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English,鈥嘙andarin鈥嘺nd Cantonese are the official languages; all public signs and information written in both English and Chinese characters. In tourist areas, many Hong Kong Chinese speak English; the farther away you go, the less English you'll hear. Cantonese is a tonal language, using seven tones, each changing the meaning of the word. Chinese people know their language is difficult to learn and reward you for making any attempt. Here are some commonly used words that can help. The Cantonese pronunciation uses near equivalent sounds to English. Most street signs use Mandarin for the Romanized form of the Chinese characters. In recent years many mainlanders, speaking Mandarin, have moved to Hong Kong. |
| ENGLISH | CANTONESE |
| Fenwick Pier | Fun-wick ma-tau |
| American | May gwock yan |
| Bad, rotten | Mmh Hoe / Hoe soih |
| Beautiful | Hoe Lang |
| Chinese | Jungwok yan |
| British | Yingwok yan |
| Go | Hoi / Faai dee jau |
| Good | Hoe, Hoe / Gay hoe |
| Bad | Mmh hoe |
| Not bad | Mmh chaw |
| Is it good? | Hoe mmh hoe? |
| Good-bye | Joy gheen |
| Good Morning | Jo san |
| Turn Right | June Yauh |
| Turn Left | June Jaw |
| Pardon Me | Doy um jew |
| Thank you (for service) | Mmh goi |
| Thank you (for gift) | Dough jair |
| How much money? | Gay doe cheen? |
| Too expensive | Tai Gwai |
| Where is the toilet? | Chee Saw Hai bean doe a? |
| Stop the car | Teng chair |
| Excuse me | Mmh goy |
| Yes | Hi |
| No | Mmh hi |
| Is it? | Hi mmh hi? |
| OK | Duck |
| Not OK | Mmh duck |
| Is it OK? | Duck mmh duck? |
| When? | Gay see? |
| What? | Mutt yeh? |
| Why? | Deem guy? |