Grammar – Kh

Khah…mā / to … – No matter how… 

Khah-bián – So as not to / so as to avoid / so that…doesn’t… 

Khah bô – Not even (as much as)

Khah ke (mā) – No matter how, as a matter of course

Khah mài - You’d best not; it would be best not to…

Kha̍p-ē-tio̍h - At a moment’s notice; without provocation

Khí (tioh8)…chok-iōng – Play…a function / have…effect

[Verb] khí lâi – Look / seem / feel… // when you see / feel / hear …

Khì hō· – Be [verb]-ed by …

Khì hō· lâng – See hō· lâng

Khì hông – See hông

Khiok – However / contrary to [what was just said] 

Khó-pí kóng – This is like (saying) … / This can be likened to (saying) …

Khò…chóan-chiah / thàn-chia̍h – Make a living by… / rely on…for a living 

Khah mài

You’d best not; it would be best not to…

 

Khì Tâi-lâm khah mài kóng Kok-gí.

You shouldn’t use Mandarin if you go to Tainan.

 

Pē-bú sī sī Tâi-ôan lâi ê, khah mài lóng thiaⁿ bô Tâi-gí.

Your parents are from Taiwan, so it’s not right that you don’t understand Taiwanese.

Khah…mā / to …

No matter how…

Io̍h-á khah khó mā tio̍h lim lo̍h khì.

No matter how bitter the medicine is you have to drink it down.

Khah chham-siông to bōe hó-sè.

We negotiated and negotiated, but just couldn’t come to agreement.

Khah khòaⁿ, to khòaⁿ-bô.

No matter how I looked, I still couldn’t see it.

Khah bô

Not even (as much as)

Lán siu khah bô nn̄g sêng.

We didn’t even get 20 percent.

Kū-nî chèng-hú si̍t-hêng giâm-keh ê kim-iông kam-tok, m̄-kú khah bô saⁿ kó·-go̍eh, chèng-hú ê koat-chhek ū chiâⁿ tōa ê piàn-hòa.

Last year the government implemented strict financial supervision, but in less than three months, there was a big change in the policy.

Khah bián

So as not to; so as to avoid; so that…doesn’t…

Lí tio̍h chiàu i ê ōe khì chò lah, khah-bián i bô hoaⁿ-hí.

Oh, just do it like he says so that he doesn’t get mad.

Lí tio̍h tiàm tī chhù-ni̍h lah, khah-bián thài-thài kā lí siu-lí.

Just stay at home so that your wife doesn’t tear you a new one.

Lí tio̍h ti̍t-kóng lah, khah-bián lí lú kái-soeh i ê gō-hōe lú chhim.

Just speak simply so that you won’t get in the situation where the more you explain the deeper his misunderstanding gets.

Lán chhut-mn̂g lóng teh beh saⁿ kang ah, èng-kai kā lán chhù ê lâng khah chi̍t ê tiān-ōe, khah-bián in hôan-ló.

We’ve been gone for almost three days; we should give our families a call so that they won’t be worried.

Khí (tio̍h)…chok-iōng

Play…a function; have…effect

Lí nā-chún iōng phah ê hong-sek lâi kà-sī gín-á, chin ū khó-lêng kan-na ē khí tio̍h chiām-sî ê chok-iōng.

If you use hitting as your method of correcting children, it’s very likely that it will only have a temporary effect.

Kok-chè Hòe-pè Ki-kim-hōe ê tāi-khóan tī hôe-ho̍k Tang-lâm-a kok-ka ê kim-iông hē-thóng hong-bīn ū khí liáu it-tēng ê chok-iōng.

Loans from the International Monetary Fund certainly played a role in the recovery of Southeast Asian nation’s financial systems.

Khah ke (mā)

No matter how, as a matter of course

M̄ hó-hó-á tha̍k chu, khah ke mā bē hiáu.

If you don’t study hard, of course you won’t be able to do it.

Chiah-ni̍h tōa ê tāi-chì, bô beh kap lâng chham-siông, ka-kī chi̍t-ê tōa chú tōa ì, khah ke mā chò bē hó-sè.

For such an important matter, if you aren’t going to consult with anyone, and instead will just do what you want, it’s never going to turn out well.

(Fang, Nan-qiang. Yaqi Jiang Taiyu: Diyi Ji. Taipei County Xindian City: Kaituo, 1997. P. 157)

Kha̍p-ē-tio̍h

At a moment’s notice; without provocation

 

I kha̍p-ē-tio̍h tio̍h hoat sèng-tē.

He gets mad at the drop of a hat.

 

I kha̍p-ē-tio̍h tio̍h beh kap lâng oan-ke sio phah, chin chhiú-chhèng.

He’s ready to fight with people without provocation; he’s trouble.

Khì hō•

Be [verb]-ed by …

Related: hō·

Note: Usually used for negative or unfortunate things. 

 

Góa khióng-kiaⁿ gín-á ē khì-hō· káu-hiāⁿ kā tio̍h, só·-í iōng khip-tîn khì lâi kā khip-khip–khí-lài.

I’m afraid that the kids could be bitten by the ants, so I use the vacuum cleaner to suck them up.

 

I bē-su khì hō· kúi phah tio̍h.

She looks like she saw a ghost (literally: “touched by a ghost”)

 

Góa kam-gōan khì hō· thâu-ke thâi-thâu, mā m̄-gōan khì kā hōe sit-lé.

I would rather have the boss fire me than go and apologize to him.

 

Jû-kó tē-kiû ê chúi-pêng-bīn it-ti̍t kôan-khí-lâi, Hô-lân ê chi̍t pō·-hun thó·-tē tio̍h ē khì hō∙ hái-chúi im-khì.

If the Earth’s water-level keeps rising, part of Holland’s territory could be swallowed up by the sea.

[Verb] khí lâi

Look; seem; feel; when you see/feel/hear …

 

Related: [Verb] tio̍h

Note: Connects a verb to a stative verb, and expresses a valus judgement on the verb’s progress

 

Sū kòe sì-cha̍p-gōa-nî, hôe-sióng–khí-lâi, ke-kiám ū chi̍t-si-á chhe-liâng ê bí-kám.

It’s been over forty years since then, and when I think back on it, it has a sort of cool beauty to it.

 

Ìn-tō·-ōe kap Urdu, kóng–khí-lâi sī kāng chi̍t-chióng gú-giân, m̄-kó siá–khí-lâi sī bô kâng-khóan.

Hindi and Urdu are the same language when spoken, but different when written.

 

I kòa ba̍k-kiàⁿ khòaⁿ–khí lâi khah sin-sū khóan.

When he wears glasses, he looks more gentlemanly.