冇 (mǎo) - Not have & without

冇Tone 3

mǎo ｜ 4 strokes ｜ radical: 冂

伦妙

冇 · mǎo

Not have;

without;

lacking (Cantonese and some other Chinese dialects).

Not havewithoutlacking (Cantonese and some other Chinese dialects).

Usage highlights

No moneyNo problemNo timeNo peopleNo wayNo use

Synonyms

  • 无— not have; without
  • 没有— do not have

Antonyms

  • 有— have; possess

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • I have no money (冇钱).
  • There's no problem (冇问题).
  • He doesn't have time (冇时间).
  • This place has no people (冇人).

Collocations

  • No money(冇钱)
  • No problem(冇问题)
  • No time(冇时间)
  • No people(冇人)
  • No way(冇办法)
  • No use(冇用)

Idioms

  • Have or have not(有冇)
  • Completely without(一冇所有)
  • No worries at all(冇忧冇虑)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Primarily used in Cantonese and other southern Chinese dialects as the negative form of 'have'.
  • The character is created by removing the two inner strokes from 有 (yǒu, 'to have'), visually representing 'having nothing'.
  • Widely used in Hong Kong and Guangdong province in informal writing and colloquial speech.

FAQ