越嚟越

More and More

Level 2Sounds Like jyut6 lai4 jyut6

Use 越嚟越 (jyut6 lai4 jyut6) before an adjective or psychological verb to mean 'more and more' or 'getting progressively...'

How It Works

The fixed pattern 越嚟越 (jyut6 lai4 jyut6, also pronounced jyut6 lei4 jyut6 in speech) tracks a single continuous trend over time without requiring a secondary cause or condition.

1. Basic Sentence Structure:
[Subject] + 越嚟越 + [Adjective / Stative Verb]

2. What It Can Modify:

  • Adjectives: 啲嘢越嚟越貴 (di1 je5 jyut6 lai4 jyut6 gwai3 - 'Things are getting more and more expensive').
  • Stative / Psychological Verbs: 我越嚟越鍾意食廣東菜 (ngo5 jyut6 lai4 jyut6 zung1 ji3 sik6 gwong2 dung1 coi3 - 'I like eating Cantonese food more and more').

3. Important Usage Constraints:

  • No redundant degree adverbs: Because 越嚟越 already specifies continuous increase in degree, do not add adverbs like 好 (hou2 'very') or 非常 (fei1 soeng4 'extremely') after it. Say 越嚟越貴, not 越嚟越好貴.
  • No bare dynamic action verbs: A bare physical action verb usually does not work directly after 越嚟越 (e.g., 越嚟越食 sounds incomplete). To express increasing frequency or desire to perform an action, pair it with a mental state or modal verb like 想 (soeng2 'want to'), as in 越嚟越想食 ('want to eat more and more').
  • Not for correlative comparisons: To express 'the more X, the more Y' (where one variable depends on another), use 越...越... rather than 越嚟越.

Examples (4)

  1. 啲嘢越嚟越貴。

    Things keep getting more and more expensive.

    Word by Word: Plural-classifier things more-and-more expensive.

    Here 越嚟越 directly modifies the adjective 貴 (gwai3, 'expensive') to indicate an ongoing rising price trend.

  2. 我越嚟越鍾意食廣東菜。

    I like eating Cantonese food more and more.

    Word by Word: I more-and-more like eat Cantonese dish.

    越嚟越 modifies the psychological verb 鍾意 (zung1 ji3, 'to like').

  3. 天氣越嚟越凍。

    The weather is getting colder and colder.

    Word by Word: Weather more-and-more cold.

    Modifies the weather adjective 凍 (dung3, 'cold'). Notice that no sentence particle at the end is required.

  4. 佢越嚟越想去旅行。

    She wants to go traveling more and more.

    Word by Word: She more-and-more want go travel.

    Because 去 (heoi3, 'to go') is an action verb, 越嚟越 attaches to the auxiliary mental verb 想 (soeng2, 'want') instead.

Common Mistakes

  • Inserting a degree adverb like 好 (hou2) after 越嚟越.

    啲嘢越嚟越好貴。
    啲嘢越嚟越貴。

    越嚟越 already denotes high and increasing intensity. Adding degree markers like 好 (hou2) or 很 (han2) creates an ungrammatical redundancy.

  • Attaching 越嚟越 directly to a physical action verb.

    我越嚟越食。
    我越嚟越想食。

    越嚟越 cannot directly modify dynamic physical action verbs like 食 (sik6, 'eat'). You must use a stative or psychological verb like 想 (soeng2, 'want to').

  • Using 越嚟越 when you mean 越…越… (the more X, the more Y).

    Different Meaning越嚟越貴，越嚟越好。
    越貴越好。

    越嚟越貴，越嚟越好 is natural: both things grow over time ('more and more expensive, and better and better'). For 'the more X, the more Y', use 越貴越好.

How It Connects

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越嚟越Level 2More and More

Learn This First

To understand '越嚟越' (more and more), you need to know how adjectives work in Cantonese and how the directional verb '嚟' is used to show movement or progression. Familiarity with the change-of-state particle '喇' is also helpful as these concepts often appear together.

Words in This Pattern