Learn about the top five Cantonese phrases teachers want to hear
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| Matt: Hello everybody, and welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com |
| Nicole: Hello 大家好 (daai6 gaa1 hou2), I’m Nicole. |
| Matt: In this lesson, Nicole and I have some pet phrases to share. |
| Nicole: Yes, we do! |
| Matt: After some time, you will probably have your pet phrases too, but for now, we’ll give you some of ours. |
| Nicole: These are all phrases that locals use a lot! |
| Matt: They’re kind of like the "cool" and "awesome" of English. You’ll fit right in when you throw them out there. |
| Nicole: Okay, here we go. |
| 唔該晒。 (m4 goi1 saai3) "Thank you very much."/ "Thank you in advance."/ "Thank you for everything." |
| 冇問題。 (mou5 man6 tai4) "No Problem." |
| 一般。 (jat1 bun1) "It's okay."/ “Okay; so-so” |
| 有冇搞錯呀! (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3) "Are you kidding me?" / “Ridiculous!” |
| 是但啦。 (si6 daan6 laa1) "Whatever." |
| Matt: Let's take a closer at how to use these Chinese expressions. |
| Pet Phrase 1 – 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) “Thank you very much."/ "Thank you in advance."/ "Thank you for everything." |
| 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) |
| Matt: Basically, these phrase is like magic words. |
| Nicole: Yeah, and even just the word 唔該 itself is so useful! |
| Matt: How did you say it again, Nicole? |
| Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1) |
| Matt: It literally means "shouldn't" or "don't need to" do something. |
| Nicole: It does. When we say 唔該 (m4 goi1) ("shouldn't"), we are actually saying "I shouldn't have troubled you on this," or "I shouldn't have bothered you on this matter." |
| Matt: Okay. That makes sense. You guys are so concise even when being polite. |
| Nicole: Less is more. |
| Matt: So, what were the magic words again? |
| Nicole: 唔該晒。(m4 goi1 saai3) |
| Matt: Which means "shouldn't everything." |
| Nicole: Or "I shouldn't have troubled you on all these, so thank you for everything you’ve done for me." |
| Matt: Right, super concise Cantonese. |
| Nicole: Isn't that great? We use less words for more meanings. |
| Matt: That's true. And this phrase is basically the all forgiver…whatever just happened, you say… |
| Nicole: 唔該晒(m4 goi1 saai3) |
| Matt: And all shall be forgiven. |
| Nicole: So, for example, maybe I would ask you for a favor, and then add the 唔該晒(m4 goi1 saai3) at the end. |
| Matt: And basically, once you hear the magic words, what can you do? You just can’t say no! |
| Nicole: Yes, it's sort of a way to impose in a way that the person can’t say no to. Matt, can you buy me dinner tonight? 唔該晒(m4 goi1 saai3). |
| Matt: Then I will have to say "No problem." |
| Nicole: Again, because I'm a very polite person, I would say 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) after you say yes, or better, after you buy me dinner. 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3) |
| Matt: So how did you say "no problem," which is our number two pet phrase today? |
| Nicole: 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) |
| Matt: This is a great phrase. Basically it’s the Chinese equivalent of "no problem" or "sure." |
| Nicole: Yeah. It literally means "No" 冇 (mou5) "problem" 問題 (man6 tai4). |
| Matt: So, for example, if someone was asking you to go to drinks, you say… |
| Nicole: 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4). We love this expression. |
| Matt: So useful! |
| Nicole: And it sounds so cool! 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4). |
| Matt: It can be a slogan for running for the president. |
| Nicole: Yeah, vote for me and everything would be 冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4). |
| Pet Phrase 3 - 一般 (jat1 bun1) “Okay” or “things are alright” |
| 一般 (jat1 bun1) |
| Matt: Now here is a great generic answer. |
| Nicole: Right, if someone asks you how are things, you can say 一般 (jat1 bun1). |
| Matt: Basically, it means "passable" or “alright.” |
| Nicole: Right, but it can be used in response to so many things. Like when somebody asks you how you are. |
| Matt: Yeah, so overall a great word when you just want that vague, generic thing to say. |
| Nicole: Okay, on to number four. |
| Pet Phrase 4 - 有冇搞錯呀 (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3) |
| Matt: So, first of all, let’s get this down… |
| Nicole: 有冇搞錯呀 (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3) |
| 有冇 (jau5 mou5) means “to have or not have”, 搞錯 (gaau2 co3) “make mistake”, and the last word 呀 means nothing here, but a sign saying "I am Cantonese." |
| Matt: It means "Are you kidding me?" |
| Nicole: Yeah, literally, "Have you or have you not got anything wrong?" |
| Matt: Right, this is a very useful phrase when you're upset or angry at things. |
| Nicole: 有冇搞錯呀 (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3). |
| Matt: You have to say it with attitude, right, Nicole? |
| Nicole: Of course. It comes naturally. 有冇搞錯呀 (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3). |
| Matt: Ah yeah, that means kind of like “What the heck” or "This is ridiculous." |
| Nicole: No CantoneseClass lessons tonight? 有冇搞錯呀! (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3) |
| Pet Phrase 5 – 是但啦 (si6 daan6 laa1) "whatever" |
| Matt: Let's break down the words character by character. |
| Nicole: 是 (si6) means "yes," and 但 (daan6) means "but." |
| Matt: So, "yes but whatever." |
| Nicole: More like "Yes or no, I don't care." |
| Matt: And the last sound, 啦 (laa1)? |
| Nicole: That’s another "I'm Cantonese" sign. |
| Matt: Right, Cantonese people have invented a lot of them. |
| Nicole: Artistic license. |
| Matt: Whatever. this is a great phrase to say when you don't want to make any choice. Like do you want a red skirt or a blue one? |
| Nicole: 是但啦 (si6 daan6 laa1). |
| Matt: Do you want a hamburger or a sandwich? |
| Nicole: 是但啦 (si6 daan6 laa1). |
| Matt: Do you want a boyfriend or a cat? |
| Nicole: 是但啦 (si6 daan6 laa1). Except that I rather have a boyfriend than a cat. |
| Matt: Very natural Cantonese. Well, those are our favorite phrases in Cantonese. |
| Nicole: We hope you like them too! |
| Matt: We’re sure you will find lots of use for them. They really help you fill in the natural gaps of conversation. |
| Nicole: Thanks for listening! |
| Matt: Bye! |
Comments
HideHi Lo taai,
Thank you for your question.
There are several meanings for this word. 一般 (jat1 bun1) usually means "ordinary" or "general".
You are right that the literal meaning of 一(jat1) is "one" . 般(bun1) means "sort" , "type" or "kind". 般(bun1) also means "same as" or " just like" too. For example, 一般人( jat1 bun1 jan4) means " ordinary people".
Siuling
Team CantoneseClass101.com
Siuling m4 goi1 jat 1 bun 1 what is the literal translation? One ? Lo taai
Hi Carly,
一般 (jat1 bun1) means “okay”. You can find it in the PDF lesson transcript. :smile:
file:///C:/Users/KONNO/Downloads/ALL_L15_040511_canclass101_recordingscript.pdf
Siuling
Team CantoneseClass101.com
How do you spell "okay" in jyunping?