返嚟

Chinese

		to return (to)	(Cantonese) to come
trad. (返嚟)		返	嚟
simp. #(返嚟)		返	嚟
alternative forms		翻嚟

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faan¹ lai⁴ / faan¹ lei⁴

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faan¹ lai⁴ / faan¹ lei⁴
    • Yale: fāan làih / fāan lèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faan¹ lai⁴ / faan¹ lei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: fan¹ lei⁴ / fan¹ léi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːn⁵⁵ lɐi̯²¹/, /faːn⁵⁵ lei̯²¹/

Verb

返嚟

1. (Cantonese) to come back

   仔仔咁夜都未返嚟，我有啲擔心。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   仔仔咁夜都未返嚟，我有啲担心。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   zai^2-4 zai² gam³ je⁶ dou¹ mei⁶ faan¹ lai⁴ , ngo⁵ jau⁵ di¹ daam¹ sam¹. [Jyutping]

   It's so late at night, and my son hasn't come back yet. I'm a bit worried.

2. (Cantonese, after another verb) (to come or bring) back (towards the speaker, by means of the other verb)

   隻牛行緊返嚟。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   只牛行紧返嚟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   zek³ ngau⁴ haang⁴ gan² faan¹ lai⁴ . [Jyutping]

   The cow is walking back [towards the speaker].

   我姨婆喺大陸拎咗啲零食返嚟送畀我哋。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我姨婆喺大陆拎咗啲零食返嚟送畀我哋。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ ji⁴ po⁴ hai² daai⁶ luk⁶ ling¹ zo² di¹ ling⁴ sik⁶ faan¹ lai⁴ sung³ bei² ngo⁵ dei⁶. [Jyutping]

   My great-aunt brought some snacks back from Mainland China as a gift to us.

   細佬帶咗佢個女朋友返嚟。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   细佬带咗佢个女朋友返嚟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   sai³ lou² daai³ zo² keoi⁵ go³ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵ faan¹ lai⁴ . [Jyutping]

   My younger brother brought his girlfriend back [home].

3. (Cantonese, after another verb) to obtain; to gain (by means of the other verb)

   琴日發現呢個教授個學位原來係呃返嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   琴日发现呢个教授个学位原来系呃返嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   kam⁴ jat⁶ faat³ jin⁶ ni¹ go³ gaau³ sau⁶ go³ hok⁶ wai^6-2 jyun⁴ loi⁴ hai⁶ ngaak¹ faan¹ lai⁴ gaa³. [Jyutping]

   Yesterday, they found out that this professor got his degree fraudulently.

   我啲中文喺電視劇學返嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我啲中文喺电视剧学返嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ di¹ zung¹ man^4-2 hai² din⁶ si⁶ kek⁶ hok⁶ faan¹ lai⁴ gaa³. [Jyutping]

   I learned my Chinese from TV dramas.

   你喺邊度聽返嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   你喺边度听返嚟㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ hai² bin¹ dou⁶ teng¹ faan¹ lai⁴ gaa³? [Jyutping]

   Where did you hear that?

Synonyms

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		歸來
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		回來, 歸來
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	回來
	Taiwan	回來
	Singapore	回來
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	回來
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	回來
	Wanrong	回來
	Xi'an	回來
	Xuzhou	回來
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	轉來
	Guiyang	轉來
	Guilin	回來
Cantonese	Guangzhou	返嚟
	Hong Kong	返嚟
	Taishan	返來
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	返嚟
	Singapore (Guangfu)	返嚟
Hakka	Meixian	轉來
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	轉來
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	轉來
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	轉來
	Wuhua (Changbu)	轉來
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	轉來
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	轉來
	Wengyuan	轉來
	Liannan	轉來
	Jiexi	轉來
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	轉來
	Changting	轉來
	Wuping (Yanqian)	歸來
	Ninghua	轉來
	Yudu	轉來
	Ningdu	歸來
	Tonggu (Sandu)	轉來
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	歸來
	Dayu	轉來
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	轉來
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	歸來
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	轉來
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	轉來
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	轉來, 轉
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	轉來
	Hong Kong	轉來
	Mengshan (Xihe)	轉
	Luchuan	轉來
	Senai (Huiyang)	轉來
Jin	Taiyuan	回來
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	轉來
Southern Min	Xiamen	轉來, 倒來
	Quanzhou	轉來, 倒來
	Dehua	倒來
	Zhangzhou	轉來
	Tainan	轉來
	Singapore (Hokkien)	轉來
	Manila (Hokkien)	斡來, 倒來, 翻來
	Chaozhou	轉來
	Shantou	轉來
	Jieyang	轉來
	Bangkok (Teochew)	轉來
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	轉來
	Singapore (Teochew)	轉來
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	轉來
Wu	Shanghai	回來, 轉來, 回轉來
	Shanghai (Chongming)	轉來
	Hangzhou	轉來
	Wenzhou	走來
Xiang	Changsha	轉來

Dialectal synonyms of 回來 (“to come back; to return”) [map]