7.3 The Question Word 邊度 bin1 dou6 (‘where’)

The question word 邊度 bin1 dou6 is similar to where in English. We can use 邊度 bin1 dou6 to form a question that elicits a location as the answer.

A:

你喺邊度返工㗎？
nei5 hai2 bin1 dou6 faan1 gung1 gaa3?
Where do you go to work?

B:

我喺中環返工嘅。
ngo5 hai2 zung1 waan4 faan1 gung1 ge3.
I go to work in Central.

邊度 bin1 dou6 is used to elicit the location where the activity 返工 faan1 gung1 (‘to go to work’) takes place.

When 邊度 bin1 dou6 appears after a verb (as the object), we can optionally contract 邊度 bin1 dou6 to 邊 bin1.

你去邊度呀？
nei5 heoi3 bin1 dou6 aa3?
　　↓
你去邊呀？
nei5 heoi3 bin1 aa3?
Where do you go?
邊度 bin1 dou6 can optionally be contracted to 邊 bin1 because it appears after the verb 去 heoi3 (‘to go’).