9 ADJECTIVAL CONSTRUCTIONS: DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON

9.1 SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES

9.1.1 PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVES

你	個	仔	好	高
Léih	go	jái	hóu	gōu
you	CL	son	very	tall
‘Your son is tall.’ (not haih hóu gōu)

9.1.2 ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES

你	媽咪	係	個	好	好客	嘅	人
Léih	māmìh	haih	go	hóu	hou-haak	ge	yàhn
your	mummy	is	CL	very	hospitable	LP	person
‘Your mum’s a really hospitable person.’

9.1.3 MODIFICATION OF ADJECTIVES

呢	本	書	唔係	好	貴	啫
Lī	bún	syū	mhaih	hóu	gwai	jē
this	CL	book	not-be	very	expensive	SFP
‘This book’s not very expensive.’

9.2 REDUPLICATION OF ADJECTIVES

9.2.1 AA AND AABB REDUPLICATION

個	球場	坐	到	滿滿	嘅
Go	kàuhchèuhng	chóh	dou	mún-múhn	ge
CL	ball-stadium	sit	till	full-full	SFP
‘The seats in the stadium are all filled up.’

9.2.2 ADJECTIVE – ADJECTIVE – DÉI

呢	張	椅	壞壞哋	嘅
Lī	jēung	yí	waaih-wáai-déi	ge
this	CL	chair	broken-broken-ish	SFP
‘This chair is a bit broken.’

9.2.3 ABB ADJECTIVES

油炸鬼	熱辣辣	香噴噴	脆卜卜
Yàuhjagwái	yiht-laaht-laaht	hēung-pan-pan	cheui-bōk-bōk
fried-doughnut	warm-hot-hot	fragrant-smell	crispy-crispy
‘The doughnuts are piping hot, appetizing and crispy.’ (radio interview)

9.3 COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

Using the perfective aspect marker 咗 jó to mean 'more ... than before':
得閒咗 dākhàahn-jó ‘freer than before’ (cf. dākhàahn ‘free’)

9.3.1 DEGREES OF COMPARISON

有	啲	人	越	有錢	越	唔開心
Yáuh	dī	yàhn	yuht	yáuhchín	yuht	mhōisām
have	CL	people	more	have-money	more	unhappy
‘Some people get more unhappy, the richer they are.’

9.3.2 EQUAL COMPARISONS

嗰	間	酒店	同	呢	間	一樣	咁	貴
Gó	gāan	jáudim	tùhng	lī	gāan	yātyeuhng	gam	gwai
that	CL	hotel	with	this	CL	one-same	so	costly
‘That hotel is just as expensive as this one.’

9.3.3 NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE COMPARISONS

成龍	有冇	李小龍	咁	好打	呀?
Sìhnglùhng	yáuh-móuh	Léihsíulùhng	gam	hóu-dá	a?
Jackie Chan	have-not-have	Bruce Lee	as	good-fight	SFP
‘Is Jackie Chan as good at (Kung Fu) fighting as Bruce Lee?’

9.3.4 EXCESSIVES

啲	湯	甜	過頭
Dī	tōng	tìhm	gwotàuh
CL	soup	sweet	excessively
‘The soup is too sweet.’

9.3.5 SUPERLATIVES

最	衰	係	你!
Jeui	sēui	haih	léih!
most	bad	is	you
‘It’s all your fault!’

9.4 COMPLEMENTATION: COMPLEX STRUCTURES WITH ADJECTIVES

9.4.1 ADJECTIVES OF EASE AND DIFFICULTY

好	容易	唔記得	啲	中文	字
Hóu	yùhng-yih	mgeidāk	dī	Jūngmàhn	jih
very	easy	forget	CL	Chinese	character
‘It’s easy to forget Chinese characters.’

9.4.2 EVALUATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

呢	套	戲	嘅	對白	好	幽默	抵死
Lī	tou	hei	ge	deui-baahk	hóu	yāumahk	dái séi
This	CL	film	LP	dialogue	very	funny	worth-die
‘This film’s dialogue is funny and sharp.’ (film review)