Penang Hokkien Auxiliary/Modal Verbs

Now that we've learned the negators, we next get to know the auxiliary verbs in Penang Hokkien. Also called modal verbs, the auxiliary verbs are verbs that assist the main verb in completing a sentence. In English, they are words like can, cannot, will, won't, shall, must, ought to, need, etc.

Among the auxiliary verbs in Penang Hokkien are:

e33 : can
be33 : cannot/can't

ai3 : desirous to
boek3 : want to, will
tiok1 , tiok3boek3 : must
eng3-kai1 : ought to, should

The meaning of auxiliary verbs in Penang Hokkien is a rough translation into English. Bear in might that the auxiliary verbs in Penang Hokkien often do not mean the same as any corresponding auxiliary verb in English, so it is often through usage and familiarity that you learn to use the right one according to situation.

In declarative statements, the position of the auxiliary verb in Penang Hokkien is the same as that in English.

Wah1 e33 kong4 Penang-eh3 Hokkien wa33.
I can speak Penang Hokkien.

Ie1 be33 khoon3.
He can't sleep.

Wah1 ai1 ciak3 ais1krim4.
I want to eat ice cream.

Ie1 boek3 ie1-eh3 lui1.
He wants his money.

Ma1cai3 lu1 tiok3 lai2.
Tomorrow you must come.

Lu1 tiok3boek1 hor33 wah4 cai1.
You must let me know.

Ie1lang2 eng3kai1 lai2 ca1-ca4.
They ought to come early.

Unlike English, the sentence structure in Penang Hokkien remains uninverted when forming questions. A question particle or question word (both of which we will revisit in coming lessons) is added to the end to change the declarative statements into questions.

Observe the following questions and compare them with the declarative statements above. Note the word order in English is often inverted, whereas the word order in Penang Hokkien remains the same.

Lu1 e33 kong4 Penang-eh3 Hokkien wa33 boh2?
Can you speak Penang Hokkien?

Ie1 be33 khoon3 nia2?
He can't sleep, can he?

Lu1 ai1 ciak3 ha1mik1?
What do you want to eat?

Ti33si2 wah1 tiok3 lai2?
When must I come?

Ha1mik1 su33 wah1 tiok3boek1 hor33 lu1 cai1?
Why must I let you know?

Ie1lang2 eng3kai1 lai2 ca1-ca4 nia2?
Ought they to come early?

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