anime seem very strange, not-know happen what-matter]

一個人喺異鄉無根無蔃，咩都要靠自己，真唔容易粵
To be alone in a foreign place without the support from family or society, one has to be very independent; and that can be very trying.

呢單嘢佢識做咩? 粵
Can he really do this piece of job?
[In this example 做 and 咩 are separate. Cf. the shorter more ambiguous "佢識做咩?", which can be interpreted as 1. "What can he do?" (when 做咩 is treated together), or 2. "Can he do it?" (when treated separately).]

Legend
國 : This term is used in Mandarin/Standard written Chinese, not Cantonese.
粵 : This term is used in Cantonese, not Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.
No icon: This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

Forum Code to link to this word:
[big][url=http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/563/]咩[/url][/big]
HTML Code to link to this word:
<a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/563/" class="chinesemed" target="_blank">咩</a>
Decimal representation of this word: 咩
Unicode code for this character: U+54a9 (off-site link)

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