Have you ever been to a restaurant where waiters there do not speak English at all? Can you ask for what you want in Cantonese in such scenario?
In this lesson, you will learn how to say want in Cantonese.
Want in Cantonese: 想 [soeng2]
Want in Cantonese is 想 [soeng2]. This is an auxiliary verb（助動詞）.
ngo5 soeng2 sik6 min6 aa3
我想食麵啊。
I want to eat noodle.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | |||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object | Particle |
| Part of speech | Noun | Auxiliary verb | Clause | Particle |
| Words in sentence | 我 | 想 | 食麵 | 啊 |
Auxiliary verb（助動詞）想 [soeng2] has to use a clause（分句）as its object. 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 | / | 食 | 麵 |
ngo5 soeng2 sik6 hou2 mei6 ge3 dim2 sam1 aa3
我想食好好味嘅點心啊。
I want to eat delicious Dim Sum.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | |||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object | Particle |
| Part of speech | Noun | Auxiliary verb | Clause | Particle |
| Words in sentence | 我 | 想 | 食好好味嘅點心 | 啊 |
|
Object of that sentence | |||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | ||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object |
| Part of speech | / | Verb | Noun |
| Words in sentence | / | 食 | 好好味嘅點心 |
嘅 [ge3] can be used in subordination（偏正式）to describe a noun.
| Object of that sentence | |
| Type of sentence structure | Subordination |
| Modifier | 好好味 |
| Head | 點心 |
ngo5 soeng2 hai2 go2 gaan1 caan1 teng1 dou6 sik6 ce1 zai2 min6 aa3
我想喺嗰間餐廳度食車仔麵啊。
I want to eat cart noodle in that restaurant.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | |||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object | Particle |
| Part of speech | Noun | Auxiliary verb | Clause | Particle |
| Words in sentence | 我 | 想 | 喺嗰間餐廳度食車仔麵 | 啊 |
|
Object of that sentence | |||||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative expression in series | ||||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate 1 | Object 1 | Predicate 2 | Object 2 |
| Part of speech | / | Preposition | Noun | Verb | Noun |
| Words in sentence | / | 喺 | 嗰間餐廳度 | 食 | 車仔麵 |
Preposition 喺[hai2] can be used in predicative expression in series（連謂式）to indicate the location for an action to take place. To learn more about preposition 喺[hai2], you may refer to Unit 3 Lesson 2.
|
Object 1 of that sentence | |
| Type of sentence structure | Subordination |
| Modifier | 嗰間餐廳 |
| Head | 度 |
ngo5 soeng2 tung4 nei5 jat1 cai4 daa2 gei1 aa3
我想同你一齊打機啊。
I want to play computer games with you.
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative-object | |||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate | Object | Particle |
| Part of speech | Noun | Auxiliary verb | Clause | Particle |
| Words in sentence | 我 | 想 | 同你一齊打機 | 啊 |
|
Object of that sentence | ||||||
| Type of sentence structure | Predicative expression in series | |||||
| Functions in sentence | Subject | Predicate 1 | Object 1 | Adverbial 2 | Predicate 2 | Object 2 |
| Part of speech | / | Preposition | Noun | Adverb | Verb | Noun |
| Words in sentence | / | 同 | 你 | 一齊 | 打 | 機 |
Reference
That’s it for this lesson on how to say want in Cantonese! If you appreciate our work, sign up now and give us a LikeCoin by clicking the LikeCoin button below 5 times. It will empower us to create more useful contents for you in the future!
我想喺加拿大或澳洲買層獨立屋, 跟住可以安心噉生活！
希望你嘅願望成真啦！
Last sentence: I thought 打機 was „to play computer games“ rather than „to eat dessert“ (食甜品). If it can have both meanings, I‘d be happy if you could elaborate on that.
你好啊Matt! Yes it was a typo. 打機 means “to play computer games” and 食甜品/ 糖水 means “to eat dessert”. Thank you for telling us about that!