Learn a Cantonese possessive particle
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Intro |
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| Nicole: 大家好 (daai6 gaa1 hou2)! I'm Nicole. Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. |
| Matt: Matt here! Welcome back to our Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 6 In this lesson you will learn how to be graceful in victory, over beer that is. |
| Nicole: This conversation takes place in a bar. |
| Matt: And it's between our waitress and her customer. He gets his beer and life is good. |
| Nicole: And we're speaking casual Cantonese as usual. |
| Matt: Okay, Nicole, let's take a listen to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| 你嘅啤酒。(nei5 ge3 be1 zau2.) |
| 唔該。(m4 goi1.) |
| 唔使客氣。(m4 sai2 haak3 hei3.) |
| English Host: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| 你嘅啤酒。(nei5 ge3 be1 zau2.) |
| 唔該。(m4 goi1.) |
| 唔使客氣。(m4 sai2 haak3 hei3.) |
| English Host: And now with the English translation. |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| Matt: Hello. |
| 你好。(nei5 hou2.) |
| Matt: Hello. |
| 你嘅啤酒。(nei5 ge3 be1 zau2.) |
| Matt: Here's your beer. |
| 唔該。(m4 goi1.) |
| Matt: Thanks. |
| 唔使客氣。(m4 sai2 haak3 hei3.) |
| Matt: You're welcome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Okay. I'm glad he finally got his beer. I was worried there for a minute. |
| Nicole: Yup. It took long enough though. |
| Matt: Maybe it's because he didn't call her 靚女 (leng3 neoi5). |
| Nicole: I told you. Call a girl 靚女 (leng3 neoi5) and she'll love it. |
| Matt: Hey, who wouldn't love it? |
| Nicole: Exactly. Like 靚女 (leng3 neoi5)，啤酒唔該 (be1 zau2 m4 goi1). |
| Matt: Hey, pretty girl, can I have a beer please? Yeah, he definitely should have said that. |
| Nicole: He would have had his beer in one minute, tops. |
| Matt: Anyway, our lesson today is about the possessive. |
| Nicole: It's more interesting than it sounds. I promise. We promise. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: Okay. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. Our first word is: |
| Nicole: 嘅 (ge3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Which is a possessive particle. |
| Nicole: 嘅 (ge3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 嘅 (ge3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: And next, we have. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Your or yours. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Followed by. |
| Nicole: 唔使客氣 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: You're welcome. |
| Nicole: 唔使客氣 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔使客氣 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Please; thank you or excuse me. |
| Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Thank you very much. |
| Nicole: 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Beer. |
| Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: All right, Nicole, let's talk a little bit about pronouns now. |
| Nicole: 佢 (keoi5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Which can mean he, she or it. |
| Nicole: 佢 (keoi5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 佢 (keoi5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 我哋 (ngo5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: We. |
| Nicole: 我哋 (ngo5 dei6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 我哋 (ngo5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have a plural form. |
| Nicole: 你哋 (nei5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: You (in the plural sense). |
| Nicole: 你哋 (nei5 dei6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 你哋 (nei5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Last, we have. |
| Nicole: 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: They. |
| Nicole: 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Matt: All right, great. Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Nicole: Sure. The first phrase is 嘅 (ge3) |
| Matt: Good. Now, this is a possessive particle. |
| Nicole: 嘅 (ge3) |
| Matt: So in the dialogue we had heard… |
| Nicole: 你嘅… (nei5 ge3) |
| Matt: … which means your. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) |
| Matt: If we break that down, the first sound is? |
| Nicole: 你 (nei5) |
| Matt: Which is you. |
| Nicole: 嘅 (ge3) |
| Matt: Followed by the possessive word. Before we talk about this possessive word however, let's review some of the pronouns that we just learned. |
| Nicole: Sure. 我 (ngo5) |
| Matt: I. |
| Nicole: 佢 (keoi5). |
| Matt: He, she or it, a third person pronoun. |
| Nicole: That's a new word, 佢 (keoi5). |
| Matt: He, she or it. Now, what if we make that plural, Nicole? |
| Nicole: That's really easy. We have a plural suffix which is 哋 (dei6) So we put the suffix 哋 (dei6) to the end. |
| Matt: Okay. Now for this section on plural suffixes, Nicole will say the Cantonese form and I will translate it. So let's start with that, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Okay. The first word 我哋 (ngo5 dei6). |
| Matt: We. |
| Nicole: Again, 我哋 (ngo5 dei6). |
| Matt: We. |
| Nicole: 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6). |
| Matt: They. |
| Nicole: 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6). |
| Matt: They. |
| Nicole: 你哋 (nei5 dei6). |
| Matt: You, but in the plural sense. |
| Nicole: Right, 你哋 (nei5 dei6). |
| Matt: You, like you guys. |
| Nicole: Right. |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: Now, for this, we've got a little trick for you. When you see two characters like that, it means that it's plural, more than one. So more than one is plural or two characters also means it's plural. |
| Nicole: Yeah, that's a good trick. Two sounds plural, one sound singular. |
| Matt: All right, Nicole, let's go back and review what we've just learned. |
| Nicole: Okay, six pronouns. I'll say the Cantonese and you say the English. |
| Matt: All right. |
| Nicole: 我 (ngo5) |
| Matt: I. |
| Nicole: 你 (nei5) |
| Matt: You. |
| Nicole: 佢 (keoi5). |
| Matt: It, he or she. |
| Nicole: Now, the plural forms. 我哋 (ngo5 dei6) |
| Matt: We. |
| Nicole: 你哋 (nei5 dei6). |
| Matt: You. |
| Nicole: 佢哋 (keoi5 dei6). |
| Matt: They. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: So in the dialogue we heard 靚女 (leng3 neoi5) brings the guy a 啤酒 (be1 zau2) and says? |
| Nicole: 你嘅啤酒 (nei5 ge3 be1 zau2). |
| Matt: Your beer. |
| Nicole: Right, 你嘅啤酒 (nei5 ge3 be1 zau2). |
| Matt: This is your beer. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) |
| Matt: Your. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) |
| Matt: Your. |
| Nicole: 啤酒 (be1 zau2) |
| Matt: Beer. |
| Nicole: 你嘅啤酒 (nei5 ge3 be1 zau2). |
| Matt: This is your beer. |
| Nicole: Right. |
| Matt: So, to express possession in Cantonese, we say the person who has something and then add 嘅 (ge3) |
| Nicole: This 嘅 (ge3) is a particle we use to show ownership. |
| Matt: Like your. |
| Nicole: 你嘅 (nei5 ge3) |
| Matt: My |
| Nicole: 我嘅 (ngo5 ge3) |
| Matt: His. |
| Nicole: 佢嘅 (keoi5 ge3) |
| Matt: Hers. |
| Nicole: 佢嘅 (keoi5 ge3) |
| Matt: It. |
| Nicole: 佢嘅 (keoi5 ge3) |
| Matt: Ours. |
| Nicole: 我哋嘅 (ngo5 dei6 ge3) |
| Matt: Yours. |
| Nicole: 你哋嘅 (nei5 dei6 ge3) |
| Matt: Theirs. |
| Nicole: 佢哋嘅 (keoi5 dei6 ge3) |
| Matt: All right, so pretty easy so far. And then we add our object after that. |
| Nicole: Right, like 我嘅水 (ngo5 ge3 seoi2). |
| Matt: My water. |
| Nicole: 佢哋嘅朋友 (keoi5 dei6 ge3 pang4 jau5). |
| Matt: Their friends。 |
| Nicole: That's right. The word order is always the owner plus ge and the owned, so it's pretty easy to express this ownership or possession. |
| Matt: Okay, Nicole. Now, when speaking about family members, we're going to drop the 嘅(ge3) for possession. So, let's give our listeners some examples of that. How would we say my mother? |
| Nicole: So instead of saying 我嘅媽媽 (ngo5 ge3 maa4 maa1), we say 我媽媽 (ngo5 maa4 maa1). |
| Matt: And what about for his father? |
| Nicole: 佢爸爸 (keoi5 baa4 baa1). |
| Matt: Okay, now this one is a little tricky, what about my girlfriend, do we still drop the 嘅? (ge3) |
| Nicole: I think so. 我女朋友 (ngo5 neoi5 pang4 jau5) We drop the 嘅 (ge3) in there because boyfriend and girlfriend are quite close. |
Outro |
| Matt: Okay. Well that just about does it for today. |
| Matt: We've learned six pronouns and how to show possession. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: Now, some of our listeners may have some ideas or suggestions for the content of upcoming classes. Remember that you can leave us a comment on this lesson or any ideas you may have. |
| Nicole: Yeah. So if you have a question or some feedback, please, please, please leave us a comment. |
| Matt: It's very easy to do as well. Just stop by CantoneseClass101.com. |
| Nicole: Click on comment. |
| Matt: Enter your comment and your name. |
| Nicole: And that's it. |
| Matt: So you have no excuses. We're looking forward to hearing from you. |
| Nicole: Thank you for tuning in. I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: And I am Matt. Bye. |
| Nicole: Bye. |
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