Learn how to reduplicate certain Cantonese verbs to show preference
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Intro |
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| Nicole: 大家好(daai6 gaa1 hou2). I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: Hello, everybody. Matt here! And welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com, Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 14. In this lesson you will learn about things to do on a date. |
| Nicole: This conversation takes place in a bar. |
| Matt: And it's between two friends. |
| Nicole: So they're speaking casual Cantonese as always. |
| Matt: All right, Nicole, let's take a listen to the dialogue today. It's pretty simple. |
Lesson conversation |
| 一齊睇戲吖？(jat1 cai4 tai2 hei3 aa1?) |
| 咩戲呀？(me1 hei3 aa3?) |
| 2012。(ji6 ling4 jat1 ji6). |
| 好呀。(hou2 aa3). |
| English Host: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 一齊睇戲吖？(jat1 cai4 tai2 hei3 aa1?) |
| 咩戲？(me1 hei3?) |
| 2012。(ji6 ling4 jat1 ji6). |
| 好呀。(hou2 aa3). |
| English Host: And now with the English translation. |
| 一齊睇戲吖？(jat1 cai4 tai2 hei3 aa1?) |
| Matt: Let's go see a movie? |
| 咩戲？(me1 hei3?) |
| Matt: What movie? |
| 2012。(ji6 ling4 jat1 ji6). |
| Matt: "2012." |
| 好呀。(hou2 aa3). |
| Matt: Sounds good. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Now who would invite a girl to a disaster movie, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Well you have no idea how popular this movie is in 2012. |
| Matt: That's right. So that's how it became the movie to see on a date? |
| Nicole: Well, maybe after a girl sees the movie, she will realize how soon the world is going to end and she better seize the day and enjoy the date with our 靚仔(leng3 zai2). |
| Matt: Or it could come out the opposite. She might decide not to waste her time with that guy and find somebody better. |
| Nicole: You're so pessimistic. Anyway, we have some great vocab today about dating. |
| Matt: That's right. The top five things you want to do on a date. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: So, let's dive right in, take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson and The get our listeners ready for their first date. |
| Nicole: 想(soeng2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To want. |
| Nicole: 想(soeng2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 想(soeng2) [natural native speed]. 睇戲(tai2 hei3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To watch a movie. |
| Nicole: 睇戲(tai2 hei3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 睇戲(tai2 hei3) [natural native speed]. 行街(haang4 gaai1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Literally to walk in the street or to go shopping. |
| Nicole: 行街(haang4 gaai1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 行街(haang4 gaai1) [natural native speed]. 食飯(sik6 faan6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To have a meal. |
| Nicole: 食飯(sik6 faan6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 食飯(sik6 faan6) [natural native speed]. 飲茶(jam2 caa4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To drink tea or have Cantonese brunch. |
| Nicole: 飲茶(jam2 caa4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 飲茶(jam2 caa4) [natural native speed].飲嘢(jam2 je5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To have a drink. |
| Nicole: 飲嘢(jam2 je5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 飲嘢(jam2 je5) [natural native speed]. 買嘢(maai5 je5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To go shopping. |
| Nicole: 買嘢(maai5 je5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 買嘢(maai5 je5) [natural native speed]. 兜風(dau1 fung1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To go for a joyride. |
| Nicole: 兜風(dau1 fung1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 兜風(dau1 fung1) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Matt: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of these words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Nicole: Okay. The first phrase is 食飯 (sik6 faan6). |
| Matt: To have a meal. |
| Nicole: 食飯 (sik6 faan6). |
| Matt: Literally to eat rice. |
| Nicole: Right. 食飯(sik6 faan6) means eat rice literally. But it means more than that because rice is a staple of Cantonese food, so 食飯(sik6 faan6) or eat rice becomes a general term for having a meal. |
| Matt: That makes sense. Just like the word for drinking tea doesn't necessarily mean drinking tea |
| Nicole: Right. 飲茶 (jam2 caa4) |
| Matt: To drink tea, or to have a Cantonese brunch in a Cantonese restaurant. |
| Nicole: Right 飲茶 (jam2 caa4) is one of my favorite things to do, not on a date, but with my friends or family. You get delicious 點心 (dim2 sam1) in the Cantonese restaurant. |
| Matt: Oh yes. Now we all know you love eating, Nicole. So what's our number four word for the day? |
| Nicole: 睇戲 (tai2 hei3) |
| Matt: To watch a movie. |
| Nicole: 睇戲 (tai2 hei3) |
| Matt: To watch a movie. Our first sound here is a very high frequency word. |
| Nicole: 睇 (tai2). |
| Matt: To see, or to watch. |
| Nicole: Right. You can say 睇書 (tai2 syu1) |
| Matt: That's to read a book, not just to look at it. |
| Nicole: Right. Although it literally means to look at a book, but it means read 睇書(tai2 syu1). Or you can say 我鍾意睇書。(ngo5 zung1 ji3 tai2 syu1.) |
| Matt: which is I like reading. |
| Nicole: For you Matt, 你鍾意睇靚女 (nei5 zung1 ji3 tai2 leng3 neoi5) |
| Matt: Which is I like seeing pretty girls. But then again who doesn't. |
| Nicole: Well for women, they like to 睇靚仔 (tai2 leng3 zai2) |
| Matt: To watch or to look at handsome guys. |
| Nicole: Or when you're bored you want to 睇電視 (tai2 din6 si6) |
| Matt: Watch TV. |
| Nicole: Right 睇電視(tai2 din6 si6). Or maybe that's why you're bored. |
| Matt: That's why you're to want to do our number three word for the day. |
| Nicole: Right 行街 (haang4 gaai1). |
| Matt: To walk in the street. But it actually implies shopping. |
| Nicole: Right or maybe window shopping at least. 行街 (haang4 gaai1) |
| Matt: Shopping. There's another word also specifically for shopping. |
| Nicole: 買嘢 (maai5 je5) |
| Matt: Shopping. Now how formal is this word, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Casual. They are both casual. You can say 一齊買嘢？(jat1 cai4 maai5 je5?) |
| Matt: Let's go shopping. |
| Nicole: Or 不如一齊行街？(bat1 jyu4 jat1 cai4 haang4 gaai1?) |
| Matt: That's the suggestion, the polite turn down and then the suggestion, How about let's go shopping. |
| Nicole: Women love shopping. |
| Matt: But I can't imagine a guy asking a girl to go out shopping for a date. |
| Nicole: Me neither. But in Cantonese we say 行街睇戲食飯 (haang4 gaai1 tai2 hei3 sik6 faan6) in a row. |
| Matt: Shopping, watching movies and eating? |
| Nicole: Right. 行街睇戲食飯 (haang4 gaai1 tai2 hei3 sik6 faan6). Well it means general or routine things to do on a date. |
| Matt: So if you want to say they're out on a date, you can say… |
| Nicole: 佢哋行街睇戲食飯 (keoi5 dei6 haang4 gaai1 tai2 hei3 sik6 faan6) |
| Matt: All right, so shopping, movie watching and eating. These are the common things to do on a date. What's our number two? |
| Nicole: Well, it's a more exciting thing to do 飲嘢 (jam2 je5). |
| Matt: To have a drink. |
| Nicole: 飲嘢 (jam2 je5) |
| Matt: To have a drink. What about let's have a drink. |
| Nicole: 一齊飲嘢吖？(jat1 cai4 jam2 je5 aa1?) |
| Matt: Do you have time for a drink? |
| Nicole: 得唔得閒飲嘢？(dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 jam2 je5?) |
| Matt: So it's 'have or not have time for a drink.' |
| Nicole: That's right. 得唔得閒飲嘢？(dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 jam2 je5?) is a Cantonese way of forming a simple question. 得唔得閒飲嘢？(dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 jam2 je5?) Or you can say 得唔得閒食嘢？(dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 sik6 je5?) |
| Matt: Do you have time for a meal? |
| Nicole: Right. Or 得唔得閒行街 (dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 haang4 gaai1) |
| Matt: Do you have time for shopping? |
| Nicole: Of course, always. Or you can say 得唔得閒睇戲?(dak1 m4 dak1 haan4 tai2 hei3?) |
| Matt: Do you have time for a movie? |
| Nicole: Right. Now our top phrase of today. |
| Matt: *Drumroll* sound. |
| Nicole: Excellent drumroll 兜風 (dau1 fung1) |
| Matt: Which means to “have a joy ride.” |
| Nicole: 兜風 (dau1 fung1) |
| Matt: To have a joy ride or literally to move around the wind. |
| Nicole: Yeah or to play with the wind. 兜風 (dau1 fung1). both of these two sounds are the first high tone, high flat tone, 兜風 (dau1 fung1). And you can always suggest a 靚女，一齊兜風吖？(leng3 neoi5, jat1 cai4 dau1 fung1 aa1?) |
| Matt: Hey, pretty woman let's have a joy ride together. |
| Nicole: Yeah. Or you can say 幾時兜風呀? (gei2 si4 dau1 fung1 aa3?) |
| Matt: When do you want to have a joy ride? |
| Nicole: Or longer sentence 幾時得閒，一齊兜風呀 (gei2 si4 dak1 haan4, jat1 cai4 dau1 fung1 aa3?) |
| Matt: When you have time, let's have a joy ride. |
| Nicole: The girl probably would say 我鍾意兜風 (ngo5 zung1 ji3 dau1 fung1). |
| Matt: I like going for joy rides. |
| Nicole: Yeah. And you can say 佢要兜風 (keoi5 jiu3 dau1 fung1). |
| Matt: She or he wants a joy ride. |
| Nicole: That's right. If you ask somebody out for a 兜風 (dau1 fung1), I think he or she probably is going to say 好呀 (hou2 aa3), because 兜風 (dau1 fung1) is very laid back. |
| Matt: All right. That's a great tip, Nicole. So let's have a quick review for our listeners. Today we've learned the top five things that you need to do on a date. |
| Nicole: 食飯 (sik6 faan6). |
| Matt: To have a meal. |
| Nicole: 行街 (haang4 gaai1) |
| Matt: To go shopping. |
| Nicole: 睇戲 (tai2 hei3) |
| Matt: To watch a movie. |
| Nicole: 飲嘢 (jam2 je5) |
| Matt: To have a drink. |
| Nicole: 兜風 (dau1 fung1) |
| Matt: And to go for a joy ride. |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: Now let's move on to our grammar section. We'll teach you how to ask someone out. |
| Nicole: 好(hou2). |
| Matt: Now the main focus of this lesson is asking 'do you want.' |
| Nicole: We've learned a word for 'to want' in earlier lessons which is 要(jiu3). |
| Matt: That's right. That's the word for want. |
| Nicole: 要(jiu3) |
| Matt: We've also learned how to form a simple question with using negation. |
| Nicole: 唔. So you can say 要唔要(jiu3 m4 jiu3). |
| Matt: Want or not want. |
| Nicole: 你要唔要(nei5 jiu3 m4 jiu3) |
| Matt: Do you want? |
| Nicole: 佢要唔要(keoi5 jiu3 m4 jiu3) |
| Matt: Does he or she want. Today we're going to teach you a new word for 'want.' |
| Nicole: 想 (soeng2) |
| Matt: To want or to think. |
| Nicole: 想 (soeng2). Pay attention to the tone here. It's a high rising tone 想 (soeng2). |
| Matt: To want, to think. |
| Nicole: Yeah. And you can replace the 要 (jiu3) with 想 (soeng2). |
| Matt: So instead of saying… |
| Nicole: 要唔要(jiu3 m4 jiu3) |
| Matt: …you can say |
| Nicole: 想唔想 (soeng2 m4 soeng2) |
| Matt: What about to want or not to want? |
| Nicole: 想唔想(soeng2 m4 soeng2) or 你想唔想 (nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2). |
| Matt: Do you want? |
| Nicole: You can ask 你想唔想食飯 (nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: which is do you want to have a meal? |
| Nicole: 你想唔想一齊食飯 (nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 jat1 cai4 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: Do you want to have meal together? |
| Nicole: Right. And 靚女，你想唔想一齊食飯？(leng3 neoi5, nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 jat1 cai4 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: Hey pretty girl, do you want to have meal together? Now this is a complete invitation. |
| Nicole: Yup, it is. Remember to stick 一齊(jat1 cai4) between do you want 想唔想(soeng2 m4 soeng2) and the verb 食飯(sik6 faan6). So it's 你想唔想一齊食飯？(nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 jat1 cai4 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: Now, that's really important to do because if you leave out the together part, she might say yes, she's going to have a meal, but it would be without you. |
| Nicole: So sad. |
| Matt: So it's do you want together eat. |
| Nicole: Yeah, that's the word order. 想唔想一齊食飯 (soeng2 m4 soeng2 jat1 cai4 sik6 faan6), or you can replace 想(soeng2) with 要(jiu3). 要唔要一齊食飯？ (jiu3 m4 jiu3 jat1 cai4 sik6 faan6?) 要唔要一齊兜風? , ; jiu3 m4 jiu3 jat1 cai4 dau1 fung1?) |
| Matt: Do you want to have a joy ride. But there's a slight difference between these two 'wants.' |
| Nicole: Right. 要(jiu3) is slightly stronger, with the stress on 'to need' or it's more like a request. For example 我要水 (ngo5 jiu3 seoi2). |
| Matt: I need water. |
| Nicole: As in 好口渴呀，我要水 (hou2 hau2 hot3 aa3, ngo5 jiu3 seoi2). |
| Matt: I'm really thirsty, I need water. |
| Nicole: Or 好肚餓呀，我要食飯 (hou2 tou5 ngo6 aa3, ngo5 jiu3 sik6 faan6). |
| Matt: I'm starving. I need to eat. |
| Nicole: Or 我要買嘢 (ngo5 jiu3 maai5 je5). |
| Matt: I need to shop, but of course that's for no reason. |
| Nicole: There's no need to be reason to 買嘢 (maai5 je5) |
| Matt: Okay. But what about the other word, Nicole? |
| Nicole: 想(soeng2) is softer, with an implication that you are thinking about doing it. You want to do it. |
| Matt: It can also be followed by a verb. |
| Nicole: That's right. Like 我想飲嘢 (ngo5 soeng2 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: I want to have a drink. |
| Nicole: 佢想兜風 (keoi5 soeng2 dau1 fung1). |
| Matt: She or he wants to go for a joy ride. |
| Nicole: Yup. So when you're inviting someone, you want to use the softer 想(soeng2) to be nice and polite. |
| Matt: Like in English we say would you like... instead of do you want. But among friends they're pretty much interchangeable. |
| Nicole: Exactly. 你想唔想睇戲？(nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 tai2 hei3?) |
| Matt: Would you like to go see a movie? |
| Nicole: 好呀 (hou2 aa3). |
| Matt: Sure. |
| Nicole: 你要唔要一齊飲茶？(nei5 jiu3 m4 jiu3 jat1 cai4 jam2 caa4?) |
| Matt: Do you want to drink tea together? Or do you want to have Cantonese brunch together? |
| Nicole: hmm... 下次吖 (haa5 ci3 aa1). |
| Matt: So here, Nicole's answer is hmm... maybe next time. Why? I thought Cantonese people love drinking tea |
| Nicole: Not on a date. 唔想飲茶 (m4 soeng2 jam2 caa4). |
| Matt: Okay. I didn't know I was asking you on a date. But girls don't want to drink tea on a date. That's noted. We still have plenty of other things that we can do on a date. We've learned the top five dating vocabulary and how to invite people out. |
| Nicole: That's right. Now Matt 你想唔想一齊飲嘢呀? (nei5 soeng2 m4 soeng2 jat1 cai4 jam2 je5 aa3?) |
| Matt: 好呀 (hou2 aa3). But before we go, we want to tell you about a way to improve your pronunciation drastically. |
| Nicole: The voice-recording tool! |
| Matt: Yes, the voice-recording too in the premium learning center. |
| Nicole: Record your voice with a click of a button, |
| Matt: ...and then play it back just as easily. |
| Nicole: So you record your voice and you listen to it. |
| Matt: Compare it to the native speakers... |
| Nicole: ...and adjust your pronunciation! |
| Matt: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast! |
| Nicole: That's right. So that's our lesson today. I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: And I'm Matt. Make sure to tune in next time. |
| Nicole: See you. |
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