一
jat¹
The Cantonese word for the cardinal number one is 一 (jat¹).
一 is used to represent the number 1. Related to this is the character 人, which can function as an indefinite personal pronoun meaning any person or people in general.
Meaning: cardinal number 1 (num)
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
jat¹
Did you know?
- The word 'one' is part of the phrase 一律 (jat1 leot6), which can mean 'all' or 'uniformly', showing how a single unit can represent an entire group.
- In Cantonese, 'one' can be used to express the idea of 'as soon as' in a grammatical structure, such as in 一…就… (jat1… zau6…), which links two actions immediately together.
- In Hong Kong markets, people often use the hand gesture for 一 by extending the index finger, but in some contexts, a thumb extended upwards is used instead.
Examples in context
- 呢條河有一咪闊。This river is one mile across.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use 一 when describing measurements.Tatoeba #419261 by nickyeow, translation #58145 by CK
- 一分鐘有六十秒。One minute has sixty seconds.This sentence shows how to use 一 in the context of time.Tatoeba #5374523 by nickyeow, translation #1416883 by CK
- 咖喱魚蛋一蚊一粒。The curry fish balls are one dollar each.This sentence demonstrates using 一 when discussing prices and currency.Tatoeba #675825 by nickyeow, translation #675826 by nickyeow
- 175 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Tsz Kin and Mei Ling are ordering drinks at a cafe.
- 子健 Tsz Kin我想要一杯咖啡。ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 jat1 bui1 gaa3 fe1.I would like one cup of coffee.
- 美玲 Mei Ling好，你要大杯定小杯？hou2, nei5 jiu3 daai6 bui1 ding6 siu2 bui1?Okay, do you want a large or small cup?
- 子健 Tsz Kin一小杯就夠。jat1 siu2 bui1 zau6 gau3.One small cup is enough.
- 美玲 Mei Ling冇問題，請等一會兒。mou5 man6 tai4, cing2 dang2 jat1 wui6 ji4.No problem, please wait a moment.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “one” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
