Did you ever have to go to the hospital?

Chris,

咁 [gam2] can have multiple meanings. But its most frequently used one, also in this case, is "like that" or "as such". So, it is used in this example sentence to refer to the content of what everyone says. The meaning of the sentence is therefore, "why is everyone saying that?" Does it help? 😆

Arnold

Team CantoneseClass101.com

what does "gam2" mean in "dim2 gaai2 jan4 jan4 dou1 gam2 gong2"?

Hi Katie,

Good observation! 😆 The rearrangement is indeed incorrect. Speaking from a native speaker's point of view, I would say that when people say "喺醫院ICU住咗 (In hospital ICU lived)", it evokes a question in my mind "for how long?". So, in a language that does not contain prepositions like "for", 住咗 could mean more than "lived" but also "lived for". Note that 咗 is a particle that conjugates a verb in past tense; but it also can allude to a meaning of "done [something] for [some period of time]". A supporting evidence is that, when we say "how long have you lived here", we'd say "喺度住咗幾耐？" [hai2 dou6 zyu6 zo2 gei2 noi6?] (literally, in here lived how long).

We add 都 because it does not only mean "still". It acts like "both" in English in the case of two things. When more than 1 thing is mentioned in Cantonese, we add this word to emphasise this fact with no additional meaning.

所有人都要呼吸。

so2 jau5 jan4 dou1 jiu3 fu1 kap1.

Everyone needs to breathe.

我好欣賞莫奈嘅畫。

ngo5 hou2 jan1 soeng2 mok6 noi6 ge3 waa2.

I appreciate Monet's painting so much.

Arnold

CantoneseClass101.com

Another question! Why is 你見咗護士先 a question and not just a statement that means "you already saw a nurse".

Hi! I have some questions around the phrase "喺醫院ICU住咗一個月之後，我對所有嘢都重新欣賞".

It seems the literal translation of this is "In hospital ICU lived for 1 month afterward, I towards everything still once again appreciate." Would it be grammatically incorrect to rearrange the words so it says something like 我一個月住咗喺醫院ICU之後, 我對所有嘢都重新欣賞. "I one month lived in hospital ICU afterward, I towards everything still once again appreciate? I'm trying to understand the grammar rules behind why the first sentence is correct but maybe not the second.

Second question: Why do we need to add 都 into the sentence? Is it still grammatically correct without it?

Third question: Could you give other examples of how to use 所有 and 欣賞 in a sentence?

Hello robert groulx,

You are very welcome. 😇

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Good luck with your language studies.

Kind regards,

利凡特

Team CantoneseClass101.com

thanks for the lesson

my favorite phrase is 我年年都返屋企過聖誕

robert

Hello Joe,

Thanks for your question. 😉

人人 (jan4 jan4) ~ everyone

每人 (mui5 jan4) ~ per person, for example 入場費每人十蚊 (jap6 coeng4 fai3 mui5 jan4 sap6 man1) ~ admission fee per person is ten dollars

大家 (daai6 gaa1) ~everybody, very common for greetings, like 大家好 (daai6 gaa1 hou2) ~ hello everybody

次次 (ci3 ci3) = 每次 (mui5 ci3) ~ every time/ each time

成日 (seng4 jat6) ~ always

Ada

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Hi! Are there any differences in meaning or usages for the words "everyone" and "always" below?

jan4 jan4

mui5 jan4

daai6 gaa1

ci3 ci3

mui5 ci3

sing4 jat6

Thank you!

Hello Vincent,

我間屋麻雀雖小，五臟俱全，好舒服㗎。

ngo5 gaan1 uk1 maa4 zoek3 seoi1 siu2, ng5 zong6 keoi1 cyun4, hou2 syu1 fuk6 gaa3.

My apartment may be small, but it is perfectly laid out and very cozy.

You are right that it is a very common idiom to describe something "small but complete". 👍

麻雀(maa4 zoek2) ~ sparrow, very small bird

雖(seoi1) siu2) ~ although

小(siu2) ~ small

五臟(ng5 zong6) ~ the five internal organs such as the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys

俱(keoi1) ~ all, completely

全(cyun4) ~ whole, intact

Although the sparrow is small, it has all the five organs inside its tiny body just like the human being.

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

In the vocabulary sentence for "comfortable," what is the translation of each word "maa4," "zoek3," "seoi1," "siu2," "zong6," "keoi1," and "cyun4?" ("ngo5 gaan1 uk1 maa4 zoek3 seoi1 siu2, ng5 zong6 keoi1 cyun4, hou2 syu1 fuk6 gaa3. My apartment may be small, but it is perfectly laid out and very cozy.") I'm guessing that the translation provided is a colloquial idiom, and not the literal meaning of the individual words, as I'm interested in understanding how the individual words combined create such a phrase. Thank you!

Hello Grace,

Thank you for your question.

細路(sai3 lou6) ~ child, kid (colloquial and spoken expression)

小朋友(siu2 pang4 jau5) ~ child, kid (formal expression)

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

What is the difference between 'sai3 lou6' and 'siu2 pang4 jau5'?

Hello Jeff,

你見咗護士先。(nei5 gin3 zo2 wu6 si6 sin1.) ~ Why don't you see a nurse first.

You are right that 咗(zo2) usually indicates the past action. But there is another usage of this particle that is much more common with adjectives or verbs. Sometimes speaker adds the particle after an adjective to imply that we have reached the state described by this adjective or verb.

如果你準備好咗就叫我。

jyu4 gwo2 nei5 zeon2 bei3 hou2 zo2 zau6 giu3 ngo5

"When you're ready, give me a shout."

而家空咗。

ji4 gaa1 hung1 zo2

"It is now empty."

呢件事搞掂咗。

ni1 gin6 si6 gaau2 dim3 zo2

"This matter is now finished."

While this usage looks and feels close to the past tense, it is actually denoting something known as change of state. The grammatical difference is often a matter of semantics. 咗 (zo2) is considered an aspect particle when it puts a sentence into the past tense, and a modal particle when it communicates change of state.

Please check out the lesson below that provides more detail explanation of the different usage of the word 咗(zo2)

The Best Yoga Class in Hong Kong

https://www.cantoneseclass101.com/lesson/lower-intermediate-12-the-best-yoga-class-in-hong-kong/

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

你見咗護士先 is translated as “Why don’t you see a nurse first?”

I always thought anything with 咗 meant it had already happened i.e. past tense. But in this sentence the person has not seen the nurse yet. Can you please explain this to me, thanks.

Hello marc,

Kids in Cantonese is 細路（sai3 lou6）

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

i am a kid

Hi Steven,

I’m scared of the hospital in Cantonese is ~ 我好怕去醫院.

Siuling

Team CantoneseClass101.com

Hi Stephen,

You are right! 咁 can be pronounced in 2nd tone and 3rd tone, depending how the word is used. Generally, gam3 is followed by adjectives, while gam2 doesn't.

咁點呀？ (gam2 dim2 aa6) "So what now?", in which 咁 means "and then"

咁遲㗎！ (gam3 ci4 gaa3) "(You're) so late!", in which 咁 means "such" or "this much"

照咁睇 (ziu3 gam2 tai2) "By the look of things", in which 咁 means "such" or "this way"

I found this forum about the history of gam2 and gam3, hope it's helpful for you.:wink:

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?7,112481,113592

Cheers,

Olivia

Team CantoneseClass101.com

I have noticed that 咁 can be pronounced with different tones, I originally thought it was 2nd tone when it meant "and then" and 3rd tone when it means "this way, this much etc", is there a rule I'm missing or something?