THE SHORT ANSWER
唔 m4 is a general negative used with many verbs and descriptions; 冇 mou5 means not have and can also deny an event’s occurrence. 未 mei6 means not yet and also appears at the end of questions asking whether something has happened yet. Choose by meaning and construction, not by translating English not as one Cantonese word.
唔: negate the predicate you are using
In 我唔識佢, the speaker does not know the person. 唔 appears before 識. In 佢唔再覆我喇, 唔 precedes 再覆: the person no longer replies. Follow the words that are actually being negated rather than looking only for an English auxiliary such as do.
For a small first exercise, pair 我識佢 with 我唔識佢. Keep the person and verb fixed. Once that contrast is secure, change the person you are talking about. There is no need to add past-tense machinery from English to make this simple statement work.
我唔識佢。
ngo5 m4 sik1 keoi5
I do not know her.
佢唔再覆我喇
keoi5 m4 zoi3 fuk1 ngo5 laa3
He doesn't reply to me anymore.
SEE THE PATTERN
Three different ways to make the meaning negative.
- Negate an action or state唔m4唔去 · not going
- Absence / an event did not happen冇mou5冇去 · did not go
- Not yet未mei6未去 · have not gone yet
冇: absence and something that did not happen
冇 can express absence, as in 冇人: nobody. It also appears before an action when denying that it happened. The catalogue’s 冇呃你 denies deceiving the listener. Its short form does not name the speaker, because the context supplies that.
The CUHK negation material includes both verbal negation and constructions meaning not any. Those are reasons not to file 冇 under past tense alone. In your notes, give each example a meaning label such as absent people or denied action, then record the full Cantonese phrase.
冇人會知㗎。
mou5 jan4 wui5 zi1 gaa3
Nobody will know.
冇呃你
mou5 aak1 nei5
I'm not lying to you.
未: leave room for an event that has not happened yet
食咗飯未呀 asks whether someone has eaten yet. 未 is at the end of this question, before 呀. A short 未 answer says not yet; it does not mean a permanent refusal to eat. The statement 未食 says the eating has not happened yet.
Think of a checklist with an unfinished box. That picture helps distinguish not yet from I do not do that or there is none. It is only a practice image: the full range of Cantonese aspect and negation is broader than one diagram.
食咗飯未呀
sik6 zo2 faan6 mei6 aa3
Have you eaten yet?
未食。
mei6 sik6
I have not eaten yet.
Text practice reply.
Use a three-way decision, then check the full phrase
Ask yourself: am I denying a characteristic or action, saying something is absent or did not occur, or saying it has not occurred yet? That question gets you closer than choosing from the English verb tense. Then check the Cantonese verb phrase you are using.
Negation interacts with aspect markers such as 咗 and 緊, so do not create a negative by blindly inserting 唔 into every recorded sentence. Build an attested positive/negative pair for the construction you need. Keep a separate entry for 未 questions because their word order differs from a simple not-yet statement.
HEAR THE LINE IN CONTEXT
Watch with Auntie
I'm not lying to you.
This clip illustrates one expression connected with the topic. The written examples above extend the lesson.
Open the full phrase lesson ↗Read the Cantonese line
- Cantonese
- 冇呃你
- Jyutping
- mou5 aak1 nei5
- English
- I'm not lying to you.
YOUR TURN
Try it yourself
Choose a short Cantonese response for each meaning: I do not know that person; nobody will know; I have not eaten yet.
See one possible answer
我唔識佢 ngo5 m4 sik1 keoi5 uses 唔 before 識. 冇人會知 mou5 jan4 wui5 zi1 begins with nobody. 未食 mei6 sik6 expresses not yet eaten. These are different meanings, so using the same negative in all three would lose the contrast.
Keep these in mind
- 冇 is not just an English past-tense marker.
- 未 preserves the idea of not yet.
- Learn negative forms alongside the complete verb phrase.