Talking About Children

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你	有	冇	仔女 / 小朋友	㗎	？
nei5	jau5	mou5	zai2 neoi2 / siu2 pang4 jau5	gaa3	?
you	have	not have	son and daughter / child	SP

Do you have children?

We usually use 小朋友 only when talking to someone whose children are likely to be young.

有	呀	。
jau5	aa3	.
have	SP

Yes.

冇	呀	。
mou5	aa3	.
not have	SP

No.

未	有	呀	。
mei6	jau5	aa3	.
not yet	have	SP

Not yet.

If we are talking to someone younger, we can also ask this way:

你	有	冇	生	小朋友 / 仔女	㗎	？
nei5	jau5	mou5	saang1	siu2 pang4 jau5 / zai2 neoi2	gaa3	?
you	have	not have	give birth to	child / son and daughter	SP

Do you give birth to children? [= Do you have children?]

你	有	冇	生仔	㗎	？
nei5	jau5	mou5	saang1 zai2	gaa3	?
you	have	not have	give birth	SP

Do you give birth? [= Do you have children?]

生仔 saang1 zai2 literally means ‘to give birth to + son’, but 生仔 saang1 zai2 in this context means to give birth to children who can be of any gender. If we want to be gender neutral, we can say 生仔女 saang1 zai2 neoi2 or 生小朋友 saang1 siu2 pang4 jau5.

有	呀	。
jau5	aa3	.
have	SP

Yes.

冇	呀	。
mou5	aa3	.
not have	SP

No.

未	呀	。
mei6	aa3	.
not yet	SP

Not yet.

If the person doesn’t have children, we can ask if he or she plans to have any:

10.

噉	你	有	冇	諗住
gam2	nei5	jau5	mou5	nam2 zyu6
then	you	have	not	plan

生	仔女 / 小朋友	呀	？
saang1	zai2 neoi2 / siu2 pang4 jau5	aa3	?
give birth to	son and daughter / child	SP

Then, do you plan to give birth to children?

[= Then, do you plan to have children?]

11.

噉	你	有	冇	諗住	生仔	呀	？
gam2	nei5	jau5	mou5	nam2 zyu6	saang1 zai2	aa3	?
then	you	have	not	plan	give birth	SP

Then, do you plan to give birth to children?

[= Then, do you plan to have children?]

12.

有	呀	，	我哋	計劃	緊	呀	。
jau5	aa3	,	ngo5 dei6	gai3 waak6	gan2	aa3	.
have	SP		we	plan	AP	SP

Yes, we are planning.

13.

未	呀	，
mei6	aa3	,
not yet	SP

我哋	仲	未	諗住	生	小朋友	呀	。
ngo5 dei6	zung6	mei6	nam2 zyu6	saang1	siu2 pang4 jau5	aa3	.
we	still	not yet	plan	give birth to	child	SP

Not yet, we still haven’t planned to give birth to children.

[= Not yet, we still haven’t planned to have children.]

14.

冇	呀	，
mou5	aa3	,
not have	SP

我哋	冇	諗住	生	小朋友	呀	。
ngo5 dei6	mou5	nam2 zyu6	saang1	siu2 pang4 jau5	aa3	.
we	not have	plan	give birth to	child	SP

No, we don’t plan to give birth to children.

[= No, we don’t plan to have children.]

If the person has children, we can ask about his or her children:

15.

噉	你	有	幾多	個	仔女 / 小朋友	㗎	？
gam2	nei5	jau5	gei2 do1	go3	zai2 neoi2 / siu2 pang4 jau5	gaa3	?
then	you	have	how many	CL	son and daughter / child	SP

Then, how many children do you have?

16.

我	有	一	個	女	嘅	。
ngo5	jau5	jat1	go3	neoi2	ge3	.
I	have	one	CL	daughter	SP

I have one daughter.

17.

我	有	三	個	仔	嘅	。
ngo5	jau5	saam1	go3	zai2	ge3	.
I	have	three	CL	son	SP

I have three sons.

18.

我	有	一	個	仔	同	一	個	女	嘅	。
ngo5	jau5	jat1	go3	zai2	tung4	jat1	go3	neoi2	ge3	.
I	have	one	CL	son	and	one	CL	daughter	SP

I have one son and one daughter.

19.

佢 / 佢哋	幾多	歲	呀	？
keoi5 / keoi5 dei6	gei2 do1	seoi3	aa3	?
he / she // they	how many	year old	SP

How old is he / she? // How old are they?

20.

佢 / 佢哋	幾大	呀	？
keoi5 / keoi5 dei6	gei2 daai6	aa3	?
he / she // they	how old	SP

How old is he / she? // How old are they?

21.

佢	十五	歲	。
keoi5	sap6 ng5	seoi3	.
he / she	15	year old

He or she is 15 years old.

22.

我	個	大仔	就	四	歲	，
ngo5	go3	daai6 zai2	zau6	sei3	seoi3	,
my	CL	oldest son	[contrast]	4	year old

我	個	二仔	就	就快	兩	歲	，
ngo5	go3	ji6 zai2	zau6	zau6 faai3	loeng5	seoi3	,
my	CL	second son	[contrast]	soon	2	year old

我	個	細仔	就	差唔多	四	個	月	大	。
ngo5	go3	sai3 zai2	zau6	caa1 m4 do1	sei3	go3	jyut6	daai6	.
my	CL	youngest son	[contrast]	almost	4	CL	month	old

My oldest son is 4 years old. My second son will be 2 years old soon.

My youngest son is almost 4 months old.

23.

我	個	仔	就	讀	緊	小學	五	年班	，
ngo5	go3	zai2	zau6	duk6	gan2	siu2 hok6	ng5	nin4 baan1	,
my	CL	son	[contrast]	study	AP	primary school	5	grade

我	個	女	就	讀	緊	中	一	。
ngo5	go3	neoi2	zau6	duk6	gan2	zung1	jat1	.
my	CL	daughter	[contrast]	study	AP	secondary	1

My son is in Primary 5. My daughter is in Secondary 1.

If the person is older, we can ask whether his or her children are working or studying.

24.

佢 / 佢哋	做	緊	嘢	定	讀	緊	書	㗎	？
keoi5 / keoi5 dei6	zou6	gan2	je5	ding6	duk6	gan2	syu1	gaa3	?
he / she // they	work	AP	[work]	or	study	AP	[study]	SP

Is he or she working or studying? // Are they working or studying?

25.

佢	做	緊	嘢	喇	。
keoi5	zou6	gan2	je5	laa3	.
he / she	work	AP	[work]	SP

He or she is already working.

26.

兩	個	就	仲	讀	緊	書	嘅	，
loeng5	go3	zau6	zung6	duk6	gan2	syu1	ge3	,
two	CL	[contrast]	still	study	AP	[study]	SP

一	個	就	做	緊	嘢	喇	。
jat1	go3	zau6	zou6	gan2	je5	laa3	.
one	CL	[contrast]	work	AP	[work]	SP

Two of them are still studying. One of them is already working.

27.

我	兩	個	女	就	仲	讀	緊	書	嘅	，
ngo5	loeng5	go3	neoi2	zau6	zung6	duk6	gan2	syu1	ge3	,
my	two	CL	daughter	[contrast]	still	study	AP	[study]	SP

我	個	仔	就	做	緊	嘢	喇	。
ngo5	go3	zai2	zau6	zou6	gan2	je5	laa3	.
my	CL	son	[contrast]	work	AP	[work]	SP

My two daughters are still studying. My son is already working.

28.

三	個	都	做	緊	嘢	喇	。
saam1	go3	dou1	zou6	gan2	je5	laa3	.
three	CL	all	work	AP	[work]	SP

All three of them are already working.