PHONETICS TO PRONOUNCE THE 21 MOST POPULAR GREETINGS FOR CNY!

Chinese New Year is here and it’s a HUGE HOLIDAY and celebration in Hong Kong!  (And in countries/cities with a big Chinese population).

Wanna impress your coworkers with a few festive Chinese New Year greetings when you go back to work? If you want to ensure that you get the biggest stack of lucky envelope possible, make sure to ace some of the greetings below. We have curated the most popular 21 greetings for you and put together some easy phonetics (for Cantonese pronunciation) and descriptions to go along with them.  If that’s not enough, then also download the PowerPoint because I’ve embedded audio so you can hear the actual pronunciation if you’re that much of a keener =D.  You’ll have at least one greeting for everybody person and purpose!  Let’s get the CNY celebration started!

GENERAL DYNAMO

ONE.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  新年快樂.  SUN NIN FAI LOK.

TWO.  WISHING YOU A PROSPEROUS YEAR.   恭喜發財.  GOONG HAY FAT CHOY.

THREE.  WISHING YOU SAFETY AND PEACE WHERE EVER YOU GO.  出入平安 CHUT YUP PING ON. 

FOUR.  WISHING YOU GREAT LUCK AND PROFITS. 大吉大利 DAI GUT DAI LEI.

FIVE.  WISHING YOU GOOD HEALTH.  身體健康 SUN TAI GEEN HONG. 

SIX.  WISHING YOU HAPPINESS AND CONSTANT LAUGHTER.  笑口常開 SIU HOW SHEUNG HOY.

SEVEN.  WISHING YOU THAT EVERYTHING IS POSITIVE AND GOOD.  萬事如意 MAAN SEE YU YEE.

EIGHT.  WISHING YOU THAT EVERYTHING GOES SMOOTHLY ACCORDING TO YOUR WISHES.  如意吉祥 YU YEE GUT CHEUNG.

NINE.  WISHING YOU THAT ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE.  心想事成 SUM SHEUNG SEE SING.

SPECIFICALLY FOR CHILDREN

TEN.  WISHING YOU IMPROVEMENT/SUCCESS IN YOUR STUDIES.  學業進步 HAWK YIP JUEN BOW.

ELEVEN.  WISHING YOU TO QUICKLY GROW UP HEALTHILY AND STRONG.  快高長大 FAI GO JUANG DAI. 

TWELVE.  WISHING YOU TO BE SMART AND BRIGHT.  聰明伶俐 CHOONG MING LING LEI.

SPECIFICALLY FOR BUSINESS MINDED PEOPLE

THIRTEEN.  WISHING YOU PROSPEROUS SUCCESSES  IN YOUR BUSINESS.  生意興隆 SAAN YEE HING LOONG.

FOURTEEN.  WISHING YOU THAT THE RICHES AND PROSPERITY WILL FLOW IN.  財源廣進 CHOY YUEN GUANG JUEN.  

FIFTEEN.  WISHING THAT EVEN A LITTLE INPUT (CAPITAL) WILL TURN INTO A HUGE OUTPUT.   一本萬利 YUT BOON MAAN LEI.

SIXTEEN.  WISHING YOU STEADY ADVANCEMENTS UP (CAREER).  步步高陞 BO BO GO SING. 

SEVENTEEN.  WISHING YOU TO HAVE INCREASED PROSPERITY EACH DAY.  蒸蒸日上 JING JING YUT SHEUNG.

SPECIFICALLY FOR ELDERS

EIGHTEEN.  WISHING YOU TO BE HALE AND HEARTY; FULL OF VITALITY.  龍馬精神 LOONG MA JING SUN. 

NINETEEN.  WISHING YOU A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE.  長命百歲 CHEUNG MANG BAK SHUI.

SPECIFICALLY FOR THE AUNTIES

TWENTY.  WISHING YOU THAT YOU STAY YOUNG AND LOOK YOUTHFUL FOREVER.  青春常駐 TSING CHUEN SHEUNG JU.

SPECIFICALLY FOR PEOPLE THAT WILL GAMBLE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

TWENTY ONE.  WISHING YOU THAT WINS ARE EASILY ACHIEVED.  横財就手 WAN CHOY JOW SHOU.  

Need more help with the pronunciation?  Fear not.  Below is a Powerpoint with audio embedded so you can hear exactly how they should be pronounced.  Well, I’m said to have a slight “born from abroad” accent, but not much.

Hope you found that useful =)