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| Introduction |
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Cantonese Season 1, Lesson 17 - Why? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and answer ‘why’ questions in Cantonese. |
| Body |
| Eric: We’ll start off with how to ask 'Why are you late?' in Cantonese. |
| Olivia: [Normal] 點解你遲到?(dim2 gaai2 nei5 ci4 dou3) |
| Eric: First is an adverb meaning 'Why' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 點解 [Slow] 點解 (dim2 gaai2) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning 'you' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你(nei5) |
| Eric: Next is the adjective meaning 'late' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 遲 [Slow] 遲(ci4) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to arrive' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 到 [Slow] 到(dou3) |
| Eric: Listen again to the question meaning 'Why are you late?' |
| Olivia: [Slow] 點解你遲到? [Normal] 點解你遲到?(dim2 gaai2 nei5 ci4 dou3) |
| Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to your co-worker. Here's how to say, 'I missed the train.' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 我走咗班車。(ngo5 zau2 zo2 baan1 ce1) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我 (ngo5) |
| Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'to miss' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 走 [Slow] 走 (zau2) |
| Eric: Next is the adverb meaning 'already' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 咗 [Slow] 咗(zo2) |
| Eric: Last is the noun meaning 'the train' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 班車 [Slow] 班車(baan1 ce1) |
| Eric: Listen again to the sentence meaning 'I missed the train.' |
| Olivia: [Slow] 我走咗班車。 [Normal] 我走咗班車。(ngo5 zau2 zo2 baan1 ce1) |
| Eric: Here's a question meaning 'Why do you leave so early?' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 點解你咁早走?(dim2 gaai2 nei5 gam3 zou2 zau2) |
| Eric: First is an adverb meaning 'Why' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 點解 [Slow] 點解(dim2 gaai2) |
| Eric: Next is the pronoun meaning 'you' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你(nei5) |
| Eric: Next is the adverb meaning 'so' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 咁 [Slow] 咁(gam3 ) |
| Eric: Next is the adverb meaning 'early' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 早 [Slow] 早(zou2) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to leave' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 走 [Slow] 走(zau2) |
| Eric: Listen again to the question meaning 'Why do you leave so early?' |
| Olivia: [Slow] 點解你咁早走? [Normal] 點解你咁早走?(dim2 gaai2 nei5 gam3 zou2 zau2) |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I don’t want to miss the train.' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 我驚趕唔切搭車。(ngo5 geng1 gon2 m4 cit3 daap3 ce1) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(ngo5) |
| Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'to be wary of' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 驚 [Slow] 驚(geng1) |
| Eric: Next is the phrase meaning 'cannot make it' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 趕唔切 [Slow] 趕唔切(gon2 m4 cit3) |
| Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to take a train' |
| Olivia: [Normal] 搭車 [Slow] 搭車(daap3 ce1) |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I don’t want to miss the train.' |
| Olivia: [Slow] 我驚趕唔切搭車。 [Normal] 我驚趕唔切搭車。(ngo5 geng1 gon2 m4 cit3 daap3 ce1) |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Olivia: To avoid the question 點解你遲到? (dim2 gaai2 nei5 ci4 dou3) or “Why are you late” in Hong Kong, make sure to report to work on time. Things in Hong Kong usually take significantly longer than you'd expect, even without major delays. If you do arrive late for a meeting, apologize profusely for inconveniencing your counterparts. However, punctuality for social events in Hong Kong is slightly more relaxed. It is acceptable to arrive up to half an hour later than the official start time of an event. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Olivia: 拜拜! (baai1 baai3) |
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