睏 / 困
fan³
To sleep in Cantonese is 睏 / 困 (fan³), 瞓 /𰥛, 睏覺 / 困觉 or 瞓覺 /𰥛觉.
Meaning: to rest in state of reduced consciousness (verb)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 睏 / 困 | fan³ |
| 瞓 /𰥛 | fan³ |
| 睏覺 / 困觉 | fan³ gaau³ |
| 瞓覺 /𰥛觉 | fan³ gaau³ |
The verb is used to describe the act of resting in a state of reduced consciousness. In daily conversation, it is very common to use the verb phrases 睏覺 / 困觉 or 瞓覺 /𰥛觉 to mean 'to sleep'.
Which one should you use?
The forms 睏 / 困 and 瞓 /𰥛 are both used, but 瞓 /𰥛 specifically refers to the action of sleeping, whereas 睏 / 困 often emphasizes the state of being sleepy. Using the verb with the suffix 覺 (gaau3) makes the phrase sound more natural in colloquial speech.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To express that someone has already slept, you add the aspect particle 咗 (zo2) after the verb, resulting in the phrase 瞓咗覺.
How do you pronounce it?
fan³
Did you know?
- In Cantonese, the word 覺 in 瞓覺 literally means 'awakening' or 'consciousness' despite being used to describe the act of sleeping.
- Cantonese speakers often use the phrase 瞓死 (sleep dead) to describe a very deep or satisfying sleep, without implying any actual danger.
- The character 瞓 is a specifically Cantonese character that is not used in Standard Written Chinese, where 睡 is used instead.
Example sentences for Cantonese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sleep” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
