particle
mou
particle
1
A sentence-final particle used in some Chinese dialects to turn a statement into a yes/no question.
"You want tea, mou?"
"The waiter asked, "Finished eating, mou?""
How to Use Mou
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small word tacked onto the end of a sentence in Cantonese-influenced English to turn it into a question.
When to use it
Appears mainly in Cantonese-English code-switching or transliterated dialogue, not standard written English.
Word Forms
Mous plural
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You want tea, _____?
Etymology
From Cantonese 冇 (mou5), reinforced by influence from the Malay word mau ("to want").