眼睛
ngaan5 zing1
The English phrase "eyes" is translated into Cantonese as 眼睛 (ngaan5 zing1).
The term refers to the organs of the body used for seeing.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 眼睛 is composed of the characters 睛 (eye or pupil) and 眼 (eye).
Which one should you use?
眼睛 is the standard term for eyes. In many colloquial contexts or compound words, the single character 眼 is often used instead of the full term. There is also a formal term, 目, which can be used for eyes.
How do you pronounce it?
ngaan5 zing1
Did you know?
- In Cantonese, the word 眼 is used in the term 眼紅, which literally means 'red eyes' but describes the act of being moved to tears or feeling envious.
- The character 目 is an ancient pictograph that originally looked like a human eye, and it still appears in many formal Cantonese texts today.
- The term 眼界 (ngaan5 gaai3), which literally translates to 'eye boundary', is used to describe a person's breadth of vision or level of sophistication.
Examples in context
- 當法老靠近嘅時候，以色列人抬起眼睛，見到後面嘅埃及人，佢哋就極度驚恐，向耶和華呼求。佢哋對摩西講：可能埃及冇墳墓，所以你帶我哋去曠野死，你點解要咁做，帶我哋出埃及呢？And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifting up their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried to the Lord. And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?This sentence shows the use of 眼睛 when describing people lifting their eyes in fear.Tatoeba #13488988 by Davidgo5867, translation #8041694 by carlosalberto
- 佢有一雙靚眼。She has beautiful eyes.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about someone's appearance.
- 子健 Tsz Kin你覺得佢對眼睛係咪好靚？nei5 gok3 dak1 keoi5 deoi3 ngaan5 zing3 hai6 mai6 hou2 leng3?Do you think her eyes are very beautiful?
- 美玲 Mei Ling係呀，佢對眼睛好大。hai6 aa3, keoi5 deoi3 ngaan5 zing3 hou2 daai6.Yes, she has very big eyes.
- 子健 Tsz Kin我最鍾意佢對眼睛嘅顏色。ngo5 zeoi3 zung1 ji3 keoi5 deoi3 ngaan5 zing3 ge3 jan4 sik1.I like the color of her eyes the most.
- 美玲 Mei Ling我同意，好有神。ngo5 tung4 ji3, hou2 jau5 san4.I agree, they are very spirited.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
