V得晒/V唔晒

Can You Get Through All of It

Level 4Sounds Like dak1 m4 saai3

Use V得晒 (V dak1 saai3) to say you 'can finish all of' something, and V唔晒 (V m4 saai3) to say you 'cannot finish all of' it.

How It Works

In Cantonese, potential complements describe the possibility of an outcome. The particle 晒 (saai3) specifically focuses on quantity and exhaustion.

1. The Structure
The potential markers must be placed between the verb and the complement:

  • Affirmative: Verb + 得 (dak1) + 晒 (saai3) = Can finish all of [Object]
  • Negative: Verb + 唔 (m4) + 晒 (saai3) = Cannot finish all of [Object]

2. Quantity vs. Process
It is important to distinguish this from V完 (finish the process). While V唔完 means you can't finish the act (perhaps due to time), V唔晒 specifically implies there is too much of the object to handle. For example, if a plate of food is huge, you say you 食唔晒 (sik6 m4 saai3).

3. Usage Context
This pattern is extremely common in daily life when discussing:

  • Food portions (eating everything on the plate)
  • Workloads (completing every task)
  • Shopping (buying everything available)
  • Reading (getting through every page of a book)

Examples (5)

  1. 咁多嘢食，我一個人食唔晒。

    There is so much food; I can't eat it all by myself.

    Word by Word: So much things eat, I one [CL] person eat not all.

    Here, 食唔晒 (sik6 m4 saai3) emphasizes that the quantity of food is too large for one person to finish.

  2. 呢啲書你一個禮拜睇唔睇得晒呀？

    Can you finish reading all these books in one week?

    Word by Word: These [CL] books you one week read not read can all [SFP]?

    This uses the A-not-A question format (睇唔睇得晒) to ask about the potential to exhaust the pile of books.

  3. 份功課太長，我今晚做唔晒。

    The homework is too long; I can't finish all of it tonight.

    Word by Word: [CL] homework too long, I tonight do not all.

    做唔晒 (zou6 m4 saai3) indicates that the length of the task makes it impossible to complete every part of it.

  4. 啲錢我使唔晒。

    I can't spend all the money.

    Word by Word: [CL] money I spend not all.

    使 (sai2) means 'to spend'. This implies the amount of money is so vast it cannot be exhausted.

  5. 佢哋買晒啲飛，我哋就買唔到喇。

    They bought up all the tickets, so we couldn't get any.

    Word by Word: They buy all [CL] tickets, we then buy not arrive [particle].

    Contrast 買晒 (maai5 saai3 - bought them all) with 買唔到 (maai5 m4 dou2 - cannot get any).

Common Mistakes

  • Placing the negative marker after the complement.

    我做晒唔。
    我做唔晒。

    In Cantonese potential complements, the markers 得 (dak1) or 唔 (m4) must be infixes placed between the verb and the resultative particle.

  • Treating 食唔完 and 食唔晒 as wrong or identical.

    Different Meaning我食唔完呢啲飯。
    我食唔晒呢啲飯。

    我食唔完呢啲飯 is a natural sentence: it means you cannot get through the food (too much to finish). 食唔晒 (sik6 m4 saai3) stresses that you cannot eat all of it. Both are fine; pick the one that matches what you want to stress.

How It Connects

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

V得晒/V唔晒Level 4Can You Get Through All of It

Learn This First

The pattern 'V得晒/V唔晒' is a specific application of the potential construction (can/cannot) applied to the completive particle '晒' (all/completely). To understand it, learners must first understand how '晒' functions as a verbal particle and how '得' and '唔' are inserted into verb-complement structures to express potentiality.

Words in This Pattern