Learn some Cantonese basic sentence structures
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Intro |
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| Matt: Matt here! And welcome back to Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 7. |
| Nicole: 大家好 (daai6 gaa3 hou2) I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: In this lesson you're going to learn about how to invite someone to dinner. |
| Nicole: This conversation takes place anywhere. |
| Matt: And it's between two friends. |
| Nicole: So they're speaking casual Cantonese as usual. |
| Matt: Okay, let's take a listen to the dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
| 我肚餓。(ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| 我都係。(ngo5 dou1 hai6.) |
| 一齊食嘢？ (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5?) |
| 好呀。 (hou2 aa3) |
| English Host: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 我肚餓。(ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| 我都係。(ngo5 dou1 hai6.) |
| 一齊食嘢？ (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5?) |
| 好呀。 (hou2 aa3.) |
| English Host: And now with the English translation. |
| 我肚餓。(ngo5 tou5 ngo6.) |
| Matt: I'm hungry. |
| 我都係。(ngo5 dou1 hai6.) |
| Matt: Me too. |
| 一齊食嘢？ (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5?) |
| Matt: Let's go eat. |
| 好呀。 (hou2 aa3.) |
| Matt: Okay. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: All right. Just listening to this dialogue makes me a little hungry. |
| Nicole: Me too. I could kill for a salad. |
| Matt: A salad? Come on, you're kidding me! |
| Nicole: Maybe some noodles or 蝦餃 (haa3 gaau2). |
| Matt: Shrimp dumplings, that's it? No wonder you're so thin. |
| Nicole: This is just the way we eat in Hong Kong. Aren't you used to it yet. |
| Matt: That's why I always double-up on the noodles. I never get enough to eat. |
| Nicole: Anyway... |
| Matt: So our lesson today is all about getting yourself fed when you, like us, get hungry. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: So let's move on to the all important vocabulary for today. Nicole, why don't you start us off? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Hungry. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6) [natural native speed]. 口渴 (hau2 hot3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Thirsty. |
| Nicole: 口渴 (hau2 hot3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 口渴 (hau2 hot3) [natural native speed]. |
| Nicole: 攰 (gui6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Tired. |
| Nicole: 攰 (gui6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 攰 (gui6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 都 (dou1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Also. |
| Nicole: 都 (dou1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 都 (dou1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Followed by. |
| Nicole: 係 (hai6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To be. |
| Nicole: 係 (hai6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 係 (hai6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next, we have. |
| Nicole: 一齊 (jat1 cai4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Together. |
| Nicole: 一齊 (jat1 cai4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 一齊 (jat1 cai4) [natural native speed]. |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To eat. |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 食 (sik6) [natural native speed] 飲 (jam2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To drink. |
| Nicole: 飲 (jam2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 飲 (jam2) [natural native speed]. 嘢 (je5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Thing or things. |
| Nicole: 嘢 (je5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 嘢 (je5) [natural native speed]. 好 (hou2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: All right. |
| Nicole: 好 (hou2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 好 (hou2) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Matt: Okay now, the first word we're going to look at is the word for hungry. |
| Nicole: Yup, 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: Hungry. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: Hungry or literally stomach hungry. |
| Nicole: That's right. Sometimes I get 好肚餓 (hou2 tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: That's a new level of hungry. That means "really hungry". |
| Nicole: Exactly, 我好肚餓 (ngo5 hou2 tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: I know you're hungry, Nicole. I'm hungry too. |
| Nicole: 我都好肚餓 (ngo5 dou1 hou2 tou5 ngo6), I'm hungry too. |
| Matt: And that reminds me, Nicole, this is an adjective right? |
| Nicole: That's right. So remember when in Cantonese when you want to say, you are hungry, you have to say you are very hungry. That's the way it sounds natural otherwise if you just say, I am hungry 我肚餓 (ngo5 tou5 ngo6), that would sound a bit weird. |
| Matt: So to say I'm very hungry or just to say, I'm hungry, you need to say? |
| Nicole: 我好肚餓 (ngo5 hou2 tou5 ngo6), not that you're really hungry, you're just hungry. But that's the way Cantonese say it. |
| Matt: Okay. So what about if we're thirsty? |
| Nicole: That would be, first we have to learn thirsty, that's 口渴 (hau2 hot3). |
| Matt: So when we say this, to be natural Cantonese, it has to be? |
| Nicole: 好口渴 (hou2 hau2 hot3), very thirsty. But you're just thirsty, we know that. |
| Matt: So one more time for thirsty. |
| Nicole: 口渴 (hau2 hot3), or 好口渴 (hou2 hau2 hot3). |
| Matt: This is really means "mouth thirsty". |
| Nicole: Right. And 口渴 (hau2 hot3) is also an adjective. |
| Matt: So this is some really useful Cantonese. |
| Nicole: That's right. And here is another really useful adjective 攰 (gui6). |
| Matt: That means "tired." |
| Nicole: Right. 攰 (gui6) |
| Matt: Tired. |
| Nicole: 你攰唔攰？ (nei5 gui6 m4 gui6?) |
| Matt: Are you tired? |
| Nicole: Or you can say 你攰唔攰呀？(nei5 gui6 m4 gui6 aa3?) with the 呀 (aa3) to say that you can speak Cantonese. |
| Matt: So adding a little bit of flavor on the end. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: So are you tired? |
| Nicole: 唔攰 (m4 gui6) |
| Matt: I'm not tired. |
| Nicole: Yup, 唔攰 (m4 gui6). Not tired. |
| Matt: Now, remember this structure. With the adjective, you add. |
| Nicole: 好 (hou2) |
| Matt: In front to mean very. |
| Nicole: But you don't really mean "very". You just say it to be natural. |
| Matt: And remember the structure with the adjective, you have to add. |
| Nicole: 好 (hou2) |
| Matt: In front. |
| Nicole: And we've got two very, very important verbs today as well. |
| Matt: That's right. The first one of those is… |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) |
| Matt: To eat |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) |
| Matt: To eat. |
| Nicole: If you are hungry, you can tell a friend一齊食嘢 (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: Let's eat. |
| Nicole: 一齊食嘢 (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: Let's eat. |
| Matt: Now, in this we've got together in there, but literally translated it just means, let's eat. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: Because the let implies that both of us are going to get something to eat or all of us are getting something to eat |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: So in let's eat, I noticed that there's a sound after the verb to eat. |
| Nicole: 嘢 (je5) |
| Matt: This sound means "things". |
| Nicole: 嘢 (je5). That's a generic word for things. We put it after a verb to make it general like 食嘢 (sik6 je5) |
| Matt: Which could grab something to eat. |
| Nicole: Or 飲嘢 (jam2 je5) |
| Matt: Have something to drink. |
| Nicole: That's right, or maybe 一齊飲嘢 (jat1 cai4 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: Let's have something to drink or let's drink. |
| Nicole: That's right. 一齊飲嘢 (jat1 cai4 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: Let's drink. Let's practice with some harder sentences, Nicole. |
| Nicole: Sure. If you're hungry, you can say 我好肚餓，一齊食嘢 (ngo5 hou2 tou5 ngo6, jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: I'm very hungry. Let's eat. |
| Nicole: 我好肚餓，一齊食嘢 (ngo5 hou2 tou5 ngo6, jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: I'm very hungry. Let's eat. |
| Nicole: And how about 佢好口渴，一齊飲嘢 (keoi5 hou2 hau2 hot3, jat1 cai4 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: This means, he is very thirsty, let's drink!. |
| Nicole: That's right, 佢好口渴，一齊飲嘢 (keoi5 hou2 hau2 hot3, jat1 cai4 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: He's very thirsty, let's get something to drink! |
| Nicole: So you see we've learned some very, very useful vocabulary in here. |
| Matt: Okay, Nicole. Now, let's do a quick review. Today we're focusing on three adjectives. Hungry. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6) |
| Matt: Thirsty. |
| Nicole: 口渴 (hau2 hot3) |
| Matt: And tired. |
| Nicole: 攰 (gui6). |
| Matt: And usually they go in that order. You're hungry, then you're thirsty, then you're tired. Let's hear them one more time. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: Hungry. |
| Nicole: 口渴 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: Thirsty. |
| Nicole: 攰 (gui6). |
| Matt: Tired. We also have two verbs. |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) and 飲 (jam2). |
| Matt: To eat and to drink. |
| Nicole: That's right. I use these words every day. |
| Matt: And we're also going to use them in our grammar section today. Let's get to that now. |
| Nicole: Sure. |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: Our grammar focus today is on basic sentence structure. |
| Nicole: You make it sound so boring. |
| Matt: Okay. Our grammar focus today is on basic sentence structure!!! |
| Nicole: That's much better. |
| Matt: Actually, this is pretty easy, right? |
| Nicole: Right. In lesson two, we taught you how to make sentences with adjectives like 口渴 (hau2 hot3) and 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6) |
| Matt: First we say our subject. |
| Nicole: 我 (ngo5). |
| Matt: And then the word "very." |
| Nicole: 好 (hou2). |
| Matt: Then we add in our adjective. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: I am hungry. |
| Nicole: 我好肚餓 (ngo5 hou2 tou5 ngo6) |
| Matt: He is thirsty. |
| Nicole: 佢好口渴 (keoi5 hou2 hau2 hot3). |
| Matt: That's right. In our vocab sentence, we had two new verbs though. |
| Nicole: Right.食 (sik6) “to eat,” and 飲 (jam2) “to drink.” |
| Matt: For eat and drink. Now, how do we make sentences with these verbs? |
| Nicole: Now just put them after our subject. That's it. |
| Matt: So "I eat" is? |
| Nicole: 我食 (ngo5 sik6). |
| Matt: And I drink would be. |
| Nicole: 我飲 (ngo5 jam2). |
| Matt: The sentence structure here is really pretty simple. First we have our subject. |
| Nicole: 我 (ngo5) |
| Matt: Then the verb |
| Nicole: 食(sik6) or 飲(jam2), “to eat” or “to drink”. |
| Matt: Now, if you want to add an object, you just tack it onto the end of the subject verb structure. |
| Nicole: That's right. A general one would be 嘢 (je5) |
| Matt: Which means things or something, you can add it after the verb. |
| Nicole: Right, like 我食嘢 (ngo5 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: I'm getting something to eat. |
| Nicole: 我飲嘢 (ngo5 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: I'm getting something to drink. And if there are any adjectives, you can stick them in front of the verb. |
| Nicole: That's right. In our dialogue we heard 一齊食嘢 (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: Right. 一齊 (jat1 cai4) is an adverb, and we stick it before our verb. |
| Nicole: Like 一齊食嘢 (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5). |
| Matt: To eat together. |
| Nicole: 一齊飲嘢 (jat1 cai4 jam2 je5). |
| Matt: To drink together. |
| Nicole: That's right. And don't forget, to make all of these suggestions, just say it with a rising tone or add 吖 (aa1) to the end. |
| Matt: That's right. So let's hear some examples of those tones. First, let's try let's eat. |
| Nicole: 一齊食嘢! (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5!) or 一齊食嘢吖! (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5 aa1!) |
| Matt: Okay, what about, let's drink. |
| Nicole: 一齊飲嘢! (jat1 cai4 jam2 je5!) or 一齊飲嘢吖! (jat1 cai4 jam2 je5 aa1!) |
| Matt: All right. Listeners, make sure you pay attention to that final tone. |
| Nicole: Right, it's a rising tone. |
| Matt: So to review. Today we learned three new adjectives. |
| Nicole: 肚餓 (tou5 ngo6). |
| Matt: Hungry. |
| Nicole: 口渴 (hau2 hot3). |
| Matt: Thirsty |
| Nicole: And 攰 (gui6) |
| Matt: Tired. We also learned the verbs for "to eat." |
| Nicole: 食 (sik6) |
| Matt: And "to drink." |
| Nicole: 飲 (jam2). |
| Matt: We reviewed how to make basic sentences with adjectives. |
| Nicole: Like 我好攰 (ngo5 hou2 gui6). |
| Matt: We also learned how to make sentences with verbs. |
| Nicole: Like 佢食嘢 (keoi5 sik6 je5), “he eats.” |
| Matt: And then learned how to make suggestions. |
| Nicole: 一齊食嘢吖! (jat1 cai4 sik6 je5 aa1!) |
| Matt: All right. |
| Nicole: Hey Matt and now we're done 一齊食嘢吖！(jat1 cai4 sik6 je5 aa1!) |
| Matt: Good idea! Let's go eat. |
Outro |
| Nicole: But before we go, let's tell our listeners how they can test themselves. |
| Matt: That's a great idea. Our listeners can make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards located in our learning center. |
| Nicole: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards. |
| Matt: That's right because they work. |
| Nicole: They really do help memorization. |
| Matt: You can get the flashcard for this lesson at… |
| Nicole: CantoneseClass101.com. |
| Matt: Okay. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again for the next lesson. |
| Nicole: See you. |
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