轻松学粤语 http://hemanhong.inetradio.cn/program/3361.aspx

11 FREE LESSONS!

You may find some good comparison between Mandarin and Cantonese too, but you need to know how to read Mandarin first. Enjoy!

However, Mandarin’s vowel system is somewhat more conservative than Cantonese’s, in that many diphthongs preserved in Mandarin have merged or been lost in Cantonese. Also, Mandarin makes a three-way distinction among alveolar, alveopalatal, and retroflex fricatives, distinctions that are not made by modern Cantonese. For example, jiang (將) and zhang (張) are two distinct syllables in Mandarin or old Cantonese, but in modern Cantonese they have the same sound, “jeung1″. The loss of distinction between the alveolar and the alveolopalatal sibilants in Cantonese occurred in the mid-19th centuries and was documented in many Cantonese dictionaries and pronunciation guides published prior to the 1950s. A Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect by Williams (1856), writes: The initials “ch” and “ts” are constantly confounded, and some persons are absolutely unable to detect the difference, more frequently calling the words under “ts” as “ch”, than contrariwise. A Pocket Dictionary of Cantonese by Cowles (1914) adds: “s” initial may be heard for “sh” initial and vice versa.

There are clear sound correspondences in, for instance, the tones. For example, a fourth-tone (low falling tone) word in Cantonese is usually second tone (rising tone) in Mandarin.

Now, let’s take a look at the grammar.
2)Grammatical Differences Between Cantonese and Mandarin:
The most noticeable one is the position of adverb 先（Cantonese Jyutping:sin1 ; Pinyin:xian1).
e.g.

By mistake, Mandarin-speakers may say saan1 ger3 instead of saam1 go3 for 三个（three items)
and Cantonese-speakers may say cen4san1 instead of chen4shan1 for 衬衫 (shirt).
In many of the cases, these Northern and Southern accents can be understood.
Sometimes, it causes lots of misunderstanding or discomfort for the listeners.
Note that we do not have zh、ch、sh、r、x in Cantonese while
in Mandarin there are no ending m (aam, am) p, t, k or initials m and ng or the following finals (added initial g, s, f to make examples):
goe鋸 soeng商 soek削 seoi需 seon詢 seot摔 syu書 syun孫 syut雪, fui 灰(no. It is not the same as ‘ui’ in Pinyin for Mandarin)

Some may want to say the Cantonese Jyutping ’s’ is the same as ‘x’ in Pinyin. No, there is a little difference.
e.g. The Cantonese syun1孫(grandson) is not the same as xun1熏(smoked) in Mandarin
The Cantonese si1gwaa1丝瓜(Luffa) is not the same as xi1gua1西瓜(water melon) in Mandarin

Maybe the subtle difference is hardly noticed for beginners.
Any feedback or correction is welcome.

Please bookmark this series for more updates soon.
We use Jyutping for all examples of Cantonese words, and Pinyin for Mandarin.

There are two forms to write “Love” in Chinese:

1) Simplified ( Official form used in Mainland China and Singapore) 爱
2)Traditional (used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.) 愛

Here’s how we write I love you in Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese):
for great images of Chinese calligraphy of these words click this:

我爱/愛你

If you want to write any other words in Chinese, let us know.

Today, we are starting a series to show the differences for those who are interested.

For beginners of Chinese, we do not encourage learning both Cantonese and Mandarin at the same time. You need to learn the one that you think is the most useful for you currently for one or two years and master the basic before you move onto the other.

I hope this series is useful for those Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking learners who want to learn the other one.

I can’t stress it enough: do not learn both languages at the same time. Master one first.

1) First major difference is pronunciation between Cantonese and Mandarin
A)Cantonese has at least 6 tones (some said 9 tones) while Mandarin has only 4 simple tones plus a neutral tone, which does not exit in Cantonese
e.g.
Here’s the tone comparison between Cantonese and Mandarin:
Cantonese:fu1夫 fu2虎 fu3富 fu4扶 fu5妇 fu6负 (click for details)
Mandarin: fu1夫 fu2福 fu3斧 fu4富/负 xing4fu 幸福=happy/happiness
Note that Mandarin xing4fu幸福 is pronounced as hang6fuk1幸福 in Cantonese
Any Mandarin word with tones from 1 to 4 may become a neutral tone (some mark it with 5) when it is the 2nd character of word. e.g. 欺负 qi1 fu5 = to bully

Cantonese tones become one of the hardest thing to learn for Mandarin-speaking people, but if enough listening and practice are done, it can be overcome more easily.

Please bookmark this series for more updates soon.
We use Jyutping for all examples of Cantonese words, and Pinyin for Mandarin.

This is used by a lady to ask a man:

nǐ     yuànyì        qúwǒ     ma
ni3  yuan4yi4 qu2wo3 ma?
你   愿意      娶我     吗？
you be willing  marry  me question?  (= Are you willing to marry me?)

yuan4yi4 愿意= to be willing
qu3 娶 = to marry a girl/lady   (in this sentence, changed to 2nd tone because of wo3 is 3rd tone)
ma 吗 = a question that changes a statement to a question.

The first one is for a man to say it to a lady:

jia4 gei2 wo3 ba, hao3 ma?
嫁 给 我 吧，好 吗？
Marry to me question, good question? (Marry to me, will you?)

Want to know the 2nd way? See you next time.

I got the words from a friend:
群星 - 北京欢迎你
词：林夕
曲：小柯
【陈天佳】迎接另一个晨曦 带来全新空气
【刘欢】气息改变情味不变 茶香飘满情谊
【那英】我家大门常打开 开放怀抱等你
【孙燕姿】拥抱过就有了默契 你会爱上这里
【孙悦】不管远近都是客人 请不用客气
【王力宏】相约好了再一起 我们欢迎你
【韩红】我家种着万年青 开放每段传奇
【周华健】为传统的土壤播种 为你留下回忆
【梁咏琪】陌生熟悉都是客人 请不用拘礼
【羽泉】第几次来没关系 有太多话题
【成龙】北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地
【任贤齐】流动中的魅力充满着朝气
【蔡依林】北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸
【孙楠】在黄土地刷新成绩
【周笔畅】我家大门常打开 开怀容纳天地
【韦唯】岁月绽放青春笑容 迎接这个日期
【黄晓明】天大地大都是朋友 请不用客气
【韩庚】画意诗情带笑意 只为等待你
【汪峰】北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你
【莫文蔚】让我们都加油去超越自己
【谭晶】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【陈奕迅】有勇气就会有奇迹
【阎维文】北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地
【戴玉强】流动中的魅力充满着朝气
【王霞 李双松】北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸
【廖昌永】在黄土地刷新成绩
【林依轮】北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你
【张娜拉】让我们都加油去超越自己
【林俊杰】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【阿杜】有勇气就会有奇迹
京剧：北京欢迎你呀~~
【容祖儿】我家大门常打开 开放怀抱等你
【李宇春】拥抱过就有了默契 你会爱上这里
【黄大炜】不管远近都是客人 请不用客气
【陈坤】相约好了再一起 我们欢迎你
【谢霆锋】北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地
【韩磊】流动中的魅力充满着朝气
【徐若瑄】北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸
【费翔】在黄土地刷新成绩
【汤灿】我家大门常打开 开怀容纳天地
【林志玲 张梓琳】岁月绽放青春笑容 迎接这个日期
【张靓颖】天大地大都是朋友 请不用客气
【许茹芸 伍思凯】画意诗情带笑意 只为等待你
【杨坤 范玮琪】北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你
【游鸿明 周晓欧】让我们都加油去超越自己
【沙宝亮 满文军】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【金海心 何润东】有勇气就会有奇迹
【飞儿 庞龙】北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地
【吴克群 齐峰】流动中的魅力充满着朝气
【5566 胡彦斌】北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸
【郑希怡 刀郎】在黄土地刷新成绩
【纪敏佳 屠洪刚 吴彤】北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你
【郭容 刘耕宏 腾格尔】让我们都加油去超越自己
【金莎 苏醒 韦嘉】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【付丽珊 黄征 房祖名】有勇气就会有奇迹
【全体】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【全体】有勇气就会有奇迹
【全体】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
【全体】有勇气就会有奇迹
(for langauge learning purpose only)
Another version with bigger words:

As the founder of ChineseBay, I want to give thanks to the super stars who have been supporting this great chat room all the time:

Shine, mouse, tt, louse, Cooper, sikkony, nano,
hy, hq, jessi, kitty, reif…
CPU or APU
who did I miss?

They are nice to all the chat room visitors and offer great help to those want to learn Chinese. Their time and efforts are very appreciated. Guess what? They may start blogging here soon and make it a great online learning community. If you like to join them, please just register.( But we reserve the right to post and edit for those with good reputation and credit.) By registering as a subscriber, you will be kept informed of all the news about this site and Chinese learning community.

We need all your help to make a great chat room. For those who do not respect others, we do reserve our rights to take actions.