Learn five words related to exchanging currency
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| Hi everyone. Welcome back to Cantonese weekly words. |
| Today, we are going to talk about Currency Exchange, 外幣兌換 (ngoi6 bai6 deoi3 wun6). |
| 外幣 (ngoi6 bai6), "foreign currency"; or sometimes you would hear a more technical term, 外匯 (ngoi6 wui6), for "foreign currency." |
| For example, 炒外匯 (caau2 ngoi6 wui6) "Foreign currency trading; Forex trading." |
| 1. 兌換 (deoi3 wun6) "To exchange" |
| 兌換 (deoi3 wun6) |
| We use this for money only, for currency only. |
| So we don’t say, we 兌換 (deoi3 wun6) a product at the store; we usually just say 換 (wun6) if it’s not currency. |
| So, Exchange – "Currency exchange" 外幣兌換 (ngoi6 bai6 deoi3 wun6). |
| 唔該，我想兌換兩千蚊港幣。 |
| (m4 goi1, ngo5 soeng2 deoi3 wun6 loeng5 cin1 man1 gong2 bai6.) |
| "Excuse me, I want to exchange 2,000 HKD." |
| Sometimes you might hear term 唱 (coeng3) as the verb "exchange" for money. |
| So 唔該，我想唱二千蚊港幣。 |
| (m4 goi1, ngo5 soeng2 coeng3 ji6 cin1 man1 gong2 bai6.) |
| 2. 港幣／港元 (gong2 bai6 / gong2 jyun4) "Hong Kong Dollars (HK$)" |
| I have some Hong Kong dollars here. |
| 二十蚊港幣 (ji6 sap6 man1 gong2 bai6) |
| 一百蚊港幣 (jat1 baak3 man1 gong2 bai6) |
| 五百蚊港幣 (ng5 baak3 man1 gong2 bai6) |
| And because the 100 HKD bill is red, we call it 紅衫魚 (hung4 saam1 jyu2) "Red-clothes-fish" |
| 紅衫魚 (hung4 saam1 jyu2) "Red-clothes-fish" |
| It’s a kind of fish that is red. That’s why we call it 紅衫魚 (hung4 saam1 jyu2). |
| We also have a 1,000 bill, it’s golden color. So we call it 金牛 (gam1 ngau4), "golden bull, golden cow." |
| 金牛 (gam1 ngau4) as the 1,000 HKD bill. |
| But since 2013 because there were a lot of counterfeit 1,000 HKD bill in Hong Kong, many establishments, many shops stopped taking 1,000 HKD bill. So even at the bank, they would give you two 500 HKD bills instead of 1000 HKD bill. |
| Keep note about that and don’t be surprised when you go to a restaurant or a shop and they refuse to accept the 1000 HKD bill. Okay. |
| 有啲舖頭唔收一千蚊港幣。 |
| (jau5 di1 pou3 tau2 m4 sau1 jat1 cin1 man1 gong2 bai6.) |
| "Some shops do not accept the 1,000 HKD bill." |
| 3. 歐羅 (ngau1 lo4) "Euro (€)" |
| Here "I have 45 Euro." |
| 我有四十五蚊歐羅。 |
| (ngo5 jau5 sei3 sap6 ng5 man1 ngau1 lo4.) |
| And in the financial report, sometimes they use 歐元 (ngau1 jyun4); it’s the same as 歐羅 (ngau1 lo4). |
| 歐元 (ngau1 jyun4) is like "Europe money." |
| So 歐羅 (ngau1 lo4) is "Euro." |
| So they are the same. |
| 我下星期去歐洲旅行，要兌換啲歐元。 |
| (ngo5 haa6 sing1 kei4 heoi3 ngau1 zau1 leoi5 hang4, jiu3 deoi3 wun6 di1 ngau1 jyun4.) |
| "I'm going to Europe for a trip next week, so I need to exchange some Euro." |
| 4. 英鎊 (jing1 bong2) "British Pound (£)" |
| 英鎊 (jing1 bong2) |
| "I have 20 British Pounds." |
| 我有二十英鎊。 |
| (ngo5 jau5 ji6 sap6 jing1 bong2.) |
| 二十英鎊可以買啲咩呢？ |
| (ji6 sap6 jing1 bong2 ho2 ji3 maai5 di1 me1 ne1?) |
| "What can I buy with 20 British Pounds?" |
| Let us know in the comments section, how would you spend it? |
| 5. 日元 (jat6 jyun4) "Japanese Yen (¥)" |
| 一萬日元 (jat1 maan6 jat6 jyun4) |
| 五千日元 (ng5 cin1 jat6 jyun4) |
| 一千日元 (jat1 cin1 jat6 jyun4) |
| Or just Yen, but we cannot really write it out in Chinese, there is no such word as Yen. We sometimes put the dollar sign, the ￥ sign as Yen. |
| 一千円，五千円，一萬円 (jat1 cin1 yen, ng5 cin1 yen, jat1 maan6 yen) also work. |
| So you don’t have to say 日元 (jat6 jyun4); but on the news, they will say 日元 (jat6 jyun4), they will not say Yen, usually. |
| 香港人非常留意日元走勢，因為要去shopping。 |
| (hoeng1 gong2 jan4 fei1 soeng4 lau4 ji3 jat6 jyun4 zau2 sai3, jan1 wai6 jiu3 heoi3 shopping.) |
| "Hong Kong people pay a lot of attention to the Japanese Yen, because we love shopping there." |
| So now that Japanese yen is cheaper, everybody is, like, taking a trip to Japan for shopping or vacation. And it’s so much cheaper than what it used to be, like, five years ago. |
| So that’s it for today. Today, we talked about currency exchange, 外幣兌換 (ngoi6 bai6 deoi3 wun6). And what kind of currency do you use in your country? Let us know in the comments section. So, I will see you next time. I am Olivia. Bye. |
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