V+壞

The pattern V + 壞 (waai6) functions as a resultative complement and is essential for describing functional failure, spoilage, moral corruption, or extreme physical/psychological states.

1. Functional Malfunction:
It is used when a machine or device stops working. 整壞 (zing2 waai6) specifically means to break something functionally (causing a malfunction). For physical breaking like shattering, snapping, or tearing, use 整爛 (zing2 laan6). If a device wears out over time from excessive use, you 用壞 (jung6 waai6) it. If something (like a toy or gadget) is broken by playing with it, you 玩壞 (waan2 waai6) it.

2. Relationships and Health:
This pattern extends to abstract things like relationships or physical well-being. 搞壞 (gaau2 waai6) means to ruin something internal or systemic, such as 搞壞關係 (gaau2 waai6 gwaan1 hai6) (ruining a relationship) or 搞壞身體 (gaau2 waai6 san1 tai2) (ruining one's health). Note that for ruining a plan, Cantonese often uses a different word such as 搞砸 (gaau2 zaap3).

3. Health and Spoilage:
This pattern is used for bodily harm caused by an action. In active sentences, the word order is Verb + 壞 + Object, such as 食壞個肚 (sik6 waai6 go3 tou5) for an upset stomach or 睇壞眼 (tai2 waai6 ngaan5) for straining one's eyes. However, the object is frequently topicalized to the front of the sentence with 咗, as in 個肚食壞咗 (go3 tou5 sik6 waai6 zo2) or 部機整壞咗 (bou6 gei1 zing2 waai6 zo2). For food, 擺壞 (baai2 waai6) means it spoiled from being left out, and 焗壞 (guk6 waai6) means it spoiled from being trapped in the heat.

4. Passive Construction:
When something is broken by someone else, this pattern frequently pairs with the passive marker 畀 (bei2). For example, 部機畀佢整壞咗 (bou6 gei1 bei2 keoi5 zing2 waai6 zo2) (The machine was broken by him).

5. Moral or Behavioral Corruption:
When applied to people, it means to 'spoil' or 'corrupt.' Many of these compounds are highly transitive and strongly collocate with specific objects. For example, 教壞 (gaau3 waai6) means to teach someone bad things (often seen as 教壞細路 gaau3 waai6 sai3 lou6 - corrupt the kids, or 教壞人 gaau3 waai6 jan4 - corrupt people). Its counterpart 學壞 (hok6 waai6) means to go astray or pick up bad habits. 帶壞 (daai3 waai6) means to lead someone astray through bad influence. To spoil a child, you use 縱壞 (zung3 waai6) or 寵壞 (cung2 waai6).

6. Extreme Physical or Psychological States:
This pattern is also used to describe extreme states that negatively affect a person, such as 激壞 (gik1 waai6) (to infuriate someone / make someone extremely mad), 嚇壞 (haak3 waai6) (scared to death), 餓壞 (ngo6 waai6) (suffering physical damage or illness from starvation), 凍壞 (dung3 waai6) (suffering severe bodily harm from the cold), or 攰壞 (gui6 waai6) (exhausted / extremely tired). Note: Authentic colloquial Cantonese strongly prefers the complement 親 (can1) for catching a chill or suffering from hunger (e.g., 凍親 dung3 can1, 餓親 ngo6 can1), reserving 壞 for when actual severe bodily damage occurs. For extreme feelings without physical damage, 死 (sei2) is preferred (e.g., 嚇死 haak3 sei2). 激壞 (gik1 waai6) is a notable exception that is very commonly used. It can be used actively (e.g., 佢激壞我 keoi5 gik1 waai6 ngo5 - He infuriated me) or as a state (e.g., 我激壞咗 ngo5 gik1 waai6 zo2 - I am infuriated/worried sick).

7. Potential Forms and Durability:
To express whether something can be broken, Cantonese speakers usually use 易壞 (ji6 waai6) (easy to break) or 會壞 (wui5 waai6) (will break). The negative potential form V + 唔 + 壞 is specifically used to highlight that an item is durable or hard-wearing (e.g., 著唔壞 zoek3 m4 waai6 - cannot be worn out).

8. Distinction from 爛 (laan6):
Distinguish this from V + 爛 (laan6). 壞 usually implies an internal, systemic, or functional failure (e.g., a machine breaking down or food spoiling), whereas 爛 implies physical, structural, or visible destruction (e.g., a watch glass shattering or paper tearing).