New Members daiwei Posted May 18, 2011 at 02:08 PM New Members Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 at 02:08 PM Hi! I've been reading some Cantonese texts, and often enough they use 地 in the end of a sentence, not adding a verb after it (normally it should be used like 我快快地跑), but i've seen samples like "我看他一眼，不开心地", i've never seen it mandarin before. Does anyone know if this is an accepted way of writing according to standards, or is it something they just do in canton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted May 20, 2011 at 02:43 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 at 02:43 AM I don't think it is Cantonese. It seems more like a kind of writing style to me. You can write like this in a poem, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted May 20, 2011 at 03:44 AM Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 at 03:44 AM Not Cantonese. Probably Mandarin, with the 地 at the end meaning 的 but pronounced like "di" or /tɛ/ or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members daiwei Posted May 22, 2011 at 08:50 AM Author New Members Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 at 08:50 AM i think it was 我睇他一眼，唔开心地 from the beginning, but i altered it so as not to confuse anyone thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted May 22, 2011 at 10:45 AM Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 at 10:45 AM Still not Cantonese. 他 means "other." The normal third person pronoun is 渠. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted May 22, 2011 at 04:47 PM Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 at 04:47 PM Is it really? I thought it was 佢. Are they interchangeable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted May 23, 2011 at 02:00 PM Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 at 02:00 PM You may want to have a read of this and this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthonchai Posted May 30, 2011 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 at 02:57 PM Third person is 佢, 渠 means pipe...they are not interchangeable and refer to daiwei's question, I don't see this is Cantonese and "地" is seldom used in verbal Cantonese. It always appears in written Chinese instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelyus Posted June 7, 2011 at 06:14 PM Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 at 06:14 PM I've certainly heard it in [Cantonese] conversation. I've always thought it was just an adverb, just used in an adjective-like sense when the verb is missing. I seem to hear it most commonly when asking how people are. But according to Cantonese: a comprehensive grammar by Matthews & Yip (1994), pages 39-40, it has a diminutive meaning with reduplicated adjectives and stative verbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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