HKDictionary

Friends in Cantonese

From your 老友 (old buddy) to your classmates and neighbours, these are the words for the people around you — plus boyfriend and girlfriend, which follow a neat pattern once you know 朋友.

朋友
friend
louˏ₅老jauˏ₅友
old friend, good friend, or both!
tungˎ₄同hokˍ₆學
classmate, school friend
leonˎ₄鄰geoiˉ¹居
neighbour; neighbor | [粵]: 隔籬鄰舍, 同屋住
naamˎ₄男pangˎ₄朋jauˏ₅友
boyfriend - as with English, a term that denotes a lover rather than a friend who happens to be male | can be shortened to: 男友
neoiˏ₅女pangˎ₄朋jauˏ₅友
girlfriend | can be shortened to 女友
同事
colleague
好朋友
good friend
sikˉ¹識
know; recognize; discern
kingˉ¹傾gaiˊ²偈
to chat; to talk; to discuss; chit-chat [sometimes written as]: 傾計 | [華]: 聊天 , 談話 , 談天
見面
to meet up
louˏ₅老gungˉ¹公
husband

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say friend in Cantonese?

朋友 (pang4 jau5). For a close, long-time friend say 老友 (lou5 jau5).

How do you say boyfriend and girlfriend in Cantonese?

男朋友 (naam4 pang4 jau5) and 女朋友 (neoi5 pang4 jau5) — male friend and female friend.

How do you say to chat in Cantonese?

傾偈 (king1 gai2) — a very Cantonese word for chatting or catching up.

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