English→Cantonese (Hong Kong)

Translate English to Cantonese (Hong Kong) like a local.

Cantonese as Hong Kong actually writes and speaks it, with the particles and phrasing locals use, not Mandarin in disguise.

Going the other way? Cantonese (Hong Kong) to English

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Cantonese varieties

What locals actually say

Thanks!

唔該！

“M̀h gōi” thanks someone for a service or favor; “dō jeh” (多謝) is for gifts. Mandarin's 謝謝 makes no such distinction, and locals hear the difference instantly.

The bill, please.

唔該，埋單。

“Màaih dāan” is how Hong Kong asks for the check. A Mandarin 結賬 in a cha chaan teng marks you as a visitor.

Let's go eat.

不如去食飯啦。

The final particle 啦 softens the suggestion, a signature of spoken Hong Kong Cantonese, and Cantonese keeps 食 where Mandarin uses 吃.

Where's the nearest MTR station?

最近嘅港鐵站喺邊度呀？

嘅 links the description to the noun, while 喺邊度 is the distinctly Cantonese way to ask where a place is.

Mum, I'm home.

媽，我返到屋企喇。

返到屋企 uses 返 for going or returning home, and sentence-final 喇 signals a newly completed situation.

Can you send me the file?

可唔可以send份file畀我？

可唔可以 is Cantonese A-not-A question grammar, while 畀 marks the recipient and the English loanwords reflect Hong Kong texting.

It looks like it's going to rain.

睇嚟就快落雨喇。

睇嚟 means it looks like, and 落雨 is the everyday Cantonese verb for raining. 喇 signals an imminent change.

I'm so happy today.

我今日好鬼開心呀！

好鬼 is a colloquial Cantonese intensifier meaning very or really, and 呀 adds a warm conversational tone.

Notes like these come with every AIRTranslate translation, so you learn why locals phrase it that way as you go.

How Cantonese (Hong Kong) differs

Hong Kong Cantonese in traditional characters, written the way locals text: 嘅, 咗, 唔係, 好正, 冇問題; English loanwords natural in casual register (OK, book位). Formal documents shift toward standard written Chinese.

Sound like a local everywhere, not just here.

Every one of 474 dialects, with voice, camera, a keyboard for any app, and offline packs.

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Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way