未+V

Not Yet

Level 1Sounds Like mei6

Place 未 (mei6) directly before a verb to mean 'not yet'. Unlike simple past negation, it carries an expectation or intention that the action will eventually take place.

How It Works

What is 未 (mei6)?
The particle 未 (mei6) translates directly to 'not yet' in English. It is placed immediately before a verb or modal verb (such as 想 soeng2 'want to') to indicate that an action or state has not occurred up to the present moment, but is expected or intended to happen later.

Choosing Between Negators:
Cantonese features three main pre-verbal negators, and picking the right one depends on your meaning:

  • 唔 (m4): 'don't / won't' — negates habits, general truths, or willingness (e.g., 我唔食肉 'I don't eat meat').
  • 冇 (mou5): 'didn't / have not' — factual past negation without implying future intent (e.g., 我冇食肉 'I didn't eat meat').
  • 未 (mei6): 'not yet' — indicates an expected action hasn't happened yet (e.g., 我未食肉 'I haven't eaten meat yet').

Rule: Dropping 咗 (zo2)
Because 未 inherently marks non-completion, you must drop the perfective aspect marker 咗 (zo2) in negative statements. Saying *我未食咗飯 is ungrammatical.

Combining with Experiential Aspect 過 (gwo3)
While 咗 is forbidden, you can freely pair 未 with 過 (gwo3) to form 未 + V + 過, meaning 'have not yet experienced' (e.g., 我未去過日本 'I haven't been to Japan yet').

Examples (4)

  1. 我未食飯。

    I haven't eaten (yet).

    Word by Word: I not-yet eat rice

    未 (mei6) is placed right before the verb 食 (sik6) to show that eating dinner has not happened yet, but likely will.

  2. 佢未起身。

    He hasn't gotten up yet.

    Word by Word: He not-yet get-up body

    Negates the verb phrase 起身 (hei2 san1 'get up'), implying that he is expected to wake up soon.

  3. 我未去過日本。

    I haven't been to Japan yet.

    Word by Word: I not-yet go EVER Japan

    Combines 未 (mei6) with the experiential marker 過 (gwo3) to state that the speaker hasn't experienced traveling to Japan yet.

  4. 我哋未想走。

    We don't want to leave yet.

    Word by Word: We not-yet want leave

    未 (mei6) precedes the auxiliary verb 想 (soeng2 'want to') to mean 'do not want to [verb] yet'.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the aspect marker 咗 (zo2) after the verb when using pre-verbal 未 (mei6).

    我未食咗飯。
    我未食飯。

    Pre-verbal 未 (mei6) already expresses non-completion, so attaching the completed-action marker 咗 (zo2) in declarative sentences is grammatically illegal.

  • Using 冇 (mou5) when you mean 'not yet'.

    Different Meaning我冇準備好。
    我未準備好。

    我冇準備好 is natural, but it sounds like a plain statement that you did not prepare. 未 (mei6) says you are not ready yet but will be. Use 未 for 'not yet'.

How It Connects

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

未+VLevel 1Not Yet

Learn This First

To understand '未+V', learners must first be familiar with the perfective aspect marker '咗' because '未' functions as its negative 'not yet' counterpart. It is also helpful to understand the basic negation of completed actions using '冇' to distinguish between 'did not' and 'have not yet'.

Words in This Pattern