Guangdong Cantonese→English

Translate Guangdong Cantonese to English the way locals mean it.

Guangdong Cantonese speakers use particles, idioms, and indirect softeners that can make a message sound more literal, harsher, or more formal to a textbook reader than it really is.

Going the other way? English to Guangdong Cantonese

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Cantonese varieties

What locals actually say

你得闲先搵我啦。

Just message me when you have time.

得闲 means being free or available, while 先 marks the timing and 啦 softens the suggestion, so this is not an urgent instruction.

唔使客气，呢啲系小意思啫。

No need to thank me, it was really nothing.

啫 downplays what came before and gives the sentence a modest, reassuring tone, rather than meaning simply “only.”

你咁样讲，真系冇眼睇喇。

The way you’re putting it is so embarrassing I can’t even watch.

冇眼睇 is an idiom for something being too embarrassing or unbearable to watch, not a literal statement about having no eyes.

你沿住呢条路行到尽头，转左就见到㗎喇。

Follow this road to the end, turn left, and you’ll see it.

“沿住” means following along, while “㗎喇” is a Cantonese sentence-final construction signaling a reassuring expected result.

呢碟菜唔够热，麻烦你帮我翻热佢。

This dish isn’t hot enough. Could you reheat it for me?

“翻热” means to reheat food, and “佢” refers to the dish as an object in colloquial Cantonese.

细佬一放学就扭计要食糖。

As soon as my little brother got out of school, he threw a tantrum for sweets.

“细佬” means younger brother, and “扭计” signals acting up or throwing a childish tantrum.

份报告我今晚收工前交畀你。

I’ll give you the report before I finish work tonight.

“收工” means finish work, while “交畀” is the Cantonese construction for handing or submitting something to someone.

出面落紧大雨，记住带遮呀。

It’s pouring outside, so remember to bring an umbrella.

“落紧” marks an action currently in progress, and “遮” is the colloquial Cantonese word for umbrella.

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

How Guangdong Cantonese differs

Guangdong Cantonese, simplified characters for mainland readers; colloquial Cantonese particles preserved (嘅→的 only in formal register).

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