HKDictionary

Talk About Hobbies in Cantonese

Almost every Cantonese hobby is a verb plus its object, so once you know the pattern you can build dozens of them. Start with 我鍾意 (ngo5 zung1 ji3), I like, and add any of the phrases below — each has native pronunciation audio.

taiˊ²睇hei˗₃戲
to watch a movie
taiˊ²睇syuˉ¹書
read book (not aloud)
睇電視
to watch TV
coeng˗₃唱goˉ¹歌
to sing (Literally to sing songs)
jingˊ²影soengˊ²相
to take a picture; to take a photograph | Std. Chin.: 照相
daaˊ²打geiˉ¹機
to play videogames
跳舞
to dance
waakˍ₆畫waaˊ²畫
to draw a picture
zyuˊ²煮faanˍ₆飯
to cook rice; to cook [華]: 做飯
行街
to go out shopping, to stroll
打麻雀
to play mahjong

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say I like in Cantonese?

我鍾意 (ngo5 zung1 ji3). Follow it with a hobby: 我鍾意睇戲 (ngo5 zung1 ji3 tai2 hei3), I like watching movies.

What does 唱K (coeng3 kei1) mean?

To sing karaoke — the K is borrowed straight from the English word. Karaoke itself is 卡拉OK (kaa1 laai1 ou1 kei1).

How do you ask about someone's hobbies in Cantonese?

你得閒鍾意做啲乜嘢? (nei5 dak1 haan4 zung1 ji3 zou6 di1 mat1 je5) — what do you like doing in your free time?

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