Cantonese Direction and Location Words

It’s not easy making vocabulary lists for Cantonese as I find it hard to find good resources that I can trust in regards to tone markings etc.

So far, I have come up with the following list to talk about directions and locations in Cantonese. If you speak Cantonese, please let me know if I have made any mistakes. I might try to write some example sentences in my next post.

• in front of 前便 chìhn bihn

• behind 後便 hauh bihn

• on the left side 左便 jó bihn

• on the right side 右便 yauh bihn

• opposite 對面 deui mihn

• diagonally opposite 斜對面 chèh deui mihn

• next to / beside 隔來 gaak lèih

• straight ahead 直行 jihk hàhng

• between the ___ and ___ A同B中間 A tùhng B jūng gāan

• near to …附近 …fuhgahn

• under 下面 hah mihn

• above 上面 seuhng mihn

• inside 裡面 léuih mihn

• outside 外面 ngoih mihn

The following are some direction/location words that I have found but am unsure of. I have a feeling some of them might be used to talk about time rather than location. If you know, please send me a message.

• before the … ...之前 …jī chìhn

I want to say: The bank is before the intersection.

• past the ? … gwojó?

I want to say: The bank is past the intersection.

• towards the… ...過來 …gwo lòih

I want to say: If you walk towards the bank, you will see the cinema.

• away from the… ...過去 …gwoheui

I want to say: If you walk away from the bank, you will see the cinema.