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親 is a habitual marker in Cantonese that indicates "whenever" or "every time" someone does an action, often followed by the consequence or outcome of that action, typically paired with 都 (which can mean "all," "both," or "entirely", implying the same outcome brought by the action every time).
When compared with another habitual marker 開, which suggests a regular habit and translates to "usually," "used to," or "doing something regularly, 親 emphasises the consistent result or reaction every time the action occurs. The Mandarin equivalent of "親" would be 每當 or 每次.
【subject - verb - 親 - (obj./n.) - 都 - repeated result】
Example Sentences
Note that "every time" is 每次 and "whenever" is 每當 literally, but 親 is an aspect marker that convey the same meaning of them.
我飲親奶都會肚屙
Every time I drink milk, I get an upset stomach.
(肚屙 - diarrhoea)佢見親你都會笑
He/She smiles every time he/she sees you.我上親堂都瞌眼瞓
I doze off every time I attend a class.佢去親日本都會買手信俾我
Every time he/she goes to Japan, he/she buys me a souvenir.佢搵親我都冇好嘢
Every time he/she looks for me, it’s never something good.
Comparison between 開 and 親
我睇開呢個醫生，佢好細心
I usually go to this doctor, s/he is very attentive.
(lit. I usually see this doctor, ...)我睇親佢，佢都問得好仔細
S/He always asks very detailed questions every time I see her/him.我用開 Android 機，用唔慣 iPhone
I'm used to using Android phones, and I find iPhones hard to get used to.我用親 iPhone 都搵唔到啲制喺邊
I always struggle to find the buttons whenever I use an iPhone.