恭喜
gung1 hei2
恭喜 (gung1 hei2) is the Cantonese way to say congratulations.
The standard way to express approbation is 恭喜. To make your expression sound more enthusiastic and natural in casual spoken Cantonese, you can add 晒 to the end to form 恭喜晒, which means congratulations on everything or congratulations completely. You can also direct your congratulations specifically toward the person you are speaking to by adding the pronoun 你 after the phrase, resulting in 恭喜晒你.
Meaning: expressing approbation (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 恭喜 is composed of 恭, meaning to congratulate or be respectful and 喜, meaning happiness or joy.
How does it change in a sentence?
To add emphasis and convey a sense of warmth or friendliness, you can reduplicate the phrase as 恭喜恭喜.
How do you pronounce it?
gung1 hei2
When do people say it?
During Chinese New Year, people use the specific celebratory greeting 恭喜發財 to wish someone both congratulations and prosperity.
Did you know?
- In Cantonese culture, receiving 恭喜 for a pregnancy is sometimes handled with modesty, where the recipient may downplay the news to avoid 'bad luck'.
- The word 喜 is so strongly associated with happiness that it appears in the 'Double Happiness' symbol 囍, which is pasted on doors during weddings.
- During the Lunar New Year, the phrase 恭喜發財 is often paired with the giving of 利是, which are red envelopes containing money.
Examples in context
- 恭喜晒你呀！gung1 hei2 saai3 nei5 aa3!Congratulations to you!
- 要恭喜你升職呀。jiu3 gung1 hei2 nei5 sing1 zik1 aa3.I must congratulate you on your promotion.
- 恭喜晒你攞到獎！gung1 hei2 saai3 nei5 lo2 dou2 zoeng2!Congratulations on winning the award!
Example conversation
Two colleagues are chatting in the office after an announcement.
- 志強 Chi Keung嘉欣，恭喜晒你呀！gaa1 jan1, gung1 hei2 saai3 nei5 aa3!Ka Yan, congratulations!
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan多謝你呀，志強。do1 ze6 nei5 aa3, zi3 koeng4.Thank you, Chi Keung.
- 志強 Chi Keung聽講你升咗職。ting1 gong2 nei5 sing1 zo2 zik1.I heard you got promoted.
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan係呀，真係好開心。hai6 aa3, zan1 hai6 hou2 hoi1 sam1.Yes, I am really happy.
