How to Say "Covid" in Cantonese

新冠

sān gūn

The Cantonese phrase for covid is 新冠 (sān gūn).

新冠 refers to the disease caused by a coronavirus that was discovered in 2019.

Meaning: disease caused by a coronavirus discovered in 2019 (noun)

Which one should you use?

新冠 is an abbreviated form, whereas 新冠肺炎 is the full, formal name for COVID-19.

The romanization is sān gūn.

In Cantonese, the word 冠 ('crown') also appears in terms for 'champion', meaning the virus is named using a word usually reserved for winners.
In Cantonese, the character 冠 (gūn) means 'crown', which refers to the crown-like shape of the coronavirus seen under a microscope.
While 新冠 is the standard term, you might hear people in Hong Kong or Guangdong refer to it simply as Corona or use the English acronym 'COVID' in casual speech.

如果冇新冠嘅話，我就去咗環遊世界喇！
If there were no Covid, I would travel around the world!
This sentence is useful for seeing how to use 新冠 in a conditional context.
Tatoeba #10798169 by LeeSooHa, translation #10798170 by LeeSooHa
你知唔知點樣避免染新冠肺炎？
Do you know how to prevent contracting COVID-19?
頻繁洗手同戴口罩係好緊要嘅。
It's important to frequently wash your hands and wear a mask.
好耐冇新个案，但仍然要保持警惕。
There haven't been any new cases for a while, but we still need to remain vigilant.
新聞話新冠個種病毒好勁。
san1 man4 waa6 san1 gwaan1 go3 zung2 bing3 duy6 hou2 ging6.
The news says that covid virus is very strong.

Two friends are discussing health precautions.

子健 Tsz Kin

你覺得而家仲要擔心新冠嗎？
nei5 gok3 dak1 ji4 gaa1 zung6 jiu3 daam1 sam1 san1 gun3 maa3?
Do you think we still need to worry about covid now?
曉彤 Hiu Tung

應該要小心啲，因為仲有病毒。
jing1 goi1 jiu3 siu2 sam1 di1, jan1 wai6 zung6 jau5 bing1 duk6.
We should still be careful because the virus is still around.
子健 Tsz Kin

係，但我唔想一直戴口罩。
hai6, daan6 si6 ngo5 m4 soeng2 jat1 zik6 daai3 hau3 zau2.
True, but I don't want to wear a mask all the time.
曉彤 Hiu Tung

子健，健康最緊要。
zi2 gin6, gin6 hong1 zeoi3 gan2 jiu3.
Zi Jian, health is the most important thing.

Sources

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