網球 / 网球
mong⁵ kau⁴
In Cantonese, the English phrase "tennis" is translated as 網球 / 网球 (mong⁵ kau⁴).
網球 / 网球 is the noun used to refer to the sport played by two or four players using strung racquets.
Meaning: sport played by two or four players with strung racquets (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is a compound made of the word for net, 網 and the word for ball, 球.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is mong⁵ kau⁴.
Did you know?
- The character 球 for 'ball' is used for almost every spherical sports equipment, but it also means 'globe' or 'earth' in the phrase 地球.
- The character 網 for 'net' is also used in the word for 'internet', 網絡. This means a tennis court and the World Wide Web are described using the same conceptual metaphor of a mesh.
- In Hong Kong, because of its colonial history, many tennis enthusiasts may mix English and Cantonese, sometimes using the English word 'tennis' even when speaking Cantonese.
Examples in context
- 你想同我一齊打網球嗎？Do you want to play tennis with me?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tennis” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
