幾時

When

Level 1Sounds Like gei2 si4

Use 幾時 (gei2 si4) to ask 'when?'. Place it directly before the verb or after 係 (hai6) when asking about an event's time. Unlike English, do not place it at the end of the clause.

How It Works

1. What is 幾時?
幾時 (gei2 si4) is the standard spoken Cantonese expression for 'when?'. It is used for open-ended timeframes, dates, days, months, or general time periods. Note that for specific clock times or hours, speakers use 幾點 (gei2 dim2) or 幾點鐘 (gei2 dim2 zung1) instead.

2. Sentence Position
Following Cantonese word order rules, time expressions go before the verb phrase:

  • Pre-verbal position (Most common): [Subject] + 幾時 + [Verb Phrase]?
    Example: 你幾時得閒？ (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4? - 'When are you free?')
  • Copular complement: [Event/Noun] + 係 + 幾時?
    Example: 演唱會係幾時？ (jin2 coeng3 wui2 hai6 gei2 si4? - 'When is the concert?')

3. Tone Change in Casual Speech
Although the base Jyutping is gei2 si4, native speakers in fast or casual speech often pronounce 時 with a High Rising tone (Tone 2), resulting in gei2 si4-2 (or gei2 si2).

4. Expressing 'Anytime' with 都
When 幾時 is used in a non-question statement alongside 都 (dou1), it means 'anytime' or 'whenever':
你幾時嚟都得 (nei5 gei2 si4 lai4 dou1 dak1 - 'You can come anytime').

5. Important Distinction
Do not use 幾時 as a relative subordinator to translate English clauses like 'When I was young...'. For statement clauses, use postpositions such as ...嗰陣 or ...嘅時候 instead.

Examples (4)

  1. 你幾時去日本呀？

    When are you going to Japan?

    Word by Word: You when go Japan [softening particle]?

    幾時 (gei2 si4) sits right before the verb 去 (heoi3, 'to go').

  2. 你幾時得閒？

    When will you be free?

    Word by Word: You when free?

    A fundamental everyday phrase used when making plans with friends.

  3. 下一個十三號星期五係幾時？

    When is the next Friday the 13th?

    Word by Word: Next one 13 number Friday is when?

    Here, 幾時 appears after the copula 係 (hai6, 'to be') to ask about the date of an event.

  4. 你幾時嚟都得。

    You can come anytime.

    Word by Word: You when come all OK.

    Combined with 都 (dou1), 幾時 shifts from a question word to an indefinite expression meaning 'anytime'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 幾時 in a statement clause to mean 'when [something happened]'.

    幾時我細個，我住喺香港。
    我細個嗰陣，我住喺香港。

    In a plain statement, 幾時 cannot mean ‘when [something happened]’. It is the question word ‘when?’, with ‘whenever’ uses such as 幾時得閒都得. To state ‘when [I was young]’, put 嗰陣 (go2 zan6) or 嘅時候 (ge3 si4 hau6) after the clause.

  • Placing 幾時 at the end of the sentence following English word order.

    你去日本幾時？
    你幾時去日本？

    In Cantonese, time question words stay before the verb phrase, not at the end of the clause.

How It Connects

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幾時Level 1When

Learn This First

To use '幾時' (when) correctly, you need to understand that Cantonese question words stay in their original grammatical position (wh-in-situ) rather than moving to the start of the sentence. You should also be familiar with basic word order and the use of sentence-final particles like '呀' which often accompany these questions.

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几时