買 / 买
maai⁵
The Cantonese verb for 'buy' is 買 / 买 (maai⁵).
買 / 买 means to obtain something with money.
Meaning: to obtain something with money (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
To indicate the completed action of having bought something, add the aspect particle 咗 (zo2) after the verb, forming 買咗.
How do you pronounce it?
maai⁵
Did you know?
- The character 買 is a phono-semantic compound where the left side is a 'shell' radical, reflecting how shells were used as currency in ancient China.
- In Cantonese, the word 買 (buy) and the word 賣 (sell) are pronounced almost identically as maai, but they are distinguished by a slight difference in tone.
- The word 買 can be used in the phrase 買路錢 (money to buy the road), which refers to a protection fee paid to gangs or local thugs to pass through a certain area safely.
Examples in context
- 我想買部新手機I want to buy a new phone.
- 佢為朋友嘅生日買咗份禮物She bought a gift for her friend's birthday.
- 我買咗個蘋果。I bought an apple.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “buy” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
