How to say unpalatable in Cantonese?

Although there are many great foods in Hong Kong, have you ever tried some unsavory food that taste bad?  Do you know how to describe them and share it with your friends, and probably, complain about it with waiters in Cantonese?

In this lesson, unpalatable in Cantonese will be introduced.

Unpalatable in Cantonese: Negating 好食 [hou2 sik6], 好飲 [hou2 jam2] and 好味 [hou2 mei6]

For saying unpalatable in Cantonese, you can simply negate adjective 好食 [hou2 sik6], 好飲 [hou2 jam2] or 好味 [hou2 mei6] for describing food as unpalatable.

Remember that 好食 [hou2 sik6] can only be used for food, 好飲 [hou2 jam2] can only be used for drinks and 好味 [hou2 mei6] can be used for both food and drinks.

hoeng1 ziu1 m4 hou2 sik6

香蕉唔好食。

Banana is unpalatable.

daan6 taat1 m4 hou2 mei6

蛋撻唔好味。

Egg tart is not unsavory.

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 m4 hou2 mei6

我阿媽煮飯煮得唔好味。

My mum cooks unpalatablely.

煮得唔好味 is a descriptive complement（描寫補語）.  To learn more about using 得 [dak1] to form a descriptive complement, you may refer to Unit 10 Lesson 4.

hoeng1 gong2 ge3 naai5 caa4 m4 hou2 jam2

香港嘅奶茶唔好飲。

The milk tea of Hong Kong is not savory.

The subject 香港嘅奶茶 is created according to the structure of subordination（偏正式）.

ngo5 zung1 ji3 jam2 m4 hou2 mei6 ge3 gaa3 fe1

我中意飲唔好味嘅咖啡。

I like to drink coffee that is not savory.

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.

Unpalatable in Cantonese: 難食 [naan4 sik6]

To describe a dish as unpalatable in Cantonese, you can also use adjective 難食 [naan4 sik6].

The meaning of this adjective is obvious if you try to understand it character by character.  難 [naan4] alone can be used as an adjective and it means “difficult” and 食 [sik6] alone can be used as a verb and it means “to eat”.

zyu1 gu1 lik1 gai1 daan6 zai2 naan4 sik6 dou3 baau3

朱古力雞蛋仔難食到爆。

Chocolate egg waffle is terrible.  (Literal meaning: Chocolate egg waffle is terrible to the extent that it will explode)

ni1 go3 hon3 bou2 baau1 naan4 sik6 gwo3 go2 di1 dim2 sam1

呢個漢堡包難食過嗰啲點心。

This burger taste worse than those Dim Sum.

Unpalatable in Cantonese: 難飲 [naan4 jam2]

To describe drinks as unpalatable in Cantonese, you can use adjective 難飲 [naan4 jam2].

Again, the meaning of this adjective is obvious if you try to understand it character by character.  難 [naan4] alone can be used as an adjective and it means “difficult” and 飲 [jam2] alone can be used as a verb and it means “to drink”.

ni1 bui1 caa4 zau2 zan1 sam1 naan4 jam2

呢杯茶走真心難飲。

This cup of milk tea with condensed milk is truly terrible.

go2 go3 jan2 gaap3 ngaang2 jam2 saai3 bui1 hou2 naan4 jam2 ge3 zau2

嗰個人夾硬飲晒杯好難飲嘅酒。

That guy unwillingly emptied out that cup of terrible wine.

To learn more about predicative suffix（謂詞詞尾）晒 [saai3], you may refer to Unit 4 Lesson 3.

Reference

1. 粵典。「難食」。

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