8.1 The Verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’) II
In Grammar and Vocabulary 4.2, we learned to use the adverb 唔 m4 (‘not’) to negate a verb in the present tense.
We can also use 唔 m4 to negate the verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’) in the present tense.
我係日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 hai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
I am Japanese.
↓
我唔係日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 m4 hai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
I am not Japanese.
⚠️ When a sentence only has the sentence particle 嚟 lai4 but not the verb 係 hai6, we don’t use the adverb 唔 m4 because there is no verb to negate in the sentence.
❌ 我唔日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 m4 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
✔️ 我唔係日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 m4 hai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
I am not Japanese.
In Grammar and Vocabulary 4.4, we learned to use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions in the present tense.
We can also use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions with the verb 係 hai6 in the present tense. We use the questions to ask whether the identity or description of the subject is true or false, without assuming what the answer should be. It is like questions that begin with are you in English (e.g., Are you Japanese?).
你係唔係日本人嚟㗎？
nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 gaa3?
Are you Japanese?
We often contract 係唔係 hai6 m4 hai6 to 係咪 hai6 mai6.
你係咪日本人嚟㗎？
nei5 hai6 mai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 gaa3?
Are you Japanese?
⚠️ We don’t contract 唔係 m4 hai6 to 咪 mai6 when we use 唔係 m4 hai6 alone.
❌ 我咪日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 mai5 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
✔️ 我唔係日本人嚟嘅。
ngo5 m4 hai6 jat6 bun2 jan4 lai4 ge3.
I am not Japanese.
To answer the question, we can give a short answer or a long answer. We give a short answer more often.
For long answers, if the question has the verb 係 hai6 and the sentence particles 嚟 lai4 and 嘅 ge3 (also 㗎 gaa3 and 嘅 ge2), we can usually use the sentence particle 呀 aa3 or 㗎 gaa3. We will use 㗎 gaa3 in this lesson.