高
gou¹
The English word 'tall' is translated into Cantonese as 高 (gou¹).
The word 高 is used to describe a person being tall. It can also be used to mean 'high' when referring to the altitude or position of objects.
Meaning: of a person (adj)
Which one should you use?
While 高 is the standard word for 'tall' regarding people, it also functions as 'high' for objects or altitude.
How does it change in a sentence?
To modify the word, you can use 好 before 高 to say 'very tall' (好高) or add 咁 before 高 to say 'so tall' or 'that tall' (咁高). If you want to describe a group of people of varying heights, you can use the reduplicated phrase 高高矮矮.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is gou¹.
Did you know?
- While 高 means 'tall', describing someone as 'tall' in a sarcastic way can imply they are acting arrogant or 'high and mighty'.
- The character 高 is a pictographic representation of a high building or tower, which helps explain its use for both height and altitude.
- In Cantonese, the word 高 is used to describe a high status or rank in a company or government, similar to how 'high' is used in English 'high-ranking'.
Examples in context
- 你估吓我有幾高？Guess how tall I am.This sentence is useful for asking someone to guess the speaker's height using 高.Tatoeba #5734827 by nickyeow, translation #5626269 by mailohilohi
- 佢同我一樣咁高。He's as tall as me.This sentence is useful for comparing two people's height using 高.Tatoeba #5734941 by nickyeow, translation #5528543 by Giselle128F
- 係呀，佢差唔多同我一樣高。Yes, he's almost as tall as I am.This sentence is useful for stating that someone is almost the same height as another using 高.Tatoeba #851663 by nickyeow, translation #65363 by anjin
- 佢嘅身高有六呎。(Keoi5 ge3 san1 gou1 jau5 luk6 cek3.)His height is six feet.
- 11 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a new classmate.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit新嗰個同學係咪好高？san go go tung hok hai mai hou gou?Is the new classmate very tall?
- 美玲 Mei Ling係呀，佢真係好高。hai aa, keoi zan hai hou gou.Yes, he is really tall.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit佢係唔係打籃球嘅？keoi hai m hai da laam kau ge?Does he play basketball?
- 美玲 Mei Ling唔知喎，但我見佢好高。m zi wo, dan ngo gin keoi hou gou.I don't know, but I see that he is tall.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tall” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
