同/同埋

And / with

Level 1Sounds Like tung4 maai4

'同' (tung4) and '同埋' (tung4 maai4) mean 'and' or 'with'. Place them before nouns to join them, or before verb phrases to show accompaniment ('with'), target ('to'), benefactive ('for'), or borrowing ('from').

How It Works

1. Connecting Nouns ('And')
Both 同 (tung4) and 同埋 (tung4 maai4) join nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases.
Example: 蘋果同埋橙 (ping4 gwo2 tung4 maai4 caang2 - 'apples and oranges').
The particle 埋 (maai4) adds an extra nuance of inclusion or togetherness ('and also', 'along with'). Furthermore, 同埋 can stand alone at the beginning of a clause to mean 'Plus...' or 'And furthermore...', which plain 同 cannot do on its own.

2. Preposition Functions ('With', 'To', 'For', 'From')
When expressing accompaniment ('with'), both 同 and 同埋 function naturally before the verb:
• Accompaniment ('with'): 我同你一齊去 / 我同埋你一齊去 (ngo5 tung4 [maai4] nei5 jat1 cai4 heoi3 - 'I go together with you').
However, plain 同 is used for other coverb roles where 同埋 does not fit:
• Target ('to'): 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2 - 'speak to me').
• Benefactive ('for'): 同我買包米 (tung4 ngo5 maai5 baau1 mai5 - 'buy a bag of rice for me').
• Source ('from'): 同佢借錢 (tung4 keoi5 ze3 cin2 - 'borrow money from him/her').

3. Equality Comparisons ('As / With')
In equality comparisons like A 同 B 一樣 (A tung4 B jat1 joeng6 - 'A is the same as B'), both 同 and 同埋 are completely natural and widely used in spoken Cantonese. When followed by an adjective, native speakers usually insert 咁 (gam3) before the adjective: 佢同我一樣咁高 (keoi5 tung4 ngo5 jat1 joeng6 gam3 gou1 - 'He is as tall as me'). To express 'not the same as', simply use 同...唔一樣 (tung4... m4 jat1 joeng6).

4. Key Word Order & Usage Rules
• Preverbal Position: In Cantonese, prepositional phrases go before the main verb, NOT after. Do not say *我睇戲同你; say 我同你睇戲.
• Not for Action Clauses: Do not use 同 or 同埋 to connect two action clauses ('I ate AND then watched TV'). Use 跟住 (gan1 zyu6) or 然後 (jin4 hau6) instead.

Examples (5)

  1. 我同你一齊去睇戲。

    I will go watch a movie with you.

    Word by Word: I with you together go watch movie

    The prepositional phrase '同你' (with you) comes before the main verb phrase '去睇戲' (go watch a movie).

  2. 我買咗蘋果同埋橙。

    I bought apples and oranges.

    Word by Word: I bought apple and orange

    '同埋' links the two noun objects '蘋果' (apples) and '橙' (oranges).

  3. 佢同我講咗呢件事。

    He spoke to me about this matter.

    Word by Word: He to me speak completed this item matter

    Here '同' acts as 'to', specifying the listener before the verb '講' (speak).

  4. 我同佢借咗少少錢。

    I borrowed a little money from him.

    Word by Word: I from him borrow completed a little money

    When paired with '借' (borrow), '同' functions as 'from'.

  5. 佢同我一樣高。

    He is as tall as me.

    Word by Word: He with me same tall

    '同' links the benchmark in the equality comparison pattern 'A 同 B 一樣'.

Common Mistakes

  • Placing the prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence (English word order)

    我睇戲同你。
    我同你睇戲。

    In Cantonese, prepositional phrases specifying accompaniment must go BEFORE the verb phrase, not after.

  • Using 同 or 同埋 to connect two action clauses

    我去咗屋企同埋食咗飯。
    我去咗屋企，跟住食咗飯。

    同 and 同埋 only join nouns or noun phrases. To join sequential actions ('and then'), use 跟住 (gan1 zyu6) or 然後 (jin4 hau6).

  • Using 同埋 instead of plain 同 for target ('to') or benefactive ('for') functions

    請你同埋我講。
    請你同我講。

    While both 同 and 同埋 can be used for accompaniment ('with'), only plain 同 is used when indicating target ('to someone') or benefactive ('for someone').

How It Connects

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同/同埋Level 1And / with

Learn This First

To use 'tung4' or 'tung4 maai4' effectively, you need to know basic pronouns to identify who you are with, and understand basic Cantonese word order to place the conjunction correctly between nouns or before a verb phrase.

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