Identifying Someone by Relationship

When we introduce a person, we can say the relationship we have with that person. We will learn the expressions we can use when referring to one single person or multiple people.

To refer to only one person, we can say:

1. 
邊個
keoi5hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
he / shebewhoSPSP
Who is he or she?
2. 
同學
keoi5hai6ngo5tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
he / shebemyclassmateSPSP
He or she is my classmate.

We can also use a demonstrative construction to refer to a person based on the person’s distance from us. We can omit the noun 人 jan4 (e.g., 呢個人 ni1 go3 jan4 → 呢個ni1 go3) because it is obvious in the context.

3.   
(人)邊個
ni1go3(jan4)hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
thisCLpersonbewhoSPSP
Who is this person?
  • CL = Classifier
  • () = Words that can be omitted optionally
4.   
(人)同學
ni1go3(jan4)hai6ngo5tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
thisCLpersonbemyclassmateSPSP
This person is my classmate.
5.   
(人)邊個
go2go3jan4hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
thatCLpersonbewhoSPSP
Who is that person?
6.   
(人)同學
go2go3jan4hai6ngo5tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
thatCLpersonbemyclassmateSPSP
That person is my classmate.

To refer to more than one person, we can say:

7. 
佢哋邊個
keoi5 dei6hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
theybewhoSPSP
Who are they?
8. 
佢哋同學
keoi5 dei6hai6ngo5di1tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
theybeICLclassmatesSPSP
They are my classmates.

We can also use a demonstrative construction. To avoid repetition, only examples with 呢 ni1 will be included below. Simply replace 呢 ni1 with 嗰 go2 if needed. Also, the noun 人 jan4 will be omitted in the following examples.

9. 
邊個
ni1gei2go3hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
thesefewCLbewhoSPSP
Who are these few people?
10. 
同學
ni1gei2go3hai6ngo5di1tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
thesefewCLbeICLclassmateSPSP
These few people are my classmates.
11. 
同學
ni1baan1hai6ngo5di1tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
thisCLbeICLclassmateSPSP
This group of people are my classmates.
12. 
同學
ni1di1hai6ngo5di1tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
theseCLbeICLclassmateSPSP
These people are my classmates.

To refer to exactly two people, we can say:

13. 
邊個
ni1loeng5go3hai6bin1 go3lai4gaa3?
thesetwoCLbewhoSPSP
Who are these two people?
14. 
同學
ni1loeng5go3hai6ngo5di1tung4 hok6lai4ge3.
thesetwoCLbeICLclassmateSPSP
These two people are my classmates.

To refer to someone present in the conversation politely, we can say:

15. 
……
ni1wai2hai6?
thisCLbe
This person is…?
  • Say 係 hai6 longer.
  • We always omit the noun 人 jan4 after the classifier 位 wai2.
    ✔️ 呢位 ni1 wai2
    ❌ 呢位人 ni1 wai2 jan4
16. 
同事
ni1wai2hai6ngo5tung4 si6,
thisCLbemycolleague
阿瑩
keoi5giu3aa3 jing4.
shebe calledYing
This person is my colleague. Her name is Ying.

To refer to several people, we can say:

17. 
……
ni1gei2wai2hai6?
theseseveralCLbe
These several people are…?
18. 
同事
ni1gei2wai2hai6ngo5di1tung4 si6,
theseseveralCLbeICLcolleague
阿瑩
ni1wai2giu3aa3 jing4,
thisCLbe calledYing
阿峰
ni1wai2giu3aa3 fung1,
thisCLbe calledFung
阿偉
ni1wai2giu3aa3 wai5.
thisCLbe calledWai
These several people are my colleagues. This person’s name is Ying. This person’s name is Fung. This person’s name is Wai.

To refer to exactly two people, we can say:

19. 
……
ni1loeng5wai2hai6?
thesetwoCLbe
These two people are…?
20. 
同事
ni1loeng5wai2hai6ngo5di1tung4 si6,
thesetwoCLbeICLcolleague
阿瑩
ni1wai2giu3aa3 jing4,
thisCLbe calledYing
阿峰
ni1wai2giu3aa3 fung1.
thisCLbe calledFung
These two people are my colleagues. This person’s name is Ying. This person’s name is Fung.

We can also use the personal pronouns 佢 keoi5 or 佢地 keoi5 dei6.

21. 
……
keoi5hai6?
shebe
She is…?
22. 
同事
keoi5hai6ngo5tung4 si6,
shebemycolleague
阿瑩
keoi5giu3aa3 jing4.
shebe calledYing
She is my colleague. Her name is Ying.
23. 
佢哋……
keoi5 dei6hai6?
theybe
They are…?
24. 
佢哋同事
keoi5 dei6hai6ngo5dl1tung4 si6,
theybeICLcolleague
阿瑩
keoi5giu3aa3 jing4,
shebe calledYing
阿峰
keoi5giu3aa3 fung1.
hebe calledFung
They are my colleagues. Her name is Ying. His name is Fung.