22.4 Asking for Opinions on Suggestions with O唔OK ou1 m4 ou1 kei1 (‘Is … okay?’)

In Grammar and Vocabulary 18.5, we learned to use the expression 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2 (‘Is … good?’) to ask for opinions on a suggestion.

We can form a similar expression with the adjective OK ou1 kei1 (‘okay’). We combine the positive and negative forms of OK ou1 kei1 to form the expression O唔OK ou1 m4 ou1 kei1.

The expression O唔OK ou1 m4 ou1 kei1 means ‘Is … okay?’. We can add it after an option to suggest the option and ask for opinions on the option at the same time. It functions like Does it work if … ? in English (as in Does it work if we eat at 7:00?). We usually add the sentence particle 呀 aa3 (for questions) after O唔OK ou1 m4 ou1 kei1.

To answer the question, we can say OK呀 ou1 kei1 aa3 for ‘yes’ and 唔OK呀 m4 ou1 kei1 aa3 for ‘no’.

For a negative answer, we can also make a new suggestion directly.

We can put a person before O唔OK ou1 m4 ou1 kei1 to specifically ask whether someone is okay with the suggestion.