乜嘢
In Cantonese, 'what' can be expressed using several forms, most commonly 乜嘢. Wiktionary also lists 咩 (me¹) and 乜 (mat¹).
Meaning: what? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 乜嘢 | |
| 咩 | me¹ |
| 乜 | mat¹ |
Which one should you use?
乜嘢 is the full, standard colloquial form of 'what' used in most everyday spoken contexts. 咩 is a shorter, more colloquial version of 乜嘢 often used as a particle or a quick question.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
乜嘢 is a popular informal term for 'what' in Cantonese. The form 乜撚嘢 is a highly profane way to say 'what the fuck'.
How does it change in a sentence?
乜嘢 functions as an interrogative pronoun and can be placed before or after a verb depending on the sentence structure.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Inserting the vulgar particle 撚 between 乜 and 嘢 creates a highly profane way to say 'what the fuck'.
Did you know?
- The profane version 乜撚嘢 uses a character that literally refers to a part of the male anatomy to add aggression to the word 'what'.
- The term 咩 is so common in digital communication that it is frequently used as a cute or playful filler in text messages, unrelated to asking a question.
- While 乜嘢 means 'what', the character 嘢 by itself means 'thing' or 'stuff', making the phrase literally 'what thing'.
Examples in context
- 呢個咩嚟㗎？What is it?This sentence is useful for asking what an object is using 咩.Tatoeba #437750 by nickyeow, translation #42849 by brauliobezerra
- 乜撚嘢嚟㗎？What the bloody fuck is that?This sentence shows how to use 乜 in a profane context.Tatoeba #1766112 by nickyeow, translation #413791 by Scott
- 有咩好處先？What are the benefits?This sentence is useful for asking about benefits using 咩.Tatoeba #12086693 by thesilhouette, translation #2116326 by freddy1
- 你食咗乜嘢？What did you eat?
- 202 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
俊傑 and 曉彤 are talking in a kitchen.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit曉彤，你喺度煮乜嘢呀？hiu2 tung4, nei5 hai2 dou6 zy2 mat1 je5 aa3?Hiu Tung, what are you cooking?
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung我煮緊意粉呀。ngo5 zy2 gan2 ji3 fan2 aa3.I am cooking pasta.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit好香呀，係乜嘢味呀？hou2 hoeng1 aa3, hai6 mat1 je5 mei6 aa3?It smells good, what flavor is it?
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung係番茄味。hai6 faan1 co1 mei6.It is tomato flavor.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “what” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
