嘢 (yě) - thing, stuff & Cantonese colloquial term for object, matter, or situation

嘢Tone 3

yě ｜ 14 strokes ｜ radical:

嬿一

嘢 · yě

thing, stuff;

Cantonese colloquial term for object, matter, or situation;

also used to refer to a place or area in some contexts.

thing, stuffCantonese colloquial term for object, matter, or situationalso used to refer to a place or

Usage highlights

what thingbuy thingseat thingsdo thingsgood stuffbad stuff

Synonyms

  • 东西— thing, object (Mandarin equivalent)
  • 事物— thing, matter, affair

Antonyms

  • 无— nothing, without
  • 空— empty, void

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • What is this thing?(呢个系乜嘢?)
  • I want to buy some stuff (我想买啲嘢).
  • This place is really nice (呢度啲嘢好正).
  • He knows a lot of things (佢识好多嘢).

Collocations

  • what thing(乜嘢)
  • buy things(买嘢)
  • eat things(食嘢)
  • do things(做嘢)
  • good stuff(好嘢)
  • bad stuff(衰嘢)

Idioms

  • Good stuff!(好嘢!)
  • What's going on?(搞乜嘢?)
  • Know your stuff(识嘢)
  • Have something up your sleeve(有啲嘢)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Primarily used in Cantonese and Southern Chinese dialects, particularly in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.
  • Considered informal and colloquial, rarely used in formal written Chinese.
  • Reflects the linguistic diversity and regional character of Southern China.

FAQ