Hailu Hakka grammar

Every grammar guide of Lingora’s Hailu Hakka A1 course, with examples you can listen to.

01The Linking Verb 係 (heˇ)係 (heˇ) is the verb to be when one thing is being identified as another. It stands between the subject and a noun, in the same order English uses, and it…
02Negation: 無, 毋 and 吂There is no single word for not. Which negator is correct depends on what is being denied — a fact, a state, an intention, or an event that has yet to…
03Yes/No Questions with Sentence-Final 無A statement is turned into a yes/no question by adding 無 (mo) at the very end. Nothing else moves: there is no inversion, no auxiliary verb is brought…
04ClassifiersA noun that is counted or pointed at cannot stand directly against the number or the demonstrative. A classifier comes between them, and the order is…
05个 (gaiˇ): Possession, Attribution and Nominalisation个 (gaiˇ) is the most versatile particle in the language, and everything it does follows from a single idea: it stands between a modifier and the thing…
06Personal Pronouns and the Plural 兜There are three basic pronouns: 𠊎 (ngai) I, 你 (ngi) you, and 佢 (gi), which serves for he, she and it alike. The third person carries no gender, so one…
07Possessive Pronouns: 𠊎个, 若 and 厥Hakka does not build my and your the way English does. For the second and third person it keeps a dedicated possessive word, fused long ago out of the…
08Demonstratives: 這 and 該There are two demonstratives, and the division between them is a plain matter of distance: 這 (liaˊ) points at what is near, 該 (gai) at what is further…
09The Progressive: 在該 and 在這To say that something is going on at this moment, 在該 (diˇ gai) is placed in front of the verb. The verb itself is untouched — there is no continuous form…
10Inclusive and Exclusive 'We': 𫣆俚 and 𠊎兜Hakka has two words for we, and choosing between them turns on whether the person being spoken to belongs to the group. English makes no such distinction…
11Degree Adverbs: 當, 忒, 恁 and 真An adjective serving as the predicate of a sentence normally carries a degree adverb in front of it. This is not decoration: a bare adjective tends to be…
12Question WordsA question word stays exactly where the answer would stand. Nothing moves to the front of the sentence and no auxiliary verb is introduced, so a question…
13分 (bunˋ): Give, For and Let分 (bunˋ) is one word covering a range of jobs that English splits between give, for, to and let. All of them share a single thread: something is handed…
14The Marker 摎 (lauˋ)摎 (lauˋ) is a single word doing four jobs that English keeps apart. It marks the object of a verb, it marks the person something is done for, it marks…
15Comparison with 比, 較, 還較 and 最A comparison is built with 比 (biˊ) standing between the two things compared, and the adjective coming last: A 比 (biˊ) B + ADJECTIVE. There is no word…
16Change of State with 了了 (leˋ) at the end of a sentence announces that a new situation has come about. It does not say when something happened; it says that things are now…
17Completed Action: 了, 有, 過 and 吂Hakka has no past tense. A verb does not change to show that an event is over; instead a particle marks the action as complete, and any word naming a…
18Result and Degree with 著 and 到A Hakka verb often names only the attempt, with a second word added after it to say how the attempt turned out. English hides this inside separate verbs…
19Modal Verbs: 做得, 會, 愛 and 需要Modal verbs stand directly before the main verb and never change shape. Each has its own fixed negative, formed with 毋 (m) rather than by any general…
20Sentence-Final Particles: 喺, 呢, 啦 and 哪A great many Hakka sentences close with a small particle that colours the whole utterance — turning it into a question, softening it, or lending it…
21Conjunctions: 摎, 毋過, 抑係, 假使, 因為, 雖然 and 就算Hakka draws a firm line between joining two nouns and joining two clauses. One word covers the first job, and a separate set of words covers the second —…
22The Diminutive Suffix -仔A great many Hakka nouns end in a syllable that is not part of the root: 仔 (er). It attaches to a noun and marks it as small, familiar or everyday. For a…
23Location and Position: 在, 裡肚, 項 and 外背在 (diˇ) is the general preposition of place — at, in, on. It stands before the place word, and the whole phrase comes BEFORE the verb, which is the…
24Imperatives and Suggestions: 來, 請, 啊, 毋好 and 莫A bare verb can serve as a command, but it is blunt. Ordinary Hakka softens an instruction or a proposal with a word at the front, a particle at the end,…
25Wanting and Intending: 愛 and 想愛Hakka has no future tense. What English marks with will and going to is carried instead by a small set of verbs placed before the main verb, and the…
26Directional Complements: 來, 去 and 起來A verb of action is regularly followed by a second verb of motion which says which way the action goes. English folds this into prepositions and…
27Adjectives as Predicates and AttributesAn adjective in Hakka behaves far more like a verb than like an English adjective. It can be the whole predicate of a sentence with no linking verb…
28都, 逐 and 所有: All and EveryThree words cover the ground English divides between all, every and both, and they are not interchangeable: each stands in a different place in the…
29Ordinal Numbers with 第A plain number counts; the same number with 第 (ti+) in front of it ranks. The particle attaches directly to the numeral and turns it into first, second,…
30The Durative -等 and the Completive -忒Two syllables attach to the end of a verb to say something about how the action unfolds: one holds it open, the other closes it off. Both are written…