2.11 Vocabulary for People I

Classifiers for people:

💡 Tips: 位 wai2 is only used in a few situations. When you are not sure, you can simply use 個 go3.

We can use these gender-neutral terms to refer to a partner.

1. When we refer to a person with indication of the person’s gender, we pick the word based on the person’s age. For teenagers or young adults, we can use 男仔 naam4 zai2 or 女仔 neoi5 zai2. For adults, we can use 男人 naam4 jan2 or 女人 neoi5 jan2.

2. 同 tung4 = together
   同學 tung4 hok6 = 同 tung4 (‘together’) + 學 hok6 (‘to learn’)
   同事 tung4 si6 = 同 tung4 (‘together’) + 事 si6 (‘to do’)

3. 上司 soeng6 si1 is more formal than 阿頭 aa3 tau2. 上司 soeng6 si1 is less frequently used in everyday conversations. Both 老闆 lou5 baan2 and 老細 lou5 sai3 are frequently used.

4. 先生 sin1 saang1 and 太太 taai3 taai2 are more formal than 老公 lou5 gung1 and 老婆 lou5 po4. We usually use 先生 sin1 saang1 and 太太 taai3 taai2 when we want to be polite and show respect to the person we refer to.

In very informal conversations, we can use the classifier 條 tiu4, instead of 個 go3 or 位 wai2, when referring to a person. Note that some people consider the use of 條 tiu4 vulgar and find it offensive.

We often use 條 tiu4 with the words 友 jau2 (‘guy’), 仔 zai2 (‘teenage boy or young man’) and 女 neoi2 (‘teenage girl or young woman’) in a demonstrative construction to refer to someone informally.

We also use 條 tiu4 with the words 仔 zai2 and 女 neoi2 in a possessive construction to refer to someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend informally. Notice the meanings of 仔 zai2 and 女 neoi2 become ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend’ respectively here.