Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Hi guys! Welcome to Top 25 Cantonese Phrases! These are phrases we use everyday in Hong Kong and other Cantonese speaking regions. Here we go!
哈囉。 (haa1 lo3.) “Hello.”
So it’s pretty casual and you don’t use it for formal situation.
早晨。 (zou2 san4.) “Good morning.”
早晨 (zou2 san4). We use it to greet other people before noon. It’s both casual and formal, so you say 早晨 (zou2 san4) .
早抖。 (zou2 tau2.) “Good night.”
You say it before you go to sleep. 早抖 (zou2 tau2), 早抖 (zou2 tau2). Zzzz
拜拜。 (baai1 baai3.) “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” 拜拜 (baai1 baai3) in Cantonese.
我係...。 (ngo5 hai6...) “I am…” or “I'm...”
So you can use it to tell people your name, your occupation, your nationality, anything!
我係...。 (ngo5 hai6...)
你叫咩名？ (nei5 giu3 me1 meng2?) “What's your name?
Say you met someone new, and you want to know their name, so you say 你叫咩名？ (nei5 giu3 me1 meng2?) That is pretty casual, you can say that to people around your age.
點稱呼？ (dim2 cing1 fu1?) “What's your name? (formal)
If you’re talking to people that are more… higher rank or older, elderly, you can say 點稱呼？ (dim2 cing1 fu1?) That’s “What’s your name?” in formal situation. And then people usually tell you their surnames. Say, the last name is 黃 (wong4).
So 點稱呼？(dim2 cing1 fu1?)
我係黃生。 (ngo5 hai6 wong4 saang1.) “I'm Mr. Wong.”
好耐冇見。 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3.) “Long time no see.”
Say you bump into your friend on the street, 喂！好耐冇見。得閒飲茶。 (wai3! hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3. dak1 haan4 jam2 caa4.) it’s like “Hey, long time no see. Let's get together and have a drink or have lunch together.”
你最近點呀？ (nei5 zeoi3 gan6 dim2 aa3?) “How are you lately?”
好耐冇見。你最近點呀？ (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3. nei5 zeoi3 gan6 dim2 aa3?) “Hey, long time no see. How are you lately?”
Or it can be used casually with a friend. It’s like “Hey, what’s up” 你最近點呀？(nei5 zeoi3 gan6 dim2 aa3?)
你呢？ (nei5 ne1?) “How about you?”
In an exam, if I got a C. It’s like: 我攞C，你呢？(ngo5 lo2 C, nei5 ne1?) It’s like “I got a C. How about you?”
I got A!
Boo!
唔該。 (m4 goi1.) “Please.”
If someone is blocking you in the movie theatre, just tell them 唔該坐低。 (m4 goi1 co5 dai1.) “Please sit down.” Don’t block me!
多謝。 (do1 ze6.) “Thank you”
“Thank you very much (for the gift)”
So 多謝 (do1 ze6) is for “Thank you”, and there are actually two Thank you’s in Cantonese. 多謝 (do1 ze6) is when someone give you a gift.
唔該。 (m4 goi1.) “Thank you”
唔該 (m4 goi1), which you heard in “Please”, so it means “Please” and “Thank you” as well.
For this 唔該 (m4 goi1), this “Thank you”, we use it when someone do something for us. If someone gives you the change, someone opens the door for you, pick up a fruit for you, you say 唔該 (m4 goi1), it’s “thank you for the service”.
唔使客氣。 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3.) “You're welcome.”
So in Cantonese it’s 唔使客氣 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3), that’s literally “no need to be polite”.
“You're welcome.” 唔使客氣 (m4 sai2 haak3 hei3)
So when someone say 唔該晒呀！多謝晒呀！(m4 goi1 saai3 aa3! do1 ze6 saai3 aa3!) “Thank you so much!” You can say 唔使客氣。(m4 sai2 haak3 hei3.), just like that.
係。 (hai6.) “Yes.”
你係唔係Olivia？ (nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 Olivia?) “Are you Olivia?”
係。 (hai6.) “Yes.”, like that.
唔係。 (m4 hai6.) “No.”
So 係 (hai6) is “Yes”, 唔係 (m4 hai6) is “No”.
你係唔係Olivia？ (nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 Olivia?) “Are you Olivia?”
係。 (hai6.) “Yes.”
你係唔係太空人？ (nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 taai3 hung1 jan4?) “Are you an astronaut?”
唔係。 (m4 hai6.) “No. (I'm not an astronaut.)”
唔該。 (m4 goi1.) “Excuse me.”
“Excuse me,” that is 唔該 (m4 goi1) again. So we heard 唔該 (m4 goi1) in three situations: “Please”, “Thank you”, and now “Excuse me”.
So, um, if someone is blocking your road, you can say 唔該 (m4 goi1).
唔該 (m4 goi1), 唔該 (m4 goi1). And then they will un-block, they will go away.
If you want to ask someone on the street for the direction, you can say 唔該，我想問路。 (m4 goi1, ngo5 soeng2 man6 lou6.)
唔該，我想問路。 (m4 goi1, ngo5 soeng2 man6 lou6.) “Excuse me. I want to ask for “
directions.
唔該 (m4 goi1) is to catch someone’s attention.
唔好意思。 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1.) “I'm sorry”
唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) is like “I'm sorry”, but it’s for minor issue, like someone step on your feet, then they should say 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1). When I’m meeting my friends and I’m late, then I say 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1).
對唔住。 (deoi3 m4 zyu6.) “I'm sorry (for guilt)”
For more, like, more serious situation, or major failure, you use 對唔住 (deoi3 m4 zyu6).
對唔住 (deoi3 m4 zyu6) is our next word.
And it means “I’m really sorry”.
我整爛咗你部電腦，對唔住呀。 (ngo5 zing2 laan6 zo2 nei5 bou6 din6 nou5, deoi3 m4 zyu6 aa3.) “I broke your computer. I'm so sorry.”
我唔見咗你個仔呀，對唔住。(ngo5 m4 gin3 zo2 nei5 go3 zai2 aa3, deoi3 m4 zyu6.) “I lost
your son. I'm so sorry.” I can’t find your son!
而家幾點？ (ji4 gaa1 gei2 dim2?) “What time is it?”
而家幾點？ (ji4 gaa1 gei2 dim2?) “What time is it?”
而家 (ji4 gaa1) is “now”; 幾點 (gei2 dim2) is “what time”
...喺邊呀？ (... hai2 bin1 aa3?) “Where is (something)?”
...喺邊呀？ (... hai2 bin1 aa3?) “Where is ...?” When you want to ask about the washroom, it’s like “Where is the washroom?” 洗手間喺邊呀？ (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1 aa3?)
洗手間 (sai2 sau2 gaan1) is “Washroom”.
即係點呀？ (zik1 hai6 dim2 aa3?) “What do you mean?”
You can use it for different situations, when you’re mad, when you want to find out more about what the other person is talking about, or confused. So you can say 即係點呀？(zik1 hai6 dim2 aa3?) to show your confusion or frustration.
幾多錢呀? (gei2 do1 cin2 aa3?) “How much is it?”
Or you can say 幾錢呀? (gei2 cin2 aa3?) It’s the same as 幾多錢呀? (gei2 do1 cin2 aa3?)
You went to Apple store and you want to buy something and you ask 幾多錢呀? (gei2 do1 cin2 aa3?) to ask for the price. It’s always expensive.
埋單，唔該。 (maai4 daan1, m4 goi1.) “Check, please.”
Yeah, you use it in a restaurant. You can do this (swirling index finger pointing downwards) and they would understand, that means “Check, please.”
埋單，唔該。 (maai4 daan1, m4 goi1.) “Check, please.”
遲啲見。 (ci4 di1 gin3.) “See you later.”
And the last word is 遲啲見。 (ci4 di1 gin3.) “I’ll see you later.”
And I’m Olivia from Hong Kong, hope you like the video. And if you want to learn more Cantonese, subscribe! And if you have any questions, leave us some comments, we would love to hear from you! See you next time! 遲啲見! (ci4 di1 gin3!)

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