8.3 The Sentence Particle 呀 aa4 (Confirmation)

We sometimes have a guess, an observation or a realization based on information in the context (e.g., what someone has said or what we have noticed). To confirm whether we are correct, we can add the sentence particle 呀 aa4 at the end of the sentence to form a question. We usually use 呀 aa4 only when we are quite certain that we are correct.

When we add 呀 aa4 after the sentence particle 嘅 ge3, we usually contract 嘅 ge3 and 呀 aa4 to 㗎 gaa4.

We answer this type of question like answering yes-no questions. We can give a short answer or a long answer. We give a short answer more often.

When answering a question with 呀 aa4, we say 係呀 hai6 aa3 to mean ‘yes’ and 唔係呀 m4 hai6 aa3 to mean ‘no’ even if the verb of the question is not 係 hai6.

To confirm something, we can either apply rising intonation or add the sentence particle 呀 aa4, but we don’t do both at the same time.

⚠️ Notice the sentence particles 呀 aa4 (for confirmation) and 呀 aa3 (for questions, emphasis or softening the tone) are different in their tone. We say 呀 aa4 with the low falling tone and 呀 aa3 with the mid level tone.