緊

Progressive Aspect

Level 1Sounds Like gan2

緊 (gan2) is the Cantonese progressive aspect marker, similar to English "-ing". It attaches directly to the verb to show that a dynamic action is currently happening (e.g., 食緊飯 sik6 gan2 faan6 = "eating rice").

How It Works

The particle 緊 (gan2) is a verbal suffix used in spoken Cantonese to mark the progressive aspect.

1. Position and Word Order
緊 always attaches directly to the verb root. When dealing with verb-object compounds (like 食飯 sik6 faan6 "to eat rice" or 睇書 tai2 syu1 "to read books"), 緊 splits the compound and sits right after the action verb:

  • 食緊飯 (sik6 gan2 faan6) = eating rice
  • 睇緊書 (tai2 gan2 syu1) = reading a book

2. Dynamic Action Verbs Only
緊 is used with dynamic action verbs and activities in progress (such as reading, eating, or waiting). It cannot be attached to stative verbs like 知道 (zi1dou3, "to know") or 係 (hai6, "to be").

3. Tense Neutrality
Although it often translates to present continuous ("is doing"), 緊 marks aspect (how the action unfolds) rather than time/tense. With appropriate time words or context, it can describe past or future progressive actions:

  • 頭先我行緊街…… (tau4 sin1 ngo5 haang4 gan2 gaai1...) = Earlier while I was walking on the street...

4. Combinations
To emphasize that someone is "right in the middle of doing something", you can combine preverbal 喺度 (hai2 dou6) with 緊 to form the double progressive pattern 喺度……緊.

Examples (4)

  1. 我煮緊飯。

    I am cooking (right now).

    Word by Word: I cook [in-progress] rice.

    緊 (gan2) attaches directly to the verb 煮 (zyu2, 'to cook') before the object 飯 (faan6, 'rice').

  2. 佢哋睇緊電視。

    They are watching TV.

    Word by Word: They watch [in-progress] television.

    緊 (gan2) splits the verb-object phrase 睇電視 (tai2 din6 si6).

  3. 頭先我行緊街嘅時候，見到個朋友。

    Earlier while I was walking on the street, I ran into a friend.

    Word by Word: Earlier I walk [in-progress] street 's time, see-at classifier friend.

    This shows that 緊 (gan2) works in past progressive contexts when paired with past time markers like 頭先 (tau4 sin1, 'earlier').

  4. 佢喺度聽緊音樂。

    He is right in the middle of listening to music.

    Word by Word: He at-here listen [in-progress] music.

    Combining 喺度 (hai2 dou6) before the verb with 緊 (gan2) after it emphasizes that the activity is actively taking place right now.

Common Mistakes

  • Placing 緊 after the complete verb-object phrase instead of splitting it.

    我食飯緊。
    我食緊飯。

    緊 (gan2) must attach directly to the verb root (食), placing it inside the compound phrase (食緊飯) rather than at the very end.

  • Attaching 緊 to stative verbs.

    我知道緊呢件事。
    我知道呢件事。

    Stative verbs like 知道 (zi1dou3, 'to know') cannot take progressive aspect markers because 'knowing' is a state, not an active process.

  • Using 緊 (gan2) to say someone is wearing clothes.

    Different Meaning佢著緊衫。
    佢著住衫。

    著緊衫 (zoek3 gan2 saam1) means the action of putting on clothes is in progress. To say she is wearing clothes as a lasting state, use the durative marker 住 (zyu6): 佢著住衫.

How It Connects

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

緊Level 1Progressive Aspect

Learn This First

To understand the progressive aspect marker 緊, you first need to understand the concept of aspect in Cantonese and how verbal particles are positioned immediately after the verb.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

紧