好似

It Seems

Level 2Sounds Like hou2 ci5

好似 (hou2 ci5) translates to 'it seems', 'looks like', or 'resemble'. It is an essential everyday Cantonese pattern used to soften statements, express impressions, or compare things without sounding overly direct.

How It Works

1. Expressing Impressions & Uncertainty ('It seems / looks like')
Placed before a predicate or an entire sentence, 好似 (hou2 ci5) hedges your observation so it sounds like a personal impression rather than an absolute fact:
• 媽咪好似返咗嚟喇。（maa1 mi1 hou2 ci5 faan1 zo2 lei4 laa3.） — It seems Mum is back home!
• 好似落緊雨。（hou2 ci5 lok6 gan2 jyu5.） — It looks like it's raining.

2. Making Comparisons & Hedging ('Like / as if')
When comparing someone or something to a noun or action, 好似 frequently pairs with 咁 (gam2) at the end of the phrase in the correlative frame 好似...咁:
• 佢好似一隻貓咁。（keoi5 hou2 ci5 jat1 zek3 maau1 gam2.） — He is just like a cat.

Orthography Note: While 咁 is universally used in daily texting for gam2 ('like this'), the standard character is technically 噉. You might see 噉 in formal materials or dictionaries, whereas 咁 is strictly gam3 ('so') in standard orthography.

To say something is 'exactly like' or 'the exact same as', you can use the frame 好似...一樣 (hou2 ci5... jat1 joeng6) for emphasis, though 同...一樣 is the standard Cantonese frame for 'the same as', and 好似...咁 remains the most common colloquial way to say 'just like a...':
• 佢好似一隻貓一樣。（keoi5 hou2 ci5 jat1 zek3 maau1 jat1 joeng6.） — He is exactly like a cat.

This frame is also used with adjectives and verb phrases to hedge observations, softening statements to mean 'seems like':
• 佢好似好攰咁。（keoi5 hou2 ci5 hou2 gui6 gam2.） — He seems tired.

3. Giving Examples ('Such as / for example')
好似 can also introduce illustrative examples, functioning similarly to 譬如 (pei3 jyu4). Native speakers frequently cap off these examples with 咁 (gam2) as well:
• 我鍾意好多運動，好似游水同跑步咁。（ngo5 zung1 ji3 hou2 do1 wan6 dung6, hou2 ci5 jau4 seoi2 tung4 paau2 bou6 gam2.） — I like many sports, such as swimming and running.

4. Negation & Questions
Negating and asking questions with 好似 requires some care. Note that 似 (ci5) on its own is a verb meaning 'to resemble' or 'to look like' (e.g., 佢似老竇 keoi5 ci5 lou5 dau6 - 'He looks like his dad'). When negating or questioning this resemblance, we directly modify the verb 似, which is why the adverbial 好 is dropped:
• 唔似 (Doesn't look like): Drop the 好 to negate physical resemblance. 佢唔似有病 (keoi5 m4 ci5 jau5 beng6) means 'He doesn't look sick'.
• 好似唔 (Seems not to): Place 唔 after 好似 to mean 'it seems that... not'. 佢好似唔鍾意 (keoi5 hou2 ci5 m4 zung1 ji3) means 'It seems he doesn't like it'.
• Warning: Do not use 唔好似 for 'doesn't seem like' (唔好似 means 'don't be like' as a command).
• Questions: Use the A-not-A form 似唔似 (ci5 m4 ci5) strictly to ask about resemblance ('Does A look like B?'). To ask for an impression ('Does it seem like...?'), use 係咪好似 (hai6 mai6 hou2 ci5).

Key Distinctions:
• 好似 functions both as an adverb meaning 'it seems' and as a transitive verb meaning 'to resemble' or 'look like' (e.g., 佢好似佢爸爸 keoi5 hou2 ci5 keoi5 baa4 baa1 — 'He looks like his dad'). Plain 似 (ci5) is also used for 'to resemble', but 好似 is equally standard in this verb function.
• Avoid using the Mandarin equivalent 好像 (hǎoxiàng) in spoken Cantonese.

Examples (4)

  1. 好似落緊雨。

    It looks like it's raining.

    Word by Word: Seem fall progressive rain.

    Placed sentence-initially, 好似 expresses an observation based on visual or situational context.

  2. 媽咪好似返咗嚟喇。

    It seems Mum is back home!

    Word by Word: Mum seem return perfective come particle.

    好似 placed before the verb 返 (faan1, return) hedges the speaker's claim.

  3. 佢好似一隻貓咁。

    He is just like a cat.

    Word by Word: He seem one classifier cat like.

    Combines 好似 with clause-final 咁 (gam2) to form a complete simile frame.

  4. 佢好似唔係幾開心。

    He seems not very happy.

    Word by Word: He seem not is quite happy.

    Here 好似 softens the personal assessment of someone else's mood.

Common Mistakes

  • Placing 好似 at the end of the sentence like English 'it seems'.

    佢唔喺度好似。
    佢好似唔喺度。

    English speakers often post-pose 'it seems' at the end of a clause. In Cantonese, 好似 must precede the predicate or entire sentence it modifies.

  • Omitting the trailing 咁 (gam2) in similes.

    Different Meaning佢好似一隻貓。
    佢好似一隻貓咁。

    Natural Cantonese often uses the correlative 好似...咁 frame when drawing comparisons, but 好似一隻貓 on its own is also fine.

  • Using Mandarin 好像 (hǎoxiàng) in spoken Cantonese.

    Different Meaning佢好像唔喺度。
    佢好似唔喺度。

    好似 (hou2 ci5) is the usual spoken form. 好像 (hou2 zoeng6) is Standard Written Chinese and is also common in writing.

How It Connects

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好似Level 2It Seems

Learn This First

To use '好似' (it seems/looks like), learners need to understand basic Cantonese word order, as '好似' typically precedes the verb or clause it modifies. Familiarity with aspect markers like '緊' is helpful because '好似' is often used to describe current, ongoing situations.

Words in This Pattern