lah.
Placed at the end of a sentence to accentuate the mood or attitude of the speaker.
Meaning & usage
Placed at the end of a sentence to accentuate the mood or attitude of the speaker.
Don’t do it lah, it’s not worth it.
Hurry up, lah!
Placed at the end of a sentence to convey reassurance or express solidarity.
You won’t drown one lah. The water is very shallow.
Indicates an attempt at expressing sympathy, conveying informality or sincerity, or establishing a rapport with the listener.
Just try your best lah, and don’t think too much about it.
Placed at the end of an assertive statement to express denial or dismissiveness.
— I don’t think you should be cutting corners, at least put in some effort and make it look legit. — They won’t care one lah... I don’t have all day...
Used after an assertive statement to reinforce its authoritativeness, or to show that the speaker is confident with what they are saying.
These shoes are too small lah.
No need to count lah. I’m sure the number is right.
Asserts that something is clear, obvious or straightforward.
Get a whiteboard marker and write over it lah.
They’re not wrong lah... But they’re only taking themselves into consideration.
Used to tone down an imperative sentence, so it sounds more like a request or suggestion.
Indicates strong persuasion at the end of an imperative sentence.
Don’t waste your time there lah.
Indicates a retrospective remark or a reassessment of one’s opinion.
— Not many people would think of using a pressure cooker. — I mean, it’s pretty unconventional lah, I have to admit.
Reinforces a suggestion with the implication that it is the more practical option.
The nearest train station is 15 minutes away. I think we take the bus lah, hor?
Use the mittens lah.
Indicates confirmation-seeking at the end of an inferential statement.
In other words, you’re the one who started it lah!
Used to express realisation, or vexation when something is already obvious.
So in the end it wasn’t my fault lah!
Do it yourself lah! Always need me to help is it?
Reinforces the factuality of an assertive statement made to correct an inaccurate, underlying assumption.
Oh wait it’s not today, lah. It’s on Sunday.
Used to convey a slight sense of dissatisfaction or irritation.
Used for enumeration (when listing examples).
An assertive separator, used to reverse the order of the usual topic–comment structure of a sentence.
No fun lah, you.
Used sarcastically.
No lah, no lah.
Where this word comes from
From Malay lah, Hokkien 啦 (--la) and Cantonese 啦 (laa¹). Doublet of la in colloquial Hong Kong English. Lim (2007) lists multiple sources: * Bazaar Malay, for its use as a particle of emphasis (akin to Malay lah), and the senses expressing commands, invitations and "solidarity, familiarity [and] informality". * Hokkien 啦 (--la), which indicates finality, completion and confirmation-seeking, as well as "emphasis, persuasiveness, dismissiveness [and] listing". * Cantonese 啦 (laa¹), expressing a "general lack of definiteness or forcefulness", and for its role in softening commands.
Alternative spelling of la.
Where this word comes from
An anglicised spelling of la.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.