牛肉
ngau⁴ juk⁶
The Cantonese word for "beef" is 牛肉 (ngau⁴ juk⁶).
牛肉 is used to refer to the meat of a cow or ox.
Meaning: meat (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is a compound of 牛 (cow/ox) and 肉 (meat).
How do you pronounce it?
ngau⁴ juk⁶
Did you know?
- The word 肉 (meat) in 牛肉 is used as a generic term for flesh, but in many Cantonese markets, if you just say 肉, people will assume you mean pork.
- In Cantonese slang, referring to someone as a 'cow' or 'ox' (牛) can actually mean they are very impressive or 'cool', which is a completely different usage from the food term.
- In Cantonese, you can add the word 粒 (lap6), meaning 'grain' or 'small round object', to describe a single piece or ball of beef, such as in 'beef balls'.
Examples in context
Example conversation
Ka Yan and Ka Ming are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan今晚你想食咩？gam1 maan5 nei5 soeng2 sik6 me1?What do you want to eat tonight?
- 家明 Ka Ming我想食牛肉麵。ngo5 soeng2 sik6 ngau4 juk1 min6.I want to eat beef noodles.
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan好啊，邊間舖頭好食？hou2 aa3, bin1 gaan1 pou3 tau4 hou2 sik6?Okay, which shop is good?
- 家明 Ka Ming嗰間牛肉店好出名。go2 gaan1 ngau4 juk1 dim3 hou2 ceot1 ming4.That beef shop is very famous.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “beef” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
