Emphasis with '喇' — Cantonese Grammar

The particle (laa3lalaa3) is one of the most common sentence-final particles in Cantonese. It is placed at the very end of a sentence to indicate a "change of state." It signals that a situation has changed, is changing, or is about to change.

In English, this concept is often translated using words like "now," "anymore," or "already," depending on the context.

Change of State (Current Situation)

Use (laa3lalaa3) to show that a new situation has arisen. This distinguishes a current state from a previous one. Without this particle, a sentence often sounds like a general statement of fact; with it, the sentence emphasizes that this is the case now.

落雨喇。
lok6·jyu5 laa3.lohk·yúh la.lok9·jy5 laa3.
It is raining now (it wasn't before).
我明喇。
ngo5 ming4 laa3.ngóh mìhng la.ngo5 ming4 laa3.
I understand now (I didn't understand before).
佢返嚟喇。
keoi5 faan1·lai4 laa3.kéuih fāan·làih la.koey5 faan1·lai4 laa3.
He has come back.

Announcing Immediate Actions

When used with an action verb involving the speaker, (laa3lalaa3) indicates that the action is about to happen immediately. It functions as a way of announcing your intentions or signaling the start of an action.

我走喇。
ngo5 zau2 laa3.ngóh jáu la.ngo5 dzau2 laa3.
I am leaving now.
我瞓覺喇。
ngo5 fan3·gaau3 laa3.ngóh fan·gaau la.ngo5 fan3·gaau3 laa3.
I am going to sleep now.
我哋開始喇。
ngo5·dei6 hoi1·ci2 laa3.ngóh·deih hōi·chí la.ngo5·dei6 hoi1·tsi2 laa3.
We are starting now.

Negative Change ("Not Anymore")

When (laa3lalaa3) is combined with negative words like (m4m̀hm4) or (mou5móuhmou5), it indicates that something is "no longer" true or "not anymore."

我唔食喇。
ngo5 m4 sik6 laa3.ngóh m̀h sihk la.ngo5 m4 sik9 laa3.
I am not eating anymore.
冇水喇。
mou5 seoi2 laa3.móuh séui la.mou5 soey2 laa3.
There is no water left (no water anymore).
唔痛喇。
m4·tung3 laa3.m̀h·tung la.m4·tung3 laa3.
It doesn't hurt anymore.

Expressing "Already"

This particle is also used to emphasize that a certain point in time has been reached or a condition has been met, similar to the English word "already." This is common when talking about time, age, or completed tasks.

太遲喇。
taai3·ci4 laa3.taai·chìh la.taai3·tsi4 laa3.
It is too late.
做完喇。
zou6·jyun4 laa3.jouh·yùhn la.dzou6·jyn4 laa3.
It is finished.
個仔三歲喇。
go3 zai2 saam1 seoi3 laa3.go jái sāam seui la.go3 dzai2 saam1 soey3 laa3.
The son is three years old already.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Cantonese course

25 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Emphasis with '喇'” is about in bold:

我有九年冇見你喇！
ngo5 jau5 gau2 nin4 mou5 gin3 nei5 laa3!ngóh yáuh gáu nìhn móuh gin néih la!ngo5 jau5 gau2 nin4 mou5 gin3 nei5 laa3!
I haven't seen you for nine years!
Lesson 175
如果你個人可以慳錢啲就好喇。
jyu4·gwo2 nei5 go3·jan4 ho2·ji5 haan1 cin2 di1 zau6 hou2 laa3.yùh·gwó néih go·yàhn hó·yíh hāan chín dī jauh hóu la.jy4·gwo2 nei5 go3·jan4 ho2·ji5 haan1 tsin2 di1 dzau6 hou2 laa3.
I wish you were more frugal.
Lesson 328
我要洗廁所。太污糟喇。
ngo5 jiu3 sai2 ci3·so2. taai3 wu1·zou1 laa3.ngóh yiu sái chi·só. taai wū·jōu la.ngo5 jiu3 sai2 tsi3·so2. taai3 wu1·dzou1 laa3.
I need to clean the toilet. It is too dirty.
Lesson 469

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