To 係 or 唔係 – is that the question?

Cantonese 101: There is no yes and no!

This can create confusion.

Of course, many people want there to be a yes (at least) and so they have created a thing where 係 (hai) means yes. But it doesn’t, it means TO BE. Or as I call it in my course, IS. To is or not to is, THAT is the question!

So you can’t just answer 係呀， 係呀 (hai ah, hai ah) willy-nilly to any old question, you see. But sometimes 係 really is the correct answer – or comment rather. If someone says “嘩， 好熱呀!” (Wah, hou yit ah! Damn, but it’s hot) as they inevitably do at this time of year, you can answer, or remark: 係呀。 (Hai ah. It IS (what you said)) Also notice how ‘to be’ isn’t used before adjective in Chinese? It’s just ‘well hot’ （好熱，hou yit).

So when Chinese people speak English a kind of hilarity ensues, because they have to grapple with the fact that there IS a yes and no in English, and that 係 (hai, IS, or IT IS) comes close to explain this.

Last night I was at a gathering with adults of various nationalities and some local children of I’d say eight to 12 years old, and the young’uns had their own table. Some wag remarked in English to the youngest boy “so you won’t be drinking any beer then?” and the boy said “yes”, meaning (in Cantonese thinking) ‘That is correct’. The man was confused. “So you will be drinking beer?” “No.” “Ah, so you will not be drinking beer?” “Yes.”

And so it went on.

Ah, beer. Mons!

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