How to Say Yes in Cantonese: The 係 (hai6) Guide You Actually Need

So you want to know how to say yes in Cantonese. Simple question, right?

Here's the thing: there isn't a single Cantonese word for "yes."

I know. That sounds ridiculous. Every language has a word for yes. Except Cantonese doesn't. Neither does Mandarin, actually. Most Chinese languages work this way, and it trips up basically every English speaker who tries to learn them.

If you've been searching for "yes in Cantonese" and getting frustrated by answers that seem overly complicated, you're not crazy. This is genuinely one of those areas where the language works completely differently from English, and most explanations do a terrible job of making it click.

Let me fix that.

Why Cantonese Doesn't Have a Word for Yes (And What It Uses Instead)

In English, "yes" is a universal response. Someone asks you literally anything that requires confirmation, and "yes" works.

Cantonese uses what linguists call an "echo response system." Basically, instead of saying a standalone word like "yes," you repeat the main verb from the question.

Someone asks 你食唔食飯？(nei5 sik6 m4 sik6 faan6?) — "Do you eat rice?"

You don't respond with some generic affirmative. You reply with 食 (sik6) — "eat." That's your "yes."

Someone asks 你去唔去？(nei5 heoi3 m4 heoi3?) — "Are you going?"

You respond 去 (heoi3) — "go."

This is the actual system. Every verb can function as a way to say yes depending on context. That's why you'll sometimes hear people claim Cantonese has "hundreds of ways to say yes" — because technically, it does.

~

The Closest Thing to "Yes" in Cantonese: 係 (hai6)

Alright, so there's no universal "yes." But there is one word that comes closest, and it's the one you probably came here looking for.

係 (hai6) — This is the Cantonese word that functions most like "yes" in many situations.

Technically, 係 means "to be" or "is." It's a linking verb, similar to how 是 (shì) works in Mandarin. But when someone asks you a 係唔係 (hai6 m4 hai6) question — basically "is it or is it not?" — you respond with 係.

Example:

The negative form is 唔係 (m4 hai6) — literally "not is," which means "no."

One important note on pronunciation: Cantonese is a tonal language with six tones, and 係 uses tone 6 (low level). If you're not familiar with how Chinese tones work, this is worth spending time on. Getting the tone wrong can completely change what word you're saying — there's actually a different character 喺 (hai2) that sounds almost identical but means "at/in" instead of "is." Saying 我係廁所 means "I am the toilet." Saying 我喺廁所 means "I am in the toilet." Pretty different.

~

Other Ways to Say Yes in Cantonese

While 係 is the common way to respond to identity or fact-confirmation questions, Cantonese has several other affirmative expressions you'll hear constantly. Which one you use depends entirely on how the question was asked.

有 (jau5) — "Have/Yes"

When someone asks you a 有冇 (jau5 mou5) question — "have or not have?" — you respond with 有.

Example:

The negative here is 冇 (mou5) — "don't have."

好 (hou2) — "Okay/Sure"

This one works for general agreement or acknowledgment. It's more casual and can be used in many situations where you're just confirming something is fine.

Example:

得 (dak1) — "Can/Okay/Possible"

When someone asks if something is possible or acceptable — often in a 得唔得 (dak1 m4 dak1) question — you respond with 得.

Example:

This one also implies permission in some contexts.

啱 (ngaam1) — "Correct/Right"

Use this when you're confirming that something is accurate or correct. It's similar to saying "that's right" in English.

Example:

當然 (dong1 jin4) — "Of course"

For emphatic agreement. When the answer is obviously yes and you want to communicate that certainty.

Example:

~

The Question-Answer Pattern You Need to Understand

Here's the pattern that makes all of this click.

Cantonese yes-no questions typically use an "X-not-X" structure. The verb gets repeated with a negation particle stuck in the middle:

To answer affirmatively, you repeat the first part. To answer negatively, you add the negation.

So when someone asks 你識唔識講英文嗎？(nei5 sik1 m4 sik1 gong2 jing1 man6 maa3?) — "Do you know how to speak English?" — your affirmative response is just 識 (sik1).

Once you understand this pattern, Cantonese yes-no questions stop being confusing. You're not memorizing a bunch of random words for "yes." You're learning one system that applies everywhere.

~

Quick Comparison: Cantonese vs. Mandarin vs. Japanese

If you're coming from another Asian language, here's how these compare:

The interesting thing is that the Japanese word for yes — はい (hai) — sounds almost identical to the Cantonese 係 (hai6). Complete coincidence, but a helpful one if you're learning both.

If you're curious about how this works in Japanese, we have a full breakdown of yes in Japanese that covers the nuances there. The echo response thing exists in Japanese too, just less prominently.

~

Romanization Note: Jyutping

Throughout this post, I've been using Jyutping romanization — that's the system where numbers 1-6 represent the tones. So hai6 means the syllable "hai" pronounced in the 6th tone (low level).

This is the standard romanization system developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, and it's what you'll encounter in most modern Cantonese learning materials. If you see other romanizations like Yale or IPA, they're representing the same sounds with different conventions.

The numbers matter. Getting the tone right is the difference between being understood and saying something completely different (or embarrassing).

~

Where This Actually Gets Tricky

Look, I'm not going to pretend this is all straightforward. There are a few things that trip up learners:

The polite nuance: Adding sentence-final particles like 啦 (laa1), 呀 (aa3), or 喎 (wo3) changes the feeling of your response. A bare 係 can sound a bit abrupt. 係呀 sounds warmer. 係喎 sounds like you're realizing the person is right. These particles add emotional nuance that's hard to translate directly into English.

Context dependence: The "right" way to say yes changes depending on the question. You can't just memorize one word and use it everywhere — you actually have to listen to what's being asked.

The tonal aspect: Mandarin and Cantonese share some Chinese characters, but the pronunciation is completely different. 係 in Cantonese sounds nothing like 是 in Mandarin. If you're learning both, keep them separate in your head.

The only real way to internalize all this is exposure. You need to hear these patterns used naturally, over and over, until responding correctly becomes automatic.

~

Actually Learning This Stuff

Here's the honest truth about learning Cantonese affirmatives: reading a guide like this gives you the framework, but it won't make you fluent. You need to hear these words used in real conversations — in TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, whatever content you actually enjoy.

That's exactly what Migaku is built for. The browser extension lets you watch Cantonese content with instant word lookups, so when someone responds with 係 or 得 or any of these other expressions, you can see exactly what's happening. You hear the tone, you see the context, and it sticks in a way that flashcard drilling never does.

If you're serious about wanting to learn Chinese — whether that's Mandarin, Cantonese, or both — immersion-based learning through real content is how you actually get there. Migaku handles the lookups and flashcard creation automatically, so you can focus on watching and reading stuff you enjoy instead of grinding through textbook dialogues that nobody actually talks like.

The Cantonese language-or-dialect question aside, it's a rich language with incredible media from Hong Kong and China. There's no shortage of content to learn from.

Give Migaku a shot with the 10-day free trial if you want to see how it works. No commitment, just a chance to try learning from actual Cantonese content instead of memorizing phrase lists.

Learn Cantonese With Migaku