唔喺

The pattern 唔喺 (m4 hai2) is the standard way to express 'not at' or 'not in'.

Key features of this pattern:

• Simple Existence: When used as a verb to mean 'not present' in a full statement, 喺 (hai2) cannot stand alone. It requires a location object or the placeholder 度 (dou6) (e.g., 佢唔喺度 - He is not here). 唔喺 (m4 hai2) can stand alone as a short answer to a question, but only if a specific location was established in the context (e.g., Q: 你喺唔喺屋企？ A: 唔喺). For general presence questions (e.g., 佢喺唔喺度？), the short answer must retain the placeholder: 唔喺度 (m4 hai2 dou6).
• Tone Warning: Be careful not to mix up 唔喺 (m4 hai2) with 唔係 (m4 hai6). They differ only by tone (Tone 2 vs Tone 6), but mixing them up completely changes the meaning from 'not at' to 'is not'.
• Tense Independence: Like all Cantonese verbs, 喺 (hai2) does not conjugate. 唔喺 (m4 hai2) is tense-independent and can be used for past, present, and future situations (e.g., 尋日我唔喺屋企 - I wasn't home yesterday; 聽日我唔喺香港 - I won't be in Hong Kong tomorrow).
• Negating Action Location: When describing an action, Cantonese places the negated location before the verb. Unlike English 'I don't work at the office', Cantonese says 'I not at office work'.
• Coverb Logic: 喺 (hai2) is a 'coverb'. To negate the location, you must place 唔 (m4) directly before it.
• Continuous Actions: To say someone 'is not currently doing something here', you negate the physical location: 佢唔喺呢度食緊飯 (keoi5 m4 hai2 ni1 dou6 sik6 gan2 faan6 - He is not eating here right now). To neutrally say someone is not currently doing an action (without emphasizing location), a common way is to use 冇 (mou5) with the progressive marker 緊 (gan2): 佢冇食緊飯 (keoi5 mou5 sik6 gan2 faan6 - He is not eating). It is equally standard to use 唔係 (m4 hai6) before the continuous action: 佢唔係食緊飯 (keoi5 m4 hai6 sik6 gan2 faan6 - It's not that he is eating right now). You can also use 冇 (mou5) with 喺度 (hai2 dou6) (e.g., 佢冇喺度食飯 - He is not eating), but note that this can be ambiguous and also mean 'He didn't eat here' because 喺度 means 'here' and 冇 is the negator for completed actions.
• Question Forms: To ask 'at or not at?', use the A-not-A structure 喺唔喺 (hai2 m4 hai2). For example, 你喺唔喺屋企？ (nei5 hai2 m4 hai2 uk1 kei2? - Are you at home?). To ask 'here or not here?', use 喺唔喺度 (hai2 m4 hai2 dou6). Note: You might sometimes see 喺咪 (hai2 mai6) in digital text, but this is almost always a typo for 係咪 (hai6 mai6), as 喺唔喺 does not have a standard single-syllable contraction.
• Informal Typing: In casual digital communication, native speakers often type 係 (hai6) instead of 喺 (hai2) for convenience, so you might see 唔係 (m4 hai6) used to mean 'not at'. Context will tell you if it means 'is not' or 'not at'.
• Colloquial Variants: In casual speech, you may hear 唔響 (m4 hoeng2) as a variant of 唔喺, or 唔喺處 (m4 hai2 syu3) as a variant of 唔喺度.
• Euphemism: Be aware that 唔喺度 (m4 hai2 dou6) is a common euphemism meaning 'to have passed away'. Context usually makes it clear whether someone has just stepped out of the room or has passed away.
• Nuance: Placing 唔 (m4) before 喺 (hai2) specifically denies the location. If you place 唔 (m4) after the location (e.g., 我喺公司唔做嘢), you are negating the action itself (e.g., I am at the office but not working), rather than the location.
• Written vs. Spoken: 唔喺 (m4 hai2) is strictly for spoken Cantonese and informal writing. In Standard Written Chinese, you must write 不在 (bat1 zoi6).