煲

Classifier for Potfuls

Level 3Sounds Like bou1

Use 煲 (bou1) to count quantities of food or liquid contained in a pot, like soup, rice, or congee.

How It Works

In Cantonese, 煲 (bou1) is a versatile word that functions as a noun (a pot), a classifier (a potful), and a verb (to boil/stew).

1. As a Classifier
As a classifier, it is used to quantify the contents of a pot. It follows the standard counting frame:

  • [Number/Demonstrative] + 煲 + [Noun]

Examples include:

  • 一煲水 (jat1 bou1 seoi2) - A pot of water
  • 呢煲飯 (ni1 bou1 faan6) - This pot of rice

Note the difference between the contents and the object: 一煲水 (jat1 bou1 seoi2) is a pot of water, but the physical pot itself uses the 個 (go3) or 隻 (zek3) classifier: 一個煲 (jat1 go3 bou1) or 一隻煲 (jat1 zek3 bou1).

2. As a Verb
煲 (bou1) is the verb for boiling or slow-simmering with lots of liquid. While 煮 (zyu2) is the general term for 'to cook', 煲 is specific to boiling processes:

  • 煲湯 (bou1 tong1) - To make soup
  • 煲粥 (bou1 zuk1) - To cook congee
  • 煲水 (bou1 seoi2) - To boil water

Note that while 煮飯 (zyu2 faan6) can mean both 'to cook a meal' in general and 'to cook rice', 煲飯 (bou1 faan6) specifically means 'to cook rice'. This is typically done in a 電飯煲 (din6 faan6 bou1), the everyday word for a rice cooker.

3. Cultural Context and Idioms
Because slow-cooked soup (老火湯 lou5 fo2 tong1) is a staple of Cantonese culture, you will hear this word daily. You will also frequently encounter the suffix 仔 (zai2) used to indicate a small pot, as in 煲仔 (bou1 zai2). This gives us 煲仔飯 (bou1 zai2 faan6), the famous Cantonese claypot rice.

In slang, the verb 煲 has taken on the meaning of 'to do an action intensively for a long period of time' (much like slow-boiling soup) or to sensationalize. Common idiomatic expressions include:

  • 煲劇 (bou1 kek6): Literally 'boiling a drama,' this means binge-watching a TV series.
  • 煲電話粥 (bou1 din6 waa2 zuk1): Literally 'boiling telephone congee,' meaning to chat on the phone for a very long time. (Note: 話 is usually waa6, but undergoes a tone change to waa2 here).
  • 煲煙 (bou1 jin1): To chain-smoke.
  • 煲水 (bou1 seoi2): Literally 'boiling water', but in slang it means to make up a story, spread rumors, or sensationalize (e.g., 煲水新聞 bou1 seoi2 san1 man4 - fake or sensationalized news).

Furthermore, the noun 'pot' (煲) appears in several highly common metaphors:

  • 掟煲 (deng3 bou1): Literally 'throwing the pot', meaning to break up.
  • 箍煲 (ku1 bou1): Literally 'hooping/binding the pot', meaning to salvage a relationship.
  • 穿煲 (cyun1 bou1): Literally 'a pierced pot', meaning to have a secret exposed or a lie uncovered.
  • 爆煲 (baau3 bou1): Literally 'an exploded pot', meaning reaching a breaking point or an economic bubble bursting.

If food is fried in a wok, you should use the classifier 鑊 (wok6) instead.

Examples (3)

  1. 我琴晚煲咗一煲老火湯。

    I boiled a pot of slow-cooked soup last night.

    Word by Word: I yesterday night boil [perfective] one pot slow fire soup.

    Here, 煲 (bou1) is used twice: first as a verb 'to boil' and second as a classifier for the soup. The 咗 (zo2) marks the completed action.

  2. 呢煲飯夠唔夠五個人食呀？

    Is this pot of rice enough for five people to eat?

    Word by Word: This pot rice enough [not] enough five [classifier] people eat [particle]?

    The demonstrative 呢 (ni1) 'this' combines with the classifier 煲 (bou1) to specify a particular pot of rice.

  3. 記得飲埋嗰煲藥呀。

    Remember to finish drinking that pot of (herbal) medicine.

    Word by Word: Remember drink [completive] that pot medicine [particle].

    The particle 埋 (maai4) indicates finishing the rest of the medicine contained in the pot.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a redundant general classifier.

    呢個煲湯好甜。
    呢煲湯好甜。

    In Cantonese, the container itself acts as the classifier. Adding 個 (go3) makes it sound like you are talking about the physical pot object rather than the soup inside it.

  • Using 煲 for fried foods.

    一煲炒飯
    一鑊炒飯

    煲 (bou1) is for things cooked or served in a pot, such as soup, congee or rice. Stir-fried rice (炒飯 caau2 faan6) comes from a wok, so use 鑊 (wok6).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

煲Level 3Classifier for Potfuls

Learn This First

The pattern '煲' functions as a container classifier (measure word) for things cooked in a pot, such as soup or rice. To use it correctly, a learner needs to understand the basic Cantonese classifier system and the standard 'Number + Classifier + Noun' word order.

Words in This Pattern

煲