上個禮拜
soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3
In Cantonese, "last week" is 上個禮拜 (soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3).
上個禮拜 is used as an adverb to refer to the week immediately preceding the current one.
Meaning: week before this one (adv)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 上個禮拜 is composed of 上個 (last/previous), 禮拜 (week) and the classifier 個 (piece/unit).
Which one should you use?
While 上個禮拜 is the standard colloquial term, 上個星期 (soeng6 go3 sing1 kei4) serves as a more formal synonym for the same concept.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
上個禮拜 is the more common, colloquial way to say "last week" in spoken Cantonese.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Cantonese, time phrases like 上個禮拜 typically function as adverbials and are placed either at the very beginning of the sentence or immediately before the verb.
How do you pronounce it?
soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3
Did you know?
- The word 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) literally means 'worship' or 'bowing'. It was adopted to mean 'week' because of the Christian tradition of attending Sunday service.
- In Cantonese, the concept of 'up' (上) is used for 'last' or 'previous' when referring to time, which is the opposite of the English 'back' or 'past'.
- If you are talking about 'the week before last', you would say 上上個禮拜 (soeng6 soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3).
Examples in context
- 佢上個禮拜病咗。He was sick last week.This sentence shows how to use 上個禮拜 to describe a past state of health.Tatoeba #821424 by nickyeow, translation #272762 by CK
- 我哋上個禮拜好忙。We were very busy last week.This sentence illustrates using 上個禮拜 to describe a state of being busy.Tatoeba #4778597 by kaenif, translation #248967 by CK
- 上個禮拜有五個人冇返學。Last week five students were absent from class.This sentence shows the use of 上個禮拜 when discussing attendance or absence.Tatoeba #426907 by nickyeow, translation #272711 by CK
- 上個星期嘅天氣Last week's weather
- 你上個星期睇咗部戲未呀?Did you watch the movie last week?
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a movie they saw.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting你上個禮拜睇咗邊套戲？nei5 soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3 tai2 zo2 bin1 tou3 hei3?Which movie did you watch last week?
- 志強 Chi Keung我上個禮拜睇咗嗰套科幻片。ngo5 soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3 tai2 zo2 go2 tou3 fo1 waan6 pin2.I watched that sci-fi movie last week.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting志強，嗰套戲好睇嗎？zi3 koeng4, go2 tou3 hei3 hou2 tai2 maa1?Zhiqiang, was that movie good?
- 志強 Chi Keung非常之好睇。fei1 soeng4 zi1 hou2 tai2.It was very good.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
