V+親

Hurt While Doing

Level 3Sounds Like can1

Use V + 親 (can1) in two ways: 1) to describe accidentally getting hurt or startled (e.g., bumping your head), or 2) to say 'whenever' an action happens, a certain result follows (usually with 都 (dou1)).

How It Works

In Cantonese, 親 (can1) is a versatile particle with two distinct functions.

1. Accidental Injury or Impact:
When following a verb of contact, it indicates an accidental negative consequence. Common examples include 撞親 (zong6 can1 - bump and hurt), 跌親 (dit3 can1 - fall and hurt), or 嚇親 (haak3 can1 - be startled). While usually negative, there are rare exceptions of affection like 錫親 (sek3 can1 - to dote on/spoil).

2. The 'Whenever' Pattern:
When used as [Verb] + 親... 都 (dou1)..., it means 'every time' or 'whenever' the first action happens, the second one follows. This is a very common way to express habits or inevitable results.
Example: 聽親呢首歌都想喊 (teng1 can1 ni1 sau2 go1 dou1 soeng2 haam3) - 'Whenever I hear this song, I want to cry.'

3. Sentence Structure:
For injuries: [Verb] + 親 + [Object]. For conditionals: [Verb] + 親 + [Condition], 都 + [Result].

4. Register:
This is highly colloquial. In formal writing, the injury sense is replaced by 到 (dào) or specific verbs like 傷 (shāng), while the 'whenever' sense is replaced by 每當 (měi dāng).

Examples (6)

  1. 小心啲呀，唔好撞親個頭。

    Be careful, don't bump (and hurt) your head.

    Word by Word: Small heart a-bit [particle], not good bump-hurt [classifier] head.

    Here, 撞親 (zong6 can1) indicates the accidental negative result of bumping into something.

  2. 佢琴晚唔小心凍親，今日射咗波。

    He accidentally caught a cold last night, so he skipped work today.

    Word by Word: He yesterday night not careful cold-hurt, today shoot-already ball.

    凍親 (dung3 can1) is the standard way to say someone caught a chill. 射波 (se6 bo1) is slang for skipping work.

  3. 你突然間行出嚟，嚇親我呀！

    You walked out so suddenly, you startled me!

    Word by Word: You sudden-space walk out-come, scare-hurt me [particle]!

    嚇親 (haak3 can1) describes the psychological shock of being startled.

  4. 我見親佢都好緊張。

    Whenever I see him, I get very nervous.

    Word by Word: I see-whenever him all very nervous.

    This uses the 'whenever' pattern. 見親 (gin3 can1) combined with 都 (dou1) creates the conditional 'every time I see him'.

  5. 佢食親辣嘢都肚痛。

    Whenever he eats spicy food, he gets a stomach ache.

    Word by Word: He eat-whenever spicy thing all belly pain.

    The 親 (can1) here marks the repeated condition (eating spicy food) that leads to the result (stomach ache).

  6. 佢跌親隻腳，行唔到路。

    He fell and hurt his leg, so he can't walk.

    Word by Word: He fall-hurt [classifier] leg, walk not-attain road.

    跌親 (dit3 can1) emphasizes that the fall resulted in an injury.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 親 (can1) for intentional actions.

    我專登撞親佢。
    我唔小心撞親佢。

    親 (can1) implies the result was accidental or unintentional. You cannot 'intentionally' use the 親 resultative in this way; if it was on purpose, you would just use the verb or a different complement.

  • Placing the object before the particle.

    我撞佢親。
    我撞親佢。

    In Cantonese resultative structures, the particle 親 (can1) must come immediately after the verb, before the object.

  • Confusing the 'injury' 親 with the 'whenever' 親 pattern.

    我去親佢度。
    我去親佢度都食飯。

    The 'whenever' pattern (V + 親... 都...) requires the word 都 (dou1) in the second clause. Without it, the sentence feels incomplete or might be confused for the injury particle.

How It Connects

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

V+親Level 3Hurt While Doing

Learn This First

To understand 'V+親', learners need to be familiar with the basic structure of Cantonese verbs and how verbal particles or resultative complements are used to indicate the outcome or state resulting from an action.

Words in This Pattern

嚫