唔理...都...

Regardless...still...

Level 3Sounds Like m4 lei5 . . . dou1 . . .

The pattern 唔理 (m4 lei5)... 都 (dou1)... means 'Regardless of...' or 'No matter...'. It is the standard way in spoken Cantonese to say that a specific outcome is inevitable, no matter what the circumstances are.

How It Works

1. Meaning and Usage
唔理 (m4 lei5) literally means 'not care' or 'ignore'. As a conjunction, it functions like 'Regardless of' or 'No matter'. It is highly colloquial and used in daily conversation. For formal contexts, speakers use 無論 (mou4 leon6) or 不管 (bat1 gun2) instead. A very colloquial alternative is 話之 (waa6 zi1), which carries a stronger 'I don't care' attitude.

A very common idiom using this pattern is 唔理三七二十一 (m4 lei5 saam1 cat1 ji6 sap6 jat1), which literally means 'not caring if three times seven is twenty-one'. It is used to mean 'regardless of the consequences' or 'casting caution to the wind'.

2. What follows 唔理?
The subject of the first clause usually follows the conjunction (e.g., 唔理你... m4 lei5 nei5...). You cannot just put a simple statement after 唔理; it must be a 'choice' or a 'variable'. Common structures include:

  • A-not-A Questions: 唔理你去唔去 (Regardless of whether you go or not).
  • Wh-Question Words: 唔理邊個 (No matter who), 唔理幾時 (No matter when).
  • Alternative Questions: 唔理係你定係佢 (Regardless of whether it's you or him).
  • Noun Phrases: 唔理天氣 (Regardless of the weather). In natural speech, nouns are often followed by a variable like 好唔好 (hou2 m4 hou2) or 點樣 (dim2 joeng2) for better flow (e.g., 唔理天氣點樣 regardless of how the weather is).

3. The Role of 都 (dou1)
In Cantonese, the logic of 'regardless' feels incomplete without a correlative adverb in the second clause. 都 (dou1) is the most common, acting as the 'still' or 'all' that reinforces the outcome. Occasionally, 就 (zau6) or the adverb 仲 (zung6) can be used to add different nuances of emphasis.

Examples (4)

  1. 唔理你鍾唔鍾意，都要交稅。

    Regardless of whether you like it or not, you still have to pay tax.

    Word by Word: Not care you like not like, all must pay tax.

    This uses the V唔V pattern (鍾唔鍾意) to show a choice between two options.

  2. 唔理幾貴，我都會買。

    No matter how expensive it is, I will still buy it.

    Word by Word: Not care how expensive, I all will buy.

    Here, 幾 (gei2) acts as 'how' to create a variable of price.

  3. 唔理係邊個打嚟，我都唔接電話。

    No matter who is calling, I'm not answering the phone.

    Word by Word: Not care is who call come, I all not pick-up phone.

    This uses the question word 邊個 (bin1 go3) to mean 'whoever'.

  4. 唔理聽日落唔落雨，我哋都去行山。

    Regardless of whether it rains tomorrow, we are going hiking.

    Word by Word: Not care tomorrow fall not fall rain, we all go walk mountain.

    The A-not-A form 落唔落雨 (lok6 m4 lok6 jyu5) covers both possibilities (rain or no rain).

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out 都 (dou1) in the second clause.

    Different Meaning唔理佢去唔去，我要去。
    唔理佢去唔去，我都要去。

    唔理佢去唔去，我要去 is a natural sentence. Adding 都 (dou1) in the second clause stresses 'still': 我都要去 means 'I am going anyway'.

  • Following '唔理' with a fixed statement instead of a variable.

    唔理佢好窮，我都鍾意佢。
    唔理佢幾窮，我都鍾意佢。

    You must use a question word like 幾 (gei2 - how) or an A-not-A form to create a range of possibilities. You can't just say 'Regardless of he is poor'; it must be 'Regardless of how poor he is'.

How It Connects

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

唔理...都...Level 3Regardless...still...

Learn This First

To understand '唔理...都...', you need to be familiar with the inclusive particle '都' (also/all), which marks the result that remains true regardless of the condition. You also need to understand basic negation with '唔' and the general logic of conditional 'no matter' structures in Cantonese.

Words in This Pattern

唔理