How to Say "Swallow" in Cantonese

吞

tan¹

The Cantonese word for 'swallow' is 吞 (tan¹). Wiktionary also lists 吞落肚 (tan¹ lok⁶ tou⁵).

Meaning: to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach (verb)

Ways to say it

“swallow” in Cantonese
Cantonese	Romanization (Wiktionary)
吞	tan¹
吞落肚	tan¹ lok⁶ tou⁵

The single character 吞 is used for the physical act of swallowing, but it can also be used metaphorically for 'devouring' or 'engulfing' something.

The phrase 吞落肚 is a more descriptive way to say swallow, literally meaning 'swallow down into the belly'.

To express that the action of swallowing has been completed, you can add the aspect marker 咗 after the verb 吞.

tan¹

While 吞 means 'swallow', the Cantonese word for 'swallow' the bird is 燕, which is used in the luxury delicacy 'bird's nest soup' made from the saliva of swiftlets.
While 吞 is used for swallowing, if you want to describe swallowing a large amount of food or drink greedily, you might use the more evocative term 狼吞虎咽.
In Cantonese slang, 吞 can be used to describe a company 'swallowing' a smaller competitor through a hostile takeover.

嗰啲係飲酒嘅日子，而大部分男人都飲得好勁。時間對呢啲習慣帶嚟嘅改善係咁大，以至於一個人喺一晚之內會吞下幾多酒同拳頭，而唔會損害佢作為一個完美嘅君子嘅名聲，喺呢幾日，似乎係一種荒謬嘅誇張。
Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard. So very great is the improvement Time has brought about in such habits, that a moderate statement of the quantity of wine and punch which one man would swallow in the course of a night, without any detriment to his reputation as a perfect gentleman, would seem, in these days, a ridiculous exaggeration.
This sentence uses 吞 to describe the quantity of wine and punch a person would swallow in a night.
Tatoeba #13499164 by Davidgo5867, translation #1995728 by Scott
不好意思，我有啲食物吞唔落。
Sorry, I can't swallow some food.
呢杯湯太熱，我吞唔落。
This soup is too hot, I can't swallow it.
食物卡喺喉嚨度，我吞唔到。
The food is stuck in my throat, I can't swallow.
佢好似吞唔到粒藥咁。
keoi5 hou2 ci5 tan1 m4 dou3 lap6 joek6 gam2.
It looks like he cannot swallow the pill.
食嘢嗰陣要慢慢吞。
sik6 je5 go2 zan6 jiu3 maan6 maan2 tan1.
You should swallow slowly when eating.

Chi Keung is reminding Ya Ting to take her medicine.

志強 Chi Keung

雅婷，記得食藥。
jaa5 ting4, gei3 dak1 sik6 joek6.
Ya Ting, remember to take your medicine.
雅婷 Nga Ting

好，但我唔太識吞大粒藥。
hou2, daan6 si6 ngo5 bat1 taai3 sik1 tun1 daai6 lap1 joek6.
Okay, but I'm not good at swallowing large pills.
志強 Chi Keung

你可以飲多啲水幫手吞。
nei5 ho2 ji5 jam2 do1 di1 seoi2 bong1 sau2 tun1.
You can drink more water to help swallow it.
雅婷 Nga Ting

好，我試下。
hou2, ngo5 si3 haa6.
Okay, I'll try.

Sources

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