有冇

Do You Have

Level 1Sounds Like jau5 mou5

'有冇' (jau5 mou5) is the primary Cantonese question structure for 'Do you have...?' or 'Did you...?'. It combines 有 (jau5, 'have') and 冇 (mou5, 'not have').

How It Works

The pattern 有冇 (jau5 mou5) is an A-not-A question structure formed by joining 有 (jau5, 'to have') and its irregular negative form 冇 (mou5, 'not to have').

1. Possession (Before Nouns)
Structure: Subject + 有冇 + Noun Phrase?
Inquires whether someone possesses an item or abstract concept.
Example: 你有冇時間？ (nei5 jau5 mou5 si4 gaan3? - 'Do you have time?')

2. Existence (Location / Place)
Structure: Location / Place + 有冇 + Noun Phrase?
Inquires whether something exists in a specific location.
Example: 呢度有冇洗手間？ (nei1 dou6 jau5 mou5 sai2 sau2 gaan1? - 'Is there a restroom here?')

3. Past Action / Event (Before Verbs)
Structure: Subject + 有冇 + Verb Phrase?
When preceding a verb, 有冇 functions as an auxiliary verb to ask whether an event took place in the past (English 'Did you...?' or 'Have you...?').
Example: 你有冇睇戲？ (nei5 jau5 mou5 tai2 hei3? - 'Did you watch the movie?')

Key Rules:

  • No 有唔有: 有 cannot be negated with 唔 (m4). The question form must strictly be 有冇.
  • 咗 Redundancy: 有冇 already signals a past action query, so adding the aspect marker 咗 (zo2) is redundant in standard Cantonese (e.g., say 你有冇食飯呀？ instead of 你有冇食咗飯呀？), though combining them occurs casually in informal speech.
  • Answering: To answer 'yes', repeat the positive verb: 有 (jau5) or 有呀 (jau5 aa3). To answer 'no', repeat the negative verb: 冇 (mou5) or 冇呀 (mou5 aa3).

Examples (4)

  1. 你有冇時間呀？

    Do you have time?

    Word by Word: you have-not-have time [particle]

    '有冇' is directly followed by the noun '時間' (si4 gaan3, time) to ask about possession.

  2. 呢度有冇洗手間呀？

    Is there a washroom here?

    Word by Word: here have-not-have washroom [particle]

    '有冇' asks whether a location (呢度, 'here') contains a specific place.

  3. 你尋日有冇去睇戲呀？

    Did you go to watch a movie yesterday?

    Word by Word: you yesterday have-not-have go watch movie [particle]

    Preceding the verb phrase '去睇戲' (go watch a movie), '有冇' asks about a past occurrence.

  4. 你有冇去過香港呀？

    Have you ever been to Hong Kong?

    Word by Word: you have-not-have go [experiential] Hong Kong [particle]

    Combining '有冇' with the experiential marker '過' (gwo3) asks whether someone has ever had a past experience.

Common Mistakes

  • Trying to negate 有 (jau5) with 唔 (m4).

    你有唔有錢呀？
    你有冇錢呀？

    Unlike standard verbs that take 唔 (m4) in A-not-A questions (like 食唔食), 有 (jau5) is irregular and can only be negated by 冇 (mou5).

  • Combining 有冇 (jau5 mou5) with the perfective aspect marker 咗 (zo2).

    Different Meaning你有冇食咗飯呀？
    你有冇食飯呀？

    The auxiliary '有冇' already indicates that you are asking about a past event, making '咗' redundant. While heard in casual speech, dropping '咗' is preferred in standard Cantonese structure.

  • Using 有冇 + Verb to ask about immediate present intention or willingness.

    Different Meaning你有冇去呀？
    你去唔去呀？

    '有冇 + Verb' asks whether a past action occurred ('Did you go?'). To ask about present intention or willingness, use 'V + 唔 + V' (去唔去).

How It Connects

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有冇Level 1Do You Have

Learn This First

To understand 'jau5 mou5', you first need to know the individual verbs for 'to have' (jau5) and 'not have' (mou5). It also helps to understand the general Cantonese logic of forming questions by placing the affirmative and negative forms of a verb together.

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