My Cantonese Lexicon VIII: Daily Life

English	Cantonese	jyutping	yale
to take a shower / bath	沖涼	cung1 loeng4	chūng lèuhng
to take a bath	沐浴	muk6 yuk6	muhk yuhk
to wash your hands	洗手	sai2 sau2	sái sáu
to wash your face	洗面	sai2 min6	sái mihn
to brush your teeth	刷牙	caat3 ngaa4	chaat ngàh
to put on make up	化妝	faa3 zong1	fa jōng
shampoo	洗頭水	sai2 tau4 seoi2	sái tàuh séui
hair conditioner	護髮素	wu6 faat3 sou3	wuh faat sou
shower gel	沐浴露	muk6 yuk6 lou6	muhk yuhk louh
soap	番梘 / 梘液	faan1 gaan2 / gaan2 jik6	fāan gáan / gáan yihk
hand-wash	洗手液	sai2 sau2 jik6	sái sáu yihk
hand sanitizer	搓手液	co1 sau2 jik6	chō sáu yihk
toothbrush	牙刷	ngaa4 caat2	ngàh chaat
toothpaste	牙膏	ngaa4 gou1	ngàh gōu
dental floss	牙線	ngaa4 sin3	ngàh sin

English	Cantonese	jyutping	yale
to wake up	瞓醒 / 醒來	fan3 seng2 / seng2 loi6	fan séng / séng loih
to get up	起身	hei2 san1	héi sān
to make the bed	執床	zap1 cong4	jāp chòhng
to put on clothes (when naked)	着衫	zoek3 saam1	jeuk sāam
to get dressed / change clothes	換衫	wun6 saam1	wuhn sāam
to go to bed	上床	soeng5 cong4	séuhng chòhng
to go to bed late	夜瞓	je6 fan3	yeh fan
to sleep	瞓覺	fan3 gaau3	fan gaau
pillow	枕頭	zam2 tau4	jám tàuh

English	Cantonese	jyutping	yale
to wash the dishes	洗碗	sai2 wun2	sái wún
to wash your clothes	洗衫	sai2 saam1	sái sāam
to sundry your clothes	曬衫	saai3 saam1	saai sāam
to hang-dry your clothes	晾衫	long6 saam1	lohng sāam
to iron your clothes	熨衫 / 燙衫	tong3 saam1	tong sāam
to vacuum	吸塵	kap1 can4	kāp chàhn
laundry detergent (dry / liquid)	洗衣粉 / 洗衣液	sai2 ji1 fan2 / sai2 ji1 jik6	sái yī fán / sái yī yihk
washing machine	洗衣機	sai2 ji1 gei1	sái yī gēi
an iron	熨斗 / 燙斗	tong3 dau2	tong dáu
vacuum cleaner	吸塵機	kap1 can4 gei1	kāp chàhn gēi

English	Cantonese	jyutping	yale
to go to work	返工 / 番工	faan1 gung1	fāan gūng
to start work	開工	hoi1 gung1	hōi gūng
to skip a work day	射波	se6 bo1	seh bō
to take a day off / apply for leave	請假 / 攞假	ceng2 gaa3 / lo2 gaa3	chéng ga / ló ga
to be on a day off	放假	fong3 gaa3	fong ga
to work overtime	開OT	hoi1 ou1 ti1	hōi ōu tī
to have a rest	休息	jau1 sik1	yāu sīk
to take a break	放BREAK	fong3 b(r)ik1	fong b(r)īk
to leave work	放工 / 收工	fong3 gung1 / sau1 gung1	fong gūng / sāu gūng
to go home	返屋企	faan1 (ng)uk1 kei2	fāan (ng)ūk kéi
to quit
to be fired	炒魷 / 搏炒	caau2 jau4 / bok3 caau2	cháau yàuh / bok cháau

English	Cantonese	jyutping	yale
to eat breakfast	食早餐	sik6 zou2 caan1	sihk jóu chāan
to eat lunch	食午餐 / 食LUNCH	sik6 ng5 caan1 / sik6 lan1 cyu2	sihk ngh chāan (low rising ng) / sihk lān chyú
to eat dinner	食晚餐	sik6 maan5 caan1	sihk máahn cháan
to have afternoon tea	食下午茶	sik6 haa6 ng5 caa4	sihk hah ngh chàh (low rising ng)
to have a midnight snack	食宵夜 / 食宵	siu1 je2	sīu jé / sihk sīu

*Some words experience a tone change. CantoDict (see below) attributes this to whether the character is being read in a literary manner or a colloquial manner, but some Hong Kong friends have told me that the tone depends on what surrounds the word.

E.g. jyu4 (yùh) = literary, jyu2 (yú)= colloquial

(Please see CantoDict's explanation: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/essays/tones.htm#cantodict_tones )

If there are any errors, or you have some feedback, feel free to send me a message or write a comment. I am not an expert in the Cantonese language, but have asked native Cantonese speakers to check my lists. I am a student and my goal is to write a clear vocabulary list to help me (and others) learn. You can find out more about my reason for these lists here: My lexicon series.