祝你好運 / 祝你好运
zuk¹ nei⁵ hou² wan⁶
The phrase "good luck" in Cantonese is expressed as 祝你好運 / 祝你好运 (zuk¹ nei⁵ hou² wan⁶).
祝你好運 / 祝你好运 is used to wish fortune upon someone or to provide encouragement.
Meaning: used to wish fortune on someone or as encouragement (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "wish you good luck", where 祝 means "to wish", 你 means "you", 好 means "good" and 運 means "luck".
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
zuk¹ nei⁵ hou² wan⁶
Did you know?
- For a person about to perform on stage, Cantonese speakers might say 加油 (gaa1 jau1), which literally means 'add oil' instead of 'good luck'.
- The character 運 in 祝你好運 is related to the concept of 'movement' or 'transport'. In Chinese thought, luck is not a static state but a flowing current that moves toward or away from a person.
- To amplify the wish for luck, Cantonese speakers often pair it with the number 8, which sounds like the word for 'wealth' or 'prosper'. People may seek out 'lucky' dates or times featuring 8 to maximize the effect of the wish.
Example sentences for Cantonese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “good luck” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
