Being called as “the paradise of cuisine” 美食天堂[mei5 sik6 tin1 tong4], there are so many delicious food of different culture available in Hong Kong. Do you know how to say delicious in Cantonese?
In this lesson, serval basic adjectives（形容詞）for describe foods and drinks you like will be introduced.
Table of contents
Delicious in Cantonese for food: 好食 [hou2 sik6]/ 好味 [hou2 mei6]
There are several words that mean delicious in Cantonese. If you want to describe food as delicious, you can use adjective 好食 [hou2 sik6] or 好味 [hou2 mei6]. The meaning of 好食 and 好味 is identical.
sai1 gwaa1 hou2 hou2 sik6
西瓜好好食。
Watermelon is delicious.
| Type of sentence structure | Subject-predicative | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Adverbial | Predicate |
| Part of speech | Noun | Adverb | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | 西瓜 | 好 | 好食 |
daan6 taat1 hou2 hou2 mei6
蛋撻好好味。
Egg tart is tasty.
| Type of sentence structure | Subject-predicative | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Adverbial | Predicate |
| Part of speech | Noun | Adverb | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | 蛋撻 | 好 | 好味 |
hon3 bou2 baau1 hou2 sik6 gwo3 dim2 sam1
漢堡包好食過點心。
Hamburger is more delicious than Dim Sum.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object |
| Part of speech | Noun | Clause | Noun |
| Words in sentence | 漢堡包 | 好食過 | 點心 |
Predicate of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-complement | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Complement |
| Part of speech | Noun | Adjective | / |
| Words in sentence | 好食 | 過 | |
zyu1 gu1 lik1 gai1 daan6 zai2 hou2 mei6 dou3 baau3
朱古力雞蛋仔好味到爆。
Chocolate egg waffle is very delicious. (Literal meaning: Chocolate egg waffle is delicious to the extent that it will explode)
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-complement | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Complement |
| Part of speech | Noun | Adjective; / | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | 朱古力雞蛋仔 | 好味; 到 | 爆 |
到 [dou3] is used here to form a complement of extent（程度補語）. To learn more about complement of extent, you may refer to Unit 10 Lesson 5.
ngo5 aa3 maa1 zyu2 faan6 zyu2 dak1 hou2 hou2 mei6
我阿媽煮飯煮得好好味。
My mum cooks deliciously.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-complement | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Complement |
| Part of speech | Noun | Clause | Clause |
| Words in sentence | 我阿媽 | 煮飯 | 煮得好好味 |
Subject of that sentence | |
| Type of sentence structure | Subordination |
| Modifier | 我 |
| Head | 阿媽 |
煮得好好味 is a descriptive complement（描寫補語）. To learn more about using 得 [dak1] to form descriptive complement, you may refer to Unit 10 Lesson 4.
Predicate of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object |
| Part of speech | / | Verb | Noun |
| Words in sentence | / | 煮 | 飯 |
Complement of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-complement | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Complement |
| Part of speech | / | Verb; / | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | / | 煮; 得 | 好好味 |
Complement of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Subject-predicative | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Adverbial | Predicate |
| Part of speech | / | Adverb | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | / | 好 | 好味 |
Delicious in Cantonese for drinks: 好飲 [hou2 jam2]/ 好味 [hou2 mei6]
If you want to describe drinks as delicious in Cantonese, you can use adjective 好飲[hou2 jam2] or 好味[hou2 mei6]. The meaning of 好飲 and 好味 is identical.
hoeng1 gong2 ge3 naai5 caa4 hou2 hou2 jam2
香港嘅奶茶好好飲。
The milk tea of Hong Kong is tasty.
| Type of sentence structure | Subject-predicative | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Adverbial | Predicate |
| Part of speech | Noun | Adverb | Adjective |
| Words in sentence | 香港嘅奶茶 | 好 | 好飲 |
The subject（主語）香港嘅奶茶 is created according to the structure of subordination（偏正式）.
Subject of that sentence | |
| Type of sentence structure | Subordination |
| Modifier | 香港 |
| Head | 奶茶 |
ngo5 zung1 ji3 jam2 hou2 mei6 ge3 gaa3 fe1
我中意飲好味嘅咖啡。
I like to drink coffee that is tasty.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object |
| Part of speech | Noun | Auxiliary verb | Clause |
| Words in sentence | 我 | 中意 | 飲好味嘅咖啡 |
中意 [zung1 ji3] is used as an auxiliary verb（助動詞）here. To learn more about auxiliary verb, you may refer to Unit 1 Lesson 6.
Object of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object |
| Part of speech | / | Verb | Noun |
| Words in sentence | / | 飲 | 好味嘅咖啡 |
Object of that sentence | |
| Type of sentence structure | Subordination |
| Modifier | 好味 |
| Head | 咖啡 |
Reference
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