V+晒

All of It / Completely

Level 2Sounds Like saai3

The suffix 晒 (saai3) attaches directly after a verb or adjective to indicate that an action or state applies to 100% of its target, meaning 'all', 'completely', or 'everyone'.

How It Works

V+晒 (saai3) is a core aspectual suffix and verbal quantifier in Cantonese. It emphasizes total completeness, leaving nothing behind.

1. What 晒 Quantifies:

  • Direct Objects: Quantifies the noun being acted upon (e.g., 食晒啲嘢 sik6 saai3 di1 je5 = 'eat all the food').
  • Plural Subjects: Quantifies plural subjects with intransitive verbs (e.g., 啲人走晒 di1 jan4 zau2 saai3 = 'everyone left').
  • Adjectives / States: Expresses 100% state or maximum degree (e.g., 啱晒 ngaam1 saai3 = 'completely correct / perfect').
  • Politeness: Functions as a degree intensifier for gratitude (e.g., 唔該晒 m4 goi1 saai3 = 'thank you so much').

2. Key Nuances & Distinctions:

  • V+完 vs. V+晒: V+完 (jyun4) focuses on procedural/temporal completion ('finished doing X'), whereas V+晒 emphasizes total quantity ('did ALL of X').
  • 咗 vs. V+晒: 咗 (zo2) is a basic perfective marker, while V+晒 explicitly highlights that 100% of the target was affected.
  • Combining with 都: The pre-verbal adverb 都 (dou1) often co-occurs with V+晒 for double emphasis (e.g., 啲人都走晒).

3. Negation & Potential Structures:

  • Partial Negation (唔 + V + 晒): Expresses deliberate partial completion (e.g., 唔食晒 = 'did not / will not eat all of it').
  • Potential Inability (V+唔+晒): Infixing 唔 between the verb and 晒 indicates physical or practical inability to finish (e.g., 食唔晒 = 'cannot finish eating all of it').
  • Depletion (冇晒): Expresses 'completely run out of' (e.g., 冇晒電 = 'completely out of battery').

Examples (4)

  1. 細妹食晒啲朱古力。

    Younger sister ate all the chocolate.

    Word by Word: Younger-sister eat all [plural classifier] chocolate.

    Attaching 晒 (saai3) directly to 食 (sik6) indicates that every piece of the chocolate was eaten.

  2. 啲功課我做晒喇。

    I have finished all the homework.

    Word by Word: [Plural classifier] homework I do all [change of state].

    Using 晒 (saai3) emphasizes that 100% of the homework assignments are complete.

  3. 部手提電話冇晒電。

    The mobile phone is completely out of battery.

    Word by Word: [Classifier] mobile phone not-have all electricity.

    Combining 冇 (mou5) with 晒 (saai3) expresses that battery power is totally depleted.

  4. 啲客人走晒。

    The customers have all left.

    Word by Word: [Plural classifier] customer leave all.

    With intransitive verbs like 走 (zau2), 晒 quantifies the plural subject ('all customers').

Common Mistakes

  • Placing 晒 before the verb due to Mandarin transfer (mirroring 全 or 都).

    我晒食啲嘢。
    我食晒啲嘢。

    In Cantonese, 晒 (saai3) is a post-verbal suffix and must follow directly after the verb stem, never before it.

  • Using pre-verbal 唔 when trying to express inability to finish everything.

    Different Meaning我唔食晒啲飯。
    我食唔晒啲飯。

    我唔食晒啲飯 is a fine sentence, but it means I do not eat all of the rice (a choice, or not everything gets eaten). To say you cannot finish it, put 唔 inside the potential form: 食唔晒 (sik6 m4 saai3).

How It Connects

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V+晒Level 2All of It / Completely

Learn This First

To understand 'V+晒', you need to be familiar with how Cantonese attaches particles directly after verbs. It is also helpful to understand plural classifiers like '啲' because '晒' often refers to 'all' of a plural set of objects, and the perfective aspect '咗' because the pattern frequently describes actions that have been completely finished.

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