未

Not Yet

Level 1Sounds Like mei6

Place 未 (mei6) before a verb or adjective to say something has 'not yet' happened. Place it at the end of a sentence to ask '...yet?'

How It Works

1. Meaning and Function
In Cantonese, 未 (mei6) is the standard spoken word for 'not yet'. It negates an action or state up to the present moment while implying that it is expected or intended to happen in the future.

2. How to Use It

  • Before verbs or adjectives: Place 未 (mei6) directly before verbs or predicate adjectives.
    Example: 我未食 (ngo5 mei6 sik6 - 'I haven't eaten yet').
  • Sentence-final questions: Put 未 (mei6) at the end of a sentence to ask if something has happened yet.
    Example: 你準備好未呀？ (nei5 zeon2 bei6 hou2 mei6 aa3? - 'Are you ready yet?').
  • Standalone answer: You can answer 'Not yet' using 未 (mei6) or 未呀 (mei6 aa3) on its own.

3. Crucial Distinctions and Rules

  • 未 vs. 冇: 冇 (mou5) simply states that an event did not happen in the past. 未 (mei6) highlights that it hasn't happened yet.
  • 未 vs. 唔: 唔 (m4) expresses refusal, habit, or general negation ('don't / won't').
  • 未 and 咗: In declarative statements, 未 replaces the completed aspect marker 咗 (zo2) (e.g. 我未食, never *我未食咗). However, 咗 on the verb and 未 at the sentence end combine in completion questions using [Verb + 咗 ... 未？] (e.g. 你食咗飯未呀？ - 'Have you eaten yet?').
  • Combines with 過: You can pair 未 with 過 (gwo3) to mean 'have not yet done before' (e.g. 未去過).

Examples (5)

  1. 我未食飯。

    I haven't eaten yet.

    Word by Word: I not-yet eat rice

    未 (mei6) precedes the verb 食 (sik6, to eat) to indicate that eating has not occurred yet.

  2. 佢哋未到呀。

    They haven't arrived yet.

    Word by Word: They not-yet arrive [particle]

    未 (mei6) is used before the verb 到 (dou3, to arrive) with sentence particle 呀 (aa3).

  3. 你準備好未呀？

    Are you ready yet?

    Word by Word: You prepare finish not-yet [particle]

    Placing 未 (mei6) at the end turns the statement into a polar question asking 'Are you ... yet?'

  4. 我未去過日本。

    I haven't been to Japan yet.

    Word by Word: I not-yet go [experiential] Japan

    未 (mei6) combines naturally with the experiential marker 過 (gwo3) to express 'have not yet done before'.

  5. 呢件衫未乾。

    This shirt isn't dry yet.

    Word by Word: This [classifier] shirt not-yet dry

    未 (mei6) can also negate predicate adjectives like 乾 (gon1, dry).

Common Mistakes

  • Combining 未 (mei6) with the aspect marker 咗 (zo2)

    我未食咗飯。
    我未食飯。

    未 (mei6) negates completion ('not yet'), so adding the completed aspect marker 咗 (zo2) causes a direct logical conflict and is ungrammatical.

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

    Different Meaning你沖咗涼未呀？ — 我冇沖。
    你沖咗涼未呀？ — 我未沖。

    Answering 我冇沖 says you did not shower, a plain fact. 我未沖 (mei6) means 'not yet, but I will'.

  • Using Mandarin 还没 (hái méi) instead of Cantonese 未 (mei6)

    我還沒準備好。
    我未準備好。

    In daily spoken Cantonese, 未 (mei6) on its own is the natural word for 'not yet'. You do not need to calque Mandarin 还没 (hái méi).

How It Connects

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未Level 1Not Yet

Learn This First

To understand '未' (not yet), learners should first be familiar with basic negation in Cantonese and the standard Subject-Verb-Object word order, as '未' functions as a pre-verbal negator indicating an expected action has not occurred.

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