Grammar 10 - Cantonese Verb Perfective Marker - 咗(zo2)

Understanding how to express completed actions is crucial for mastering any language. In Cantonese, the perfective marker 咗 (zo2) plays a key role in indicating actions that have been completed, much like the past and present perfect tenses in English. This blog post will guide you through the usage of 咗 in different sentence structures, including transitive, intransitive, and double-character verbs.
grammar10 Cantonese Verb Perfective Marker 咗zo2

Table of Content

#   Single-Character Verbs
=   Transitive Verbs
=   Verbs with Complementing Noun
#   Double-Character Verbs
=   Separable Verbs
=   Non-separable Verbs
=   Additional Note

To indicate completed actions or past events in Cantonese, we use the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure and add the marker 咗() after the verb, , similar to how we use "have ~ed" or “~ed” in English.

The "chopped pattern of Verb-Object" is used, where the placement of 咗 is similar to 緊() in the continuous aspect. Revise where an aspect marker should be placed in Grammar09 - Verbs Continuous Marker 緊(gan2). Its Mandarin equivalent is 了, which is usually placed at the end of the sentence to indicate completed actions.

This marker can be applied to express past, past perfect, past perfect continuous, present perfect and present perfect continuous tense in English. The context and supporting words determine whether the action is present or past. For future actions, we do not typically use the perfective marker 咗 in Cantonese. Instead, we usually use 完 (the complete marker). We will talk about the usage of 完 in future lessons.

Single-Character Verbs

Transitive Verbs

【Subject - Verb - 咗() - Object】

  1. (我叫外賣)
    (I order food delivery.)

    我()（尋()日()）叫()咗()外()賣()
    I ordered food delivery (yesterday).

    我() （啱()啱()）叫()咗()外()賣()
    I have ordered food delivery (just now).

  2. (佢唔見條鎖匙)
    (He/She lose the keys.)

    佢()（尋()日()）唔()見()咗()條()鎖()匙()
    He/She lost the keys (yesterday).

    佢()（啱()啱()）唔()見()咗()條()鎖()匙()
    He/She has lost the keys (just now).

  3. (我買餸)
    (I buy the ingredients for cooking.)

    我()（前()日()）買()咗()餸()
    I bought the ingredients for cooking (the day before yesterday).

    我()（啱()啱()）買()咗()餸()
    I have bought the ingredients for cooking (just now).

  4. (佢食早餐)
    (He/She has(/eats) breakfast.)

    佢()食()咗()早()餐()先()走()
    He/She had had(/eaten) breakfast before he left.

  5. (我執間屋)
    (I tidy the house.)

    我()喺()佢()哋()到()之()前()執()咗()間()屋()
    I had tidied the house before they arrived.

  6. 我學廣東話
    (I learn Cantonese.)

    我()學()咗()廣()東()話()兩()年()
    I have been learning Cantonese for two years.

    我()嚟()香()港()之()前()學()咗()廣()東()話()兩()年()
    I had been learning Cantonese for two years before I came to Hong Kong.

Verbs with Complementing Noun

【Subject - [Verb - 咗() - Noun]】

("Verb-noun phrase" functions as a single verb. See Grammar08 - Verbs for more about "Verb-Noun" phrase and Grammar09 - Continuous Marker 緊 to revise where a verb marker should be placed.)

  1. (我瞓覺)
    (I sleep.)

    我()（尋()晚()）瞓()咗()覺()之()後()佢()打()俾()我()
    He/She called me after I had slept (last night).

Double-Character Verbs

Separable Verbs

【Subject - [Separable Double-Character Verb] 】
【Subject - [Verb - 咗() - Noun]】

  1. (你畢業)
    (You graduate.)

    你()畢()咗()業()兩()年()
    You have been graduated for two years.

  2. (我沖涼)
    (I take a shower.)

    我()沖()咗()涼()
    I have taken a shower.

Non-separable Verbs

【Subject - [Double-character Verb] - 咗()】

  1. (你考慮)
    (You considers.)

    你()考()慮()咗()兩()日()
    You considered / have considered / have been considering / had considered / had been considering for two days.

  2. (我堅持)
    (I persist.)

    我()堅()持()咗()十()年()
    I persisted / have persisted / have been persisting / had persisted / had been persisting for ten years.

Additional Note

Although 咗 can sometimes be applied to perfect tense in English, it does not mean that all perfect tense can be translated using 咗. Sometimes, 完 (completion marker), 過 (experience marker), etc., should be used. We will discuss these aspect markers in future lessons.