隨便
seui bin
In Cantonese, 'whatever' is translated as 隨便 (seui bin).
隨便 can be used to express that you have no preference or that you are indifferent to a suggestion. As a one-word response, it can indicate that you do not care what someone says.
Meaning: indicating the speaker does not care what someone says (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 隨便 is composed of 隨, meaning 'follow' and 便, meaning 'easy' or 'convenient'.
Which one should you use?
隨便 is used to mean 'whatever' or 'as one pleases', whereas 無論點 is a conjunction used to mean 'no matter how' or 'regardless of the… that'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Using 隨便 as a single-word response to mean 'whatever' can sound blunt or dismissive depending on your tone of voice. For a more informal way to say 'whatever', you can use 咩都得.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
You can create the common expression 隨便你 by adding the pronoun 你 to the phrase. This means 'whatever you want' or 'it's up to you'.
How do you pronounce it?
seui bin
When do people say it?
While 隨便 expresses indifference, if you want to colloquially say 'it's not my business', you would use 關我屁事.
Did you know?
- While 隨便 can be a polite way to let someone else choose, using it repeatedly in a relationship is often seen as a sign of emotional detachment or a 'cold war' phase.
- If you want to say 'whatever' in a much more aggressive way, such as 'it is none of my business', you can use the vulgarity 關我屁事, which literally includes the word for 'fart'.
- The word 隨便 can also describe a person's personality as 'easy-going' or 'casual' rather than just being a response of indifference.
Examples in context
- 隨便攞件蛋糕啦。Take whatever cake you want.This sentence shows how to use 隨便 to mean 'take whatever' in the context of choosing a cake.Tatoeba #389478 by nickyeow, translation #36838 by AlanF_US
- 隨便你啦。ceoi4 bin2 nei5 laa1.Whatever you want.
Example conversation
Two friends are deciding what movie to watch.
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung你想睇邊套戲？nei5 soeng2 tai2 bin1 tou3 hei3?Which movie do you want to watch?
- 俊傑 Chun Kit隨便你啦，我都唔介意。ceoi4 bin2 nei5 laa1, ngo5 dou1 m4 gaai3 ji3.Whatever you want, I don't mind.
- 曉彤 Hiu Tung咁我揀套動作片啦。gam2 ngo5 gaan2 tou3 dung6 zo6 pin2 laa1.Then I'll pick an action movie.
- 俊傑 Chun Kit好呀，冇問題。hou2 aa3, mou5 man6 tai4.Okay, no problem.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
