2.5 Demonstrative Constructions

We use demonstratives to refer to a specific thing based on its distance from us.

In English, words like this and that are demonstratives.

In Cantonese, we use the demonstratives 呢 ni1 / nei1 and 嗰 go2 to form demonstrative constructions.

呢
ni1 / nei1

嗰
go2

this, these
(Used to refer to something close to us)

that, those
(Used to refer to something far away from us)

We don’t use 呢 ni1 and 嗰 go2 alone. We form demonstrative constructions with this structure:

If the number is 一 jat1 (‘one’), we often omit the number.

We can use the classifier 啲 di1 to indicate that the noun is plural without specifying the number. We usually use 啲 di1 when the quantity is three or above.

If the quantity is exactly two, we usually say the number 兩 loeng5 (‘two’) directly instead of 啲 di1. Notice we use 兩 loeng5 instead of 二 ji6 in a demonstrative construction.

If the noun is obvious in the context, we can often omit the noun.

In the context of this lesson, we don’t usually say 呢啲人 ni1 di1 jan4 and 嗰啲人 go2 di1 jan4.

To refer to several people, we can use 幾 gei2 (‘several’) as the number.

To refer to a group of people, we can use the measure classifier 班 baan1 (‘group’). Notice the number 一 jat1 (‘one’) is omitted in the examples.

We can also simply use the personal pronoun 佢哋 keoi5 dei6 (‘they; them’) to refer to the people.