1.4 Introduction to Sentence Particles
🔍 Observe!
Observe the sentences. The highlighted words are a type of words called sentence particles.
-
佢係Jeffrey呀?
keoi5 hai6 Jeffrey aa4? -
我識廣東話同英文咋。
ngo5 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2 tung4 jing1 man2 zaa3. -
我好鍾意佢呀!
ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3 keoi5 aa3!
Where do the sentence particles appear in a sentence?
________Sentence particles (SPs) are a type of words that we add at the end of a sentence. They can perform different functions in a sentence. Here are some examples:
Forming a Question
-
佢係Jeffrey。
keoi5 hai6 Jeffrey.
He is Jeffrey. -
佢係Jeffrey呀?
keoi5 hai6 Jeffrey aa4?
He is Jeffrey?
The sentence particle 呀 aa4 is added to turn the sentence into a question.
Adding Meaning to a Sentence
-
我識廣東話同英文。
ngo5 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2 tung4 jing1 man2.
I know Cantonese and English. -
我識廣東話同英文咋。
ngo5 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2 tung4 jing1 man2 zaa3.
I only know Cantonese and English.
The sentence particle 咋 zaa3 adds the meaning of ‘only’ to the sentence.
Changing the Tone of a Sentence
Note that the word tone here refers to the emotion of a sentence, not the pitch of a syllable.
-
我好鍾意佢。
ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3 keoi5.
I like him / her so much. -
我好鍾意佢呀!
ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3 keoi5 aa3!
I like him / her so much!
The sentence particle 呀 aa3 makes the tone of the sentence stronger.
There are a lot more functions that sentence particles can perform. We will discover them as we proceed.