Learn verb complement
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 大家好, 我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: And we’re here with Absolute Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 22. |
| Nicole: “A Cantonese Romance.” |
| David: Yes, now when a lot of people think of romantic films, Casa Blanca, Sleepless in Seattle. |
| Nicole: Yeah. Definitely. |
| David: They’re not thinking of Hong Kong movies. |
| Nicole: No. |
| David: There’s a reason for that and we’re going to find about it in today’s dialogue. |
| Nicole: Okay. |
| David: This is a dialogue between two friends, maybe there’s something there, we’re not sure. |
| Nicole: No, we’re not sure. |
| David: No. But they’re speaking casual Cantonese anyway. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: So, we’re going to get to the dialogue. Before we do, we want to remind you. |
| Nicole: If you have any questions or comments, please come to our site CantoneseClass101.com and leave us a comment. |
| David: Nicole checks the comment section daily and she’s looking forward to getting back to you. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: With that, let’s get to our dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 我可唔可以錫下你？(ngo5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sek3 haa5 nei5?) |
| B: 唔可以。(m4 ho2 ji5.) |
| A: 咁攬下呢？(gam2 laam2 haa5 ne1?) |
| B: 都唔可以。(dou1 m4 ho2 ji5.) |
| A: Can I kiss you? |
| B: No. |
| A: How about a hug? |
| B: Still no. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: What an awful dialogue. How depressing. We’re sure you’re going to have better luck in Hong Kong. Nicole, what were you thinking? |
| Nicole: You know, face the reality, it happens sometimes. |
| David: Okay. Anyway, our vocab section today is actually much more romantic than our dialogue. |
| Nicole: True. |
| David: Filled with words for kissing and hugging and holding hands. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: So let’s get to that. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 掂。(dim3.) |
| David: “To touch”. |
| Nicole: 掂, 掂, 拖手。(dim3, dim3, to1 sau2.) |
| David: “To hold hands”. |
| Nicole: 拖手, 拖手, 攬。(to1 sau2, to1 sau2, laam2.) |
| David: “To hug”. |
| Nicole: 攬, 攬, 摸。(laam2, laam2, mo2.) |
| David: “To feel”. |
| Nicole: 摸, 摸, 錫。(mo2, mo2, sek3.) |
| David: “To kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫, 錫, 拍拖。(sek3, sek3, paak3 to1.) |
| David: “To be in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 拍拖, 拍拖, 結婚。(paak3 to1, paak3 to1, git3 fan1.) |
| David: “To get married”. |
| Nicole: 結婚, 結婚, 離婚。(git3 fan1, git3 fan1, lei4 fan1.) |
| David: “To get divorced”. |
| Nicole: 離婚, 離婚。(lei4 fan1, lei4 fan1.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of these words and phrases. As in our dialogue, our first word is “to kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫。(sek3.) |
| David: “To kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫。(sek3.) |
| David: This sounds a lot like the word “to eat”. |
| Nicole: 食。(sik6.) |
| David: But it’s a different sound. |
| Nicole: It’s a different sound. |
| David: Yeah. This is not just a tone difference. |
| Nicole: Both the tones and the sounds are different, but they do sound similar. |
| David: Yea. |
| Nicole: Let’s hear the both of them again. 錫. (sek3.) |
| David: “To kiss”. |
| Nicole: 食。(sik6.) |
| David: “To eat”. |
| Nicole: That’s right. |
| David: And don’t get this one wrong, because if you’re on the date and you ask “Can I eat you?” it’s – it just comes across the wrong way. |
| Nicole: Yeah. It’s totally wrong. |
| David: Yes. But you can say “Can I kiss you?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以錫你？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sek3 nei5?) |
| David: “Can I kiss you?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以錫你？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sek3 nei5?) |
| David: Or in another situation you might want to say “Don’t kiss me!” |
| Nicole: 唔好錫我。(m4 hou2 sek3 ngo5.) |
| David: “Don’t kiss me.” |
| Nicole: 唔好錫我。(m4 hou2 sek3 ngo5.) |
| David: Right. If you’re working up to the kiss, the first step might be “holding hands”. |
| Nicole: 拖手。(to1 sau2.) |
| David: “To hold hands”. |
| Nicole: 拖手。(to1 sau2.) |
| David: “Can we hold hands?” |
| Nicole: 我哋可唔可以拖手。(ngo5 dei6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 to1 sau2.) |
| David: “Can we hold hands?” |
| Nicole: 我哋可唔可以拖手。(ngo5 dei6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 to1 sau2.) |
| David: So, in Hong Kong is it usual for people to ask for permission? |
| Nicole: I don’t think so. |
| David: No. Okay. |
| Nicole: Okay. |
| David: So just go in, seize the day. |
| Nicole: Yeah, yeah exactly. |
| David: Right. If you’re being super polite though, you can still ask. |
| Nicole: But I think Hong Kong people are too shy to say “yes”, although they really want you to hold their hands. |
| David: Okay. Anyway, you can always ask about the hug, too. |
| Nicole: Yeah, sure. |
| David: The word for “hug” is? |
| Nicole: 攬。(laam2.) |
| David: “Hug”. |
| Nicole: 攬。(laam2.) |
| David: “Can we hug?” |
| Nicole: 我哋可唔可以攬下? (ngo5 dei6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 laam2 haa5?) |
| David: “Can we hug?” |
| Nicole: 我哋可唔可以攬下? (ngo5 dei6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 laam2 haa5?) |
| David: Or you can tell someone “Don’t hug me”. |
| Nicole: 唔好攬我。(m4 hou2 laam2 ngo5.) |
| David: “Don’t hug me.” |
| Nicole: That’s a funny sentence. 唔好攬我. (m4 hou2 laam2 ngo5.) |
| David: I used that before. |
| Nicole: Oh really? |
| David: Cantonese people are filled with love, sometimes we have to keep it under control. So, we’ve got “holding hands”, we’ve got “hugging”, we’ve got “kissing”. Eventually, if you keep this up you’ll be in a relationship. |
| Nicole: 拍拖。(paak3 to1.) |
| David: “To be in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 拍拖。(paak3 to1.) |
| David: Which is where all of this “Don’t hug” and “don’t kiss” comes from. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: Because if someone tries, you’re going to want to tell them “I’m in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 我拍緊拖。(ngo5 paak3 gan2 to1.) |
| David: “I’m a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 我拍緊拖。 (ngo5 paak3 gan2 to1.) |
| David: “Don’t kiss me, I’m in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 唔好錫我, 我拍緊拖。(m4 hou2 sek3 ngo5, ngo5 paak3 gan2 to1.) |
| David: If you’re not sure if you should be hugging or kissing someone you can also ask them “Are you in a relationship?” |
| Nicole: 你有冇拍拖？(nei5 jau5 mou5 paak3 to1?) |
| David: “Are you in a relationship?” |
| Nicole: 你有冇拍拖？(nei5 jau5 mou5 paak3 to1?) |
| David: Right. So, on our vocab section today, we’ve done four main verbs. “To kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫。(sek3.) |
| David: “To hug”. |
| Nicole: 攬。(laam2.) |
| David: “To hold hands”. |
| Nicole: 拖手。(to1 sau2.) |
| David: And “to be in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 拍拖。(paak3 to1.) |
| David: Now you should be ready to. |
| Nicole: Get married? Yeah, so get out there and have a Cantonese romance. |
| David: Yes. Have a Cantonese romance of your own and we hope it goes better than the dialogue. |
| Nicole: It will. I mean, I’ve presented the worst situation. |
| David: Nicole guarantees it. |
| Nicole: Yes. |
| David: So, with that, let’s get to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: It’s grammar time! Our grammar point today is about something that’s called a “verb complement”. |
| Nicole: Wow. |
| David: Okay. Yeah. You don’t need to be scared we’re going to make this really, really easy. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: Okay. We already know what a verb is. In this lesson, we learned four. “To kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫。(sek3) |
| David: “To hug”. |
| Nicole: 攬。(laam2.) |
| David: “To hold hands”. |
| Nicole: 拖手。(to1 sau2.) |
| David: And “To be in a relationship”. |
| Nicole: 拍拖。(paak3 to1) |
| David: The verb complement we’re going to teach you day tells us how to do this for a little bit of time. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: For instance “to kiss for a little while”. |
| Nicole: 錫下。 |
| David: “To hug for a little while”. |
| Nicole: 攬下。(laam2 haa5.) |
| David: “To hold hands for a little while”. |
| Nicole: 拖下手。(to1 haa5 sau2.) |
| David: “To be in a relationship for a little while”. |
| Nicole: 拍下拖。(paak3 haa5 to1.) |
| David: That last one is a bit unnatural. |
| Nicole: Yeah. |
| David: You don’t want to use that. But what’s happening here? We’re just adding a sound after a verb. |
| Nicole: Yeah. 下。 (haa5.) |
| David: That’s a low rising tone. |
| Nicole: 下。(haa5) |
| David: So first we have our verb, “to kiss”. |
| Nicole: 錫。 (sek3.) |
| David: And then we add? |
| Nicole: 下。(haa5.) |
| David: In the dialogue, we heard this in the following line. |
| Nicole: 我可唔可以錫下你？(ngo5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sek3 haa5 nei5?) |
| David: “Can I kiss you?” really “Can I give you a little kiss?” |
| Nicole: Exactly. |
| David: Right? Just a bit. |
| Nicole: Yeah, in oral Cantonese this is very often used. Use 下, makes your Cantonese really colloquial. |
| David: Yeah. And we’ve got a couple of more examples that are not romantic just to drive this point home. “Can I have a look?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以睇下？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 tai2 haa5?) |
| David: “Can I have a try?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以試下？(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 si3 haa5?) |
| David: “Can I have a hug?” |
| Nicole: 可唔可以攬下？ (ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 laam2 haa5?) |
| David: Right. So, as intimidating as verb complement may sound, this is actually really easy. |
| Nicole: True. |
| David: Okay. |
| Nicole: Just put the 下 (haa5) after the verb. |
Outro |
| David: Right. And that just about does it for today. Now, if you’re ready to test what you’ve learned in this lesson. |
| Nicole: You can make the lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards. |
| David: Right. There is a reason everyone learning Cantonese uses flashcards. |
| Nicole: They work! |
| David: They do! They really do help with memorization. You can find this lesson’s flashcards at CantonseseClass101.com And with that, we’ve done our lesson. As always, thanks a lot for listening. I’m David. |
| Nicole: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: We’ll see you on the website. |
| Nicole: See you. |
| David: Bye Bye. |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide