Adjectives Are Stative Verbs

Adjectives as Stative Verbs
In Cantonese, descriptive words function as stative verbs—they inherently contain the state of 'being'. Because of this, Cantonese does not use the copula 係 (hai6) for neutral affirmative descriptions.

The Role of Structural Fillers
If you use a bare adjective in a simple affirmative statement (e.g., 佢高 keoi5 gou1), it sounds incomplete or creates an implicit contrast ('He is tall, [whereas someone else is short]'). To make the sentence complete and neutral, Cantonese uses 好 (hou2) as a structural filler:
• 我好忙 (ngo5 hou2 mong4) = 'I am busy' (neutral statement).
• 佢好高 (keoi5 hou2 gou1) = 'He is tall'.

When unstressed, 好 (hou2) simply links the subject and adjective like 'is'. However, when spoken with stress or emphasis, 好 (hou2) retains its full degree meaning of 'very' (e.g., 佢好高 keoi5 hou2 gou1 = 'He is very tall').

Unlike unstressed 好 (hou2), other degree adverbs like 幾 (gei2) ('quite' / 'fairly') always carry real semantic weight (e.g., 呢間屋幾大 nei1 gaan1 uk1 gei2 daai6 = 'This house is quite big').

When Bare Adjectives Are Used
Bare adjectives naturally appear without 好 (hou2) in specific grammatical contexts:
1. Negated statements: Negated with 唔 (m4) (e.g., 佢哋唔忙 keoi5 dei6 m4 mong4 = 'They are not busy').
2. A-not-A questions: Formed using the Adj唔Adj pattern (e.g., 佢高唔高？ keoi5 gou1 m4 gou1? = 'Is he tall?').
3. With sentence-final particles: Particles complete the predicate without needing 好 (hou2) (e.g., 呢件衫貴呀 nei1 gin6 saam1 gwai3 aa3 = 'This shirt is expensive!').
4. Comparatives: Using comparative markers like 過 (gwo3) or 啲 (di1) (e.g., 佢高過我 keoi5 gou1 gwo3 ngo5 = 'He is taller than me').
5. Paired contrastive clauses: Explicitly contrasting two subjects (e.g., 佢高，我矮 keoi5 gou1, ngo5 ai2 = 'He is tall, I am short').

Other Predicate Modifiers
• Emphatic 係 (hai6): Inserting 係 (hai6) before an adjective adds strong confirmation, typically combined with a sentence-final particle like 嘅 (ge3) ('He is tall'): 佢係高嘅 (keoi5 hai6 gou1 ge3).