我/你/佢

Basic Pronouns

Level 1Sounds Like keoi5

Cantonese uses three core singular pronouns: 我 (ngo5) for 'I/me', 你 (nei5) for 'you', and 佢 (keoi5) for 'he/him/she/her/it'. Pronouns never change form based on whether they are the subject or object of a sentence.

How It Works

1. The Three Basic Pronouns
Everyday spoken Cantonese relies on three fundamental personal pronouns:

  • 我 (ngo5): I / me
  • 你 (nei5): You
  • 佢 (keoi5): He / him / she / her / it

2. No Case Inflection
Unlike languages that change pronoun forms based on position (such as English 'I' vs. 'me'), Cantonese pronouns remain identical in subject, direct object, and indirect object positions:
• 我打佢 (ngo5 daa2 keoi5) = 'I hit him/her.'
• 佢打我 (keoi5 daa2 ngo5) = 'He/She hits me.'

3. Gender Neutrality and Inanimate Reference
The pronoun 佢 (keoi5) is completely gender-neutral. In addition to people and animals, 佢 can refer to inanimate objects, mostly when placed in the object position (e.g., 食埋佢 sik6 maai4 keoi5 = 'eat it up'). However, Cantonese usually avoids using 佢 as an inanimate subject (like 'it is raining'). Instead, Cantonese drops the pronoun entirely or uses demonstratives such as 呢個 / 嗰個 (ni1 go3 / go2 go3).

4. Plurals and Possessives
To make pronouns plural, attach the plural suffix 哋 (dei6):
• 我哋 (ngo5 dei6) = we / us
• 你哋 (nei5 dei6) = you (plural)
• 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6) = they / them

To express possession, Cantonese offers two primary structures:
1. Attach 嘅 (ge3) after a pronoun (e.g., 我嘅 ngo5 ge3 = 'my / mine').
2. Place a classifier directly between the pronoun and the noun (e.g., 我個朋友 ngo5 go3 pang4 jau5 = 'my friend', 我本書 ngo5 bun2 syu1 = 'my book'). This [Pronoun + Classifier + Noun] structure is a distinct everyday possessive pattern in spoken Cantonese. (Possessive markers are also naturally omitted before close family terms, e.g., 我媽媽 ngo5 maa1 maa1 = 'my mom').

Examples (4)

  1. 我等緊你。

    I am waiting for you.

    Word by Word: I wait [progressive] you.

    Demonstrates 我 (ngo5) as the subject ('I') and 你 (nei5) as the object ('you').

  2. 佢琴日冇嚟上堂。

    He/She didn't come to class yesterday.

    Word by Word: He/She yesterday didn't come attend class.

    Illustrates 佢 (keoi5) used as a gender-neutral third-person subject.

  3. 呢本書係佢嘅。

    This book is his/hers.

    Word by Word: This [classifier] book is he/she [possessive].

    Shows how 佢 combines with 嘅 (ge3) to express possessive 'his' or 'hers'.

  4. 你食咗飯未呀？

    Have you eaten yet?

    Word by Word: You eat [completed] rice not-yet [particle]?

    Demonstrates 你 (nei5) in a standard everyday question.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 佢 (keoi5) as an inanimate dummy subject like English 'it'.

    佢落緊雨。
    落緊雨。

    Cantonese does not use 佢 (keoi5) for dummy weather subjects like 'It is raining'. Simply drop the pronoun and say 落緊雨 (lok6 gan2 jyu5).

  • Attaching the plural suffix 哋 (-dei6) to regular nouns.

    學生哋好聰明。
    啲學生好聰明。

    The plural suffix 哋 (-dei6) is mainly for pronouns (我哋, 你哋, 佢哋). It also attaches to a few words for people, such as 同學哋 in casual speech. For most nouns, plural markers like 啲 (di1) are used.

  • Overusing 您 (nei5) in spoken Cantonese to sound polite.

    您好，您想飲乜嘢？
    你好，你想飲乜嘢？

    Unlike Mandarin, spoken Cantonese rarely uses 您 (nei5). Respect is conveyed through titles, kinship terms, and softening particles, while 你 (nei5) remains the standard pronoun for everyone.

How It Connects

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我/你/佢Level 1Basic Pronouns

Learn This First

Basic pronouns are foundational building blocks of the language. To learn them, a student primarily needs to understand the phonetic system (Jyutping and Tones) to ensure they can pronounce and distinguish 'ngo5', 'nei5', and 'keoi5' correctly.

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