據講

It Is Said That

Level 4Sounds Like geoi3 gong2

據講 (geoi3 gong2) is used to report news, rumors, or general information without naming a specific person. It translates to 'It is said that...' or 'Word is that...'

How It Works

據講 (geoi3 gong2) is a versatile hearsay marker that bridges the gap between casual gossip and formal reporting.

1. Usage and Meaning
It functions as a sentential adverb, framing the entire statement as information received from others. While it translates similarly to 聽講 (teng1 gong2), 據講 sounds slightly more formal and less personal. It implies 'according to what is being said' rather than 'I personally heard this from someone.'

2. Sentence Position

  • Sentence-Initial: Most commonly placed at the very beginning.
    Example: 據講聽日會落雨。(Reportedly, it will rain tomorrow.)
  • After the Subject: It can follow the subject to act as a parenthetical remark.
    Example: 呢度據講會拆。(This place, it is said, will be demolished.)

3. Register
It is a 'semi-formal' pattern. It is the standard choice for news broadcasts and newspapers, but native speakers also use it in daily life when they want to sound more authoritative or provide a sense of credibility to a piece of news. For very casual, 'juicy' gossip, the colloquial 聽講 (teng1 gong2) is more common.

4. Sentence-Final Particles
It is very frequently paired with the particle 喎 (wo3) or its technical hearsay variant 喎 (wo5) at the end of the sentence. These particles reinforce that the information is hearsay and not something the speaker witnessed personally.

Examples (4)

  1. 據講佢移咗民喎。

    Word is he has emigrated.

    Word by Word: According-to-say he move-already-people [hearsay-particle].

    Here, 據講 (geoi3 gong2) introduces a rumor about someone moving abroad, paired with the hearsay particle 喎 (wo3).

  2. 浸溫泉據講有美膚嘅功效。

    Bathing in hot springs is said to have skin-beautifying effects.

    Word by Word: Soak hot-spring according-to-say have beauty-skin [possessive] effect.

    In this example, 據講 is placed after the subject (bathing in hot springs) to report a general claim or health benefit.

  3. 據講呢個計劃仲未入則。

    Reportedly, the plans for this project haven't been submitted yet.

    Word by Word: According-to-say this [classifier] plan still-not-yet enter-plan.

    This demonstrates a more professional register, reporting on the status of a project using 據講.

  4. 據講嗰間餐廳下個月會執笠。

    It is said that restaurant will go out of business next month.

    Word by Word: According-to-say that [classifier] restaurant next-month will close-up.

    A common way to report local news or rumors about businesses closing down.

Common Mistakes

  • Using '據講' with a first-person subject to mean 'I heard'.

    我據講佢聽日唔嚟。
    我聽講佢聽日唔嚟。

    據講 (geoi3 gong2) is impersonal. You cannot say 'I according to say.' If you want to say 'I heard,' you must use 聽講 (teng1 gong2).

  • Using 據說 where 據講 is the more colloquial choice.

    Different Meaning據說佢好返喇。
    據講佢好返喇。

    據說 (geoi3 syut3) is a perfectly good word for ‘it is said that’ and is common in news and careful speech. 據講 (geoi3 gong2) is the more colloquial spoken form, so it fits casual talk better.

How It Connects

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據講Level 4It Is Said That

Learn This First

The pattern '據講' (geoi3 gong2) is a formal or semi-formal way to report hearsay. It functions similarly to 'it is said that' or 'word is that'. To use it effectively, learners need to understand how to structure reported speech and how to use basic aspect markers like '咗' to describe the events being reported.

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