你 + V + 啦

Imperatives Keep the Pronoun

Level 2

In spoken Cantonese, when you ask or prompt someone to do something, you usually keep the pronoun 你 (nei5) or 你哋 (nei5 dei6) at the start, and end the phrase with the softening particle 啦 (laa1).

How It Works

In Cantonese, everyday friendly prompts naturally omit the subject pronoun, using simple patterns like V + 啦 (e.g. 坐啦 co5 laa1 'have a seat'). However, adding 你 (nei5, 'you') or 你哋 (nei5 dei6, 'you all') at the beginning is common when you want to explicitly address or emphasize the person.

1. Directing Focus and Emphasis
Including 你 focuses the command directly on the listener (e.g. 你坐啦 nei5 co5 laa1 'You go ahead and sit'). It adds personal warmth, insistence, or contrast ('you do it') rather than being a strict baseline requirement.

2. Softening with 啦 (laa1)
The sentence-final particle 啦 (laa1) softens commands into friendly prompts, invitations, or persuasive suggestions. Saying 你坐啦 feels like 'go ahead and take a seat', whereas omitting 啦 (e.g. 你坐！) sounds like a blunt order.

3. Pronunciation Note
In everyday spoken Cantonese, 你 (nei5) is frequently pronounced with an initial /l/ sound as lei5 due to sound merger (懶音 laan5 jam1). Both nei5 and lei5 are completely natural.

Examples (4)

  1. 你坐低啦。

    Go ahead and take a seat.

    Word by Word: you sit down SFP

    Combining 你 (nei5) with 啦 (laa1) turns 'sit down' into a warm, welcoming offer.

  2. 你幫手啦。

    Give us a hand!

    Word by Word: you help hand SFP

    Using 你 adds a friendly persuasive tone when asking someone directly to help out.

  3. 你哋跟我嚟啦。

    Come with me, everyone.

    Word by Word: you-all follow me come SFP

    Use the plural pronoun 你哋 (nei5 dei6) when giving a request to a group.

  4. 你食多啲啦。

    Have a bit more food!

    Word by Word: you eat more a-bit SFP

    A very common host phrase prompting a guest to eat more.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the particle off an invitation.

    Different Meaning你坐低！
    你坐低啦。

    你坐低 is a natural order, but it sounds firm, like an instruction. With 啦 (laa1) it becomes friendlier.

  • Using 喇 (laa3) where 啦 (laa1) invites.

    Different Meaning你食喇。
    你食啦。

    你食喇 is a good sentence, but 喇 (laa3) marks a change of state, so it sounds like 'you are eating now' or 'go ahead, it is time'. 啦 (laa1) is the friendly suggestion or invitation, as in 你食啦.

How It Connects

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

你 + V + 啦Level 2Imperatives Keep the Pronoun

Learn This First

To learn this pattern, you first need to know the basic pronoun for 'you' (你) and how the sentence-final particle '啦' is used to turn a statement into a suggestion or command. Understanding basic Cantonese word order will help you see why the pronoun is kept at the start of the sentence.

Words in This Pattern