6.7 The Expression 咁 gam2 (‘then’)

The expression 咁 gam2 means ‘then (in that case)’. We use 咁 gam2 to show that what we say is based on what we have talked about. We put 咁 gam2 at the beginning of the sentence.

A:

你做緊嘢定讀緊書㗎？
nei5 zou6 gan2 je5 ding6 duk6 gan2 syu1 gaa3?
Are you working or studying?

B:

我做緊嘢嘅。
ngo5 zou6 gan2 je5 ge3.
I am working.

A:

咁你做咩㗎？
gam2 nei5 zou6 me1 gaa3?
What do you do then?

B:

我做老師嘅。
ngo5 zou6 lou5 si1 ge3.
I work as a teacher.

Speaker A uses 咁 gam2 to introduce a follow-up question after knowing that Speaker B is working.

We also often use 咁 gam2 only to introduce a new topic.

A:

你做咩㗎？
nei5 zou6 me1 gaa3?
What do you do?

B:

我做老師嘅。
ngo5 zou6 lou5 si1 ge3.
I work as a teacher.

A:

咁你平時鍾意做咩㗎？
gam2 nei5 ping4 si4 zung1 ji3 zou6 me1 gaa3?
What do you usually like doing?

B:

我鍾意行山嘅。
ngo5 zung1 ji3 haang4 saan1 ge3.
I like hiking.

Speaker A uses 咁 gam2 to introduce the new topic hobbies after talking about the topic occupations.

If the sentence ends with a sentence particle, we can move 咁 gam2 to the end of the sentence.

  1. 咁你做咩㗎？
    gam2 nei5 zou6 me1 gaa3?
    　　↓
    你做咩㗎咁？
    nei5 zou6 me1 gaa3 gam2?
    What do you do then?

  2. 咁你平時鍾意做咩㗎？
    gam2 nei5 ping4 si4 zung1 ji3 zou6 me1 gaa3?
    　　↓
    你平時鍾意做咩㗎咁？
    nei5 ping4 si4 zung1 ji3 zou6 me1 gaa3 gam2?
    What do you usually like doing then?