Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong province in China and also widely spoken in Southeast Asia by overseas Chinese. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, there are a lot of words which are completely different. Especially there are many words borrowed from English in Cantonese.
Here you will find 40 examples of differences in vocabulary.
| English | Mandarin | Cantonese |
| tomato | 西红柿 | 蕃茄 |
| potato | 土豆 | 薯仔 |
| carrot | 胡萝卜 | 紅蘿蔔 |
| aubergine | 茄子 | 矮瓜 |
| cabbage | 圆白菜 | 椰菜 |
| corn | 玉米 | 粟米 |
| grape | 葡萄 | 提子 |
| kiwi | 猕猴桃 | 奇異果 |
| french fries | 土豆条 | 薯條 |
| yogurt | 酸奶 | 乳酪 |
| butter | 黃油 | 牛油 |
| restaurant | 饭馆 | 餐廳 |
| bird | 鸟 | 雀仔 |
| monkey | 猴子 | 馬騮 |
| octopus | 章鱼 | 八爪魚 |
| squid | 乌贼 | 魷魚 |
| jellyfish | 海蜇 | 水母 |
| ladybug | 瓢虫 | 金龜 |
| grasshopper | 蚱蜢 | 草蜢 |
| yesterday | 昨天 | 尋日 |
| tomorrow | 明天 | 聽日 |
| week | 星期 | 禮拜 |
| cold | 冷 | 凍 |
| face | 脸 | 面 |
| shoulder | 肩 | 膊頭 |
| leg | 腿 | 大脾 |
| hotel | 旅馆 | 酒店 |
| blanket | 毛毯 | 被 |
| hair dryer | 吹风机 | 風筒 |
| bag | 包 | 手袋 |
| umbrella | 雨伞 | 遮 |
| small | 小 | 細 |
Cantonese Words borrowed from English
| English | Mandarin | Cantonese |
| cheese | 乳酪 | 芝士 |
| strawberry | 草莓 | 士多啤梨 |
| cherry | 樱桃 | 車厘子 |
| chocolate | 巧克力 | 朱古力 |
| bus | 公车 | 巴士 |
| taxi | 出租车 | 的士 |
Cantonese Words Mixed with English
| English | Mandarin | Cantonese |
| mayonnaise | 蛋黄酱 | 沙律醬 |
| brown | 棕色 | 啡色 |
You can learn more in our app, LingoCards!
