歡迎 / 欢迎
fun¹ jing⁴
The English phrase 'welcome' translates to Cantonese as 歡迎 / 欢迎 (fun¹ jing⁴). If unsure, use 歡迎 / 欢迎. Wiktionary also lists 歡迎光臨 / 欢迎光临 (fun¹ jing⁴ gwong¹ lam⁴).
Meaning: greeting given upon someone's arrival (intj)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 歡迎 / 欢迎 | fun¹ jing⁴ |
| 歡迎光臨 / 欢迎光临 | fun¹ jing⁴ gwong¹ lam⁴ |
The most common and widely used way to say 'welcome' is 歡迎 / 欢迎. It can be used as a general greeting or to tell someone they are welcome to perform a certain action.
Which one should you use?
歡迎 / 欢迎 (fun¹ jing⁴) is a general greeting, whereas 歡迎光臨 / 欢迎光临 (fun¹ jing⁴ gwong¹ lam⁴) is used specifically as a commercial greeting for patrons in settings like shops or restaurants.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'welcome you' or 'we welcome you', you can add the pronoun 你 (nei⁵) after the verb 歡迎.
How do you pronounce it?
fun¹ jing⁴
Did you know?
- In some traditional Cantonese contexts, a host might not say 'welcome' at all. Instead, they might ask 食咗飯未? which means 'have you eaten yet?', using a concern for the guest's hunger as the primary welcoming gesture.
- While English speakers say 'You are welcome' to mean 'no problem', saying a Cantonese equivalent of 'you are welcome' in response to 'thank you' requires different phrasing entirely.
- The word 光臨 in the commercial welcome phrase literally means 'light' and 'arrival'. It implies that the guest's presence brings light and honor to the establishment.
Examples in context
- 歡迎嚟到我哋屋企。Welcome to our home.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “welcome” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
