Talking About Where Someone Comes From

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The verb 嚟 lai4 (‘to come’) and the sentence particle 嚟 lai4 (for assertion) will appear frequently in the expressions below. Although they are pronounced the same, they are different words.

1. 
邊度
nei5hai2bin1 dou6lai4gaa3?
youfromwherecomeSP
Where do you come from?
2.   
邊度(嘅)
nei5hai6bin1 dou6(ge3)jan4lai4gaa3?
youbewhere’spersonSPSP
Where are you from?
  • We can optionally omit 嘅 ge3 in 邊度嘅人 bin1 dou6 ge3 jan4.
3. 
國家
nei5hai2bin1go3gwok3 gaa1lai4gaa3?
youfromwhichCLcountrycomeSP
Which country do you come from?
4. 
國家
nei5hai6bin1go3gwok3 gaa1ge3jan4lai4gaa3?
youbewhichCLcountry’spersonSPSP
Which country are you from?
  • We don’t omit 嘅 ge3 in 邊個國家嘅人 bin1 go3 gwok3 gaa1 ge3 jan4.
5. 
日本
ngo5hai2jat6 bun2lai4ge3.
IfromJapancomeSP
I come from Japan.
6. 
日本
ngo5hai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4ge3.
IbeJapanpersonSPSP
I am Japanese.

If we want to know the city too, we can ask:

7. 
城市
gam2nei5hai2bin1go3sing4 si5lai4gaa3?
thenyoufromwhichCLcitycomeSP
Which city do you come from then?
8. 
城市
gam2nei5hai6bin1go3sing4 si5ge3jan4lai4gaa3?
thenyoubewhichCLcity’spersonSPSP
Which city are you from then?
  • We don’t omit 嘅 ge3 in 邊個城市嘅人 bin1 go3 sing4 si5 ge3 jan4.

As what we want to ask is obvious in the context, we can simply say:

9. 
城市
bin1go3sing4 si5aa3?
whichCLcitySP
Which city?
10. 
東京
ngo5hai2dung1 ging1lai4ge3.
IfromTokyocomeSP
I come from Tokyo.
11. 
東京
ngo5hai6dung1 ging1jan4lai4ge3.
IbeTokyopersonSPSP
I am a Tokyo person.

Sometimes we may guess where someone comes from. To check if we are correct, we can ask:

12. 
日本
nei5hai6m4hai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4gaa3?
youbenotbeJapanpersonSPSP
Are you Japanese?
13. 
係咪日本
nei5hai6 mai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4gaa3?
yoube not [be]JapanpersonSPSP
Are you Japanese?
14. 
日本
nei5hai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4ge2?
youbeJapanpersonSPSP
You are Japanese?
15. 
日本
nei5hai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4gaa4?
youbeJapanpersonSPSP
You are Japanese?
  • If we are quite certain that we are correct, we can use the sentence particle 呀 aa4. The sentence particles 嘅 ge3 and 呀 aa4 are contracted to 㗎 gaa4.
16. 
日本
hai6aa3,ngo5hai6jat6 bun2jan4lai4gaa3.
beSPIbeJapanpersonSPSP
Yes, I am Japanese.
17. 
香港
m4hai6aa3,ngo5hai6hoeng1 gong2jan4lai4ge3.
notbeSPIbeHong KongpersonSPSP
No, I am a Hong Konger.