Learn about a popular Hong Kong singer and a tricky phrase that says you don't have a strong opinion
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: And we are here today with intermediate season 1, Lesson 18. Do You Care About Chinese Award Shows? |
| Melody: 香港人呢真係好八卦㗎！(hoeng1 gong2 jan4 ne1 zan1 hai6 hou2 baat3 gwaa3 gaa3 ！) |
| David: Yes. |
| Melody: 佢哋好鍾意睇呢啲頒獎典禮。(keoi5 dei6 hou2 zung1 ji3 tai2 ni1 di1 baan1 zoeng2 din2 lai5 。) |
| David: So we’ve got a dialogue here as Melody said which is all about gossip which is popular in Hong Kong and it’s between two characters who are watching an award show on television. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 我哋一齊嚟睇下佢哋討論緊啲咩？(mou5 co3 , ngo5 dei6 jat1 cai4 lai4 tai2 haa6 keoi5 dei6 tou2 leon6 gan2 di1 me1 ？) |
| David: Right. So our dialogue is sort of casual Cantonese you are going to hear around the water cooler or just chatting with friends on a normal day. Let’s get to it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 今晚勁歌金曲頒獎，你估邊個攞最佳男歌手？(A: gam1 maan5 ging6 go1 gam1 kuk1 baan1 zoeng2, nei5 gu2 bin1 go3 lo2 zeoi3 gaai1 naam4 go1 sau2 ?) |
| B: 我冇乜心水人選呀。(B: ngo5 mou5 mat1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3.) |
| A: 可能又係陳奕迅，佢咁多擁躉。(A: ho2 nang4 jau6 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3, keoi5 gam3 do1 jung2 dan2.) |
| B: 係又點，唔係又點⋯⋯(B: hai6 jau6 dim2, m4 hai6 jau6 dim2...) |
| A: 你點睇呀？(A: nei5 dim2 tai2 aa3 ?) |
| B: 實不相瞞，我唔知邊個係陳奕迅。(B: sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4, ngo5 m4 zi1 bin1 go3 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3.) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 今晚勁歌金曲頒獎，你估邊個攞最佳男歌手？(A: gam1 maan5 ging6 go1 gam1 kuk1 baan1 zoeng2, nei5 gu2 bin1 go3 lo2 zeoi3 gaai1 naam4 go1 sau2 ?) |
| B: 我冇乜心水人選呀。(B: ngo5 mou5 mat1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3.) |
| A: 可能又係陳奕迅，佢咁多擁躉。(A: ho2 nang4 jau6 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3, keoi5 gam3 do1 jung2 dan2.) |
| B: 係又點，唔係又點⋯⋯(B: hai6 jau6 dim2, m4 hai6 jau6 dim2...) |
| A: 你點睇呀？(A: nei5 dim2 tai2 aa3 ?) |
| B: 實不相瞞，我唔知邊個係陳奕迅。(B: sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4, ngo5 m4 zi1 bin1 go3 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 今晚勁歌金曲頒獎，你估邊個攞最佳男歌手？(A: gam1 maan5 ging6 go1 gam1 kuk1 baan1 zoeng2, nei5 gu2 bin1 go3 lo2 zeoi3 gaai1 naam4 go1 sau2 ?) |
| A: The Music Awards are being held tonight! Who do you think will be the best male singer? |
| B: 我冇乜心水人選呀。(B: ngo5 mou5 mat1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3.) |
| B: I don't have a particular candidate in mind. |
| A: 可能又係陳奕迅，佢咁多擁躉。(A: ho2 nang4 jau6 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3, keoi5 gam3 do1 jung2 dan2.) |
| A: It might be Eason Chan again; he's got so many supporters. |
| B: 係又點，唔係又點⋯⋯(B: hai6 jau6 dim2, m4 hai6 jau6 dim2...) |
| B: I don't care either way... |
| A: 你點睇呀？(A: nei5 dim2 tai2 aa3 ?) |
| A: What do you think? |
| B: 實不相瞞，我唔知邊個係陳奕迅。(B: sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4, ngo5 m4 zi1 bin1 go3 hai6 can4 jik6 seon3.) |
| B: To be honest, I don't know who Eason Chan is. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 唔, 其實呢個對話呢都幾搞笑㗎！因為呢到最後先發現其中一個人唔知陳奕迅係邊個。(m4 , kei4 sat6 ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 ne1 dou1 gei2 gaau2 siu3 gaa3 ！jan1 wai6 ne1 dou3 zeoi3 hau6 sin1 faat3 jin6 kei4 zung1 jat1 go3 jan4 m4 zi1 can4 jik6 seon3 hai6 bin1 go3 。) |
| David: Yeah. So we have two people and one of them apparently cares a lot about music. The other, I don’t even know who Eason Chan is. |
| Melody: 如果係我嘅話呢，我可能直接就 即係假假哋話知道啦! Okay! (jyu4 gwo2 hai6 ngo5 ge3 waa2 ne1 ，ngo5 ho2 nang4 zik6 zip3 zau6 zik1 hai6 gaa3 gaa3 dei2 waa6 zi1 dou6 laa1 ! Okay !) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Anyway, let’s move on to our vocab section. |
| Melody: 頒獎。(baan1 zoeng2。) |
| David: To issue an award. |
| Melody: 頒 獎, 頒獎, 人選。(baan1 zoeng2, baan1 zoeng2, jan4 syun2。) |
| David: Candidate. |
| Melody: 人 選, 人選, 估。(jan4 syun2, jan4 syun2, gu2。) |
| David: To guess. |
| Melody: 估, 估, 攞獎。(gu2, gu2, lo2 zoeng2。) |
| David: To get an award. |
| Melody: 攞 獎, 攞獎, 最佳。(lo2 zoeng2, lo2 zoeng2, zeoi3 gaai1。) |
| David: The best. |
| Melody: 最 佳, 最佳, 係又點。(zeoi3 gaai1, zeoi3 gaai1, hai6 jau6 dim2。) |
| David: So what |
| Melody: 係 又 點, 係又點, 擁躉。(hai6 jau6 dim2, hai6 jau6 dim2, jung2 dan2。) |
| David: Supporters, fans. |
| Melody: 擁 躉, 擁躉, 點睇。(jung2 dan2, jung2 dan2, dim2 tai2。) |
| David: What do you think? |
| Melody: 點 睇, 點睇, 實不相瞞。(dim2 tai2, dim2 tai2, sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4。) |
| David: Actually, to be honest. |
| Melody: 實 不 相 瞞, 實不相瞞。(sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4, sat6 bat1 soeng1 mun4。) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our first word is |
| Melody: 頒獎 。(baan1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: To issue an award. |
| Melody: 頒獎 。(baan1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: To issue an award or to give an award. |
| Melody: 我哋經常呢都會聽到 頒獎典禮。(ngo5 dei6 ging1 soeng4 ne1 dou1 wui2 teng1 dou2 baan1 zoeng2 din2 lai5 。) |
| David: And that’s the word for award ceremony. |
| Melody: 頒獎典禮。(baan1 zoeng2 din2 lai5 。) |
| David: Right. And that literally is, it is to give an award. |
| Melody: 頒獎。(baan1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: Ceremony. |
| Melody: 典禮。(din2 lai5 。) |
| David: Now for most award ceremonies, you have a number of candidates who are potentially going to win. Now in Cantonese, this is the word for candidate. |
| Melody: 人選。(jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: Candidate. |
| Melody: 人選, 譬如話佢係最佳得獎人選。(jan4 syun2 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 hai6 zeoi3 gaai1 dak1 zoeng2 jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: He is the best candidate for the prize. |
| Melody: 佢係最佳得獎人選。(keoi5 hai6 zeoi3 gaai1 dak1 zoeng2 jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: And that’s really it is, he is the most likely to win. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right and this word is actually common in other contests and particularly elections. So for instance, we are going to talk about presidential candidates. |
| Melody: 總統人選, 總統人選 。(zung2 tung2 jan4 syun2 , zung2 tung2 jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: Okay. So Melody, what word is up next? |
| Melody: 我哋下一個詞係 擁躉。(ngo5 dei6 haa6 jat1 go3 ci4 hai6 jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: Supporters or fans. |
| Melody: 擁躉。(jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: Right. Supporter or a fan of celebrity. |
| Melody: 唔, 擁躉呢可以包括球迷呀，影迷，歌迷等等。(m4 , jung2 dan2 ne1 ho2 ji5 baau1 kut3 kau4 mai4 aa3 ，jing2 mai4 ，go1 mai4 dang2 dang2 。) |
| David: Right. So it’s a generic word for sports fans, movie fans, fans of singers whoever. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 譬如話 呢個男歌手有好多擁躉。(mou5 co3 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 ni1 go3 naam4 go1 sau2 jau5 hou2 do1 jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: That male singer has a lot of fans. |
| Melody: 呢個男歌手有好多擁躉。(ni1 go3 naam4 go1 sau2 jau5 hou2 do1 jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: Right and Melody is talking about Justin Bieber here. |
| Melody: 可能喺香港真係有好多。(ho2 nang4 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 zan1 hai6 jau5 hou2 do1 。) |
| David: Yeah he does. One interesting small point is it’s not just a fan. It’s someone who is active in supporting someone. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right. So they will vote in on television or they are going to buy concert tickets or/and the T-Shirts. |
| Melody: 唔, 總之就係鍾意佢嘅人。(m4 , zung2 zi1 zau6 hai6 zung1 ji3 keoi5 ge3 jan4 。) |
| David: Right. So again supporter. |
| Melody: 擁躉。(jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: So three key words to remember from this lesson. First, we have |
| Melody: 頒獎。(baan1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: To issue an award. |
| Melody: 頒獎。(baan1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: Next we have the word for candidate. |
| Melody: 人選, 人選。(jan4 syun2 , jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: And finally the word for supporters or fans. |
| Melody: 擁躉, 擁躉。(jung2 dan2 , jung2 dan2 。) |
| David: Let’s get to our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Okay, our grammar point today is about a tricky little phrase we see in our dialogue. This is what Melody? |
| Melody: 冇咩, 冇咩。(mou5 me1 , mou5 me1 。) |
| David: Now literally this is the – it’s the verb no, not to have plus this sound. |
| Melody: 咩。(me1 。) |
| David: Let’s take a look at where we see this in the dialogue. |
| Melody: 我冇咩心水人選呀！(ngo5 mou5 me1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3 ！) |
| David: I don’t have a particular candidate in mind. |
| Melody: 我冇咩心水人選呀！(ngo5 mou5 me1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3 ！) |
| David: Now this is a tricky sentence to parse. So what we are going to start with is simplifying this. Let’s take a look at a much easier sentence. |
| Melody: 好呀！我畀你一個簡單啲嘅例子吖！譬如話 我冇咩意見。(hou2 aa3 ！ngo5 bei2 nei5 jat1 go3 gaan2 daan1 di1 ge3 lai6 zi2 aa1 ！pei3 jyu4 waa6 ngo5 mou5 me1 ji3 gin3 。) |
| David: I don’t really have any opinions. |
| Melody: 我冇咩意見。(ngo5 mou5 me1 ji3 gin3 。) |
| David: Right. So the main verb there literally means not to have, I don’t have opinions. |
| Melody: 係喇！但係其實呢可以話 我冇意見。(hai6 laa3 ！daan6 hai6 kei4 sat6 ne1 ho2 ji5 waa6 ngo5 mou5 ji3 gin3 。) |
| David: Right. So we are doing something by adding this extra sound and that’s what we want to talk about today. |
| Melody: 所以如果我哋講 我冇意見嘅話呢 係代表完全冇意見, 如果我哋加咗個 咩 喺入面 變成 我無咩意見。(so2 ji5 jyu4 gwo2 ngo5 dei6 gong2 ngo5 mou5 ji3 gin3 ge3 waa2 ne1 hai6 doi6 biu2 jyun4 cyun4 mou5 ji3 gin3 , jyu4 gwo2 ngo5 dei6 gaa1 zo2 go3 me1 hai2 jap6 min6 bin3 sing4 ngo5 mou5 me1 ji3 gin3 。) |
| David: Right. I don’t really have any suggestions. So what this extra sound is doing is it adding emotion. We are saying I don’t really have any opinions. More or less, I don’t have opinions or I don’t have any strong opinions. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 可能有少少意見但係....... (mou5 co3 , ho2 nang4 jau5 siu2 siu2 ji3 gin3 daan6 hai6 .......) |
| David: Yeah. I might have some small ones. It’s about the emotion here and about the uncertainty. |
| Melody: 唔, 冇錯。(m4 , mou5 co3 。) |
| David: So let’s go back to the sentence in our dialogue. |
| Melody: 我冇咩心水人選呀！(ngo5 mou5 me1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 aa3 ！) |
| David: I don’t really have any particular candidate that I care about. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 心水人選其實係指 你鍾意嘅人, 或者你期待佢可以得獎嘅人。(mou5 co3 , sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 kei4 sat6 hai6 zi2 nei5 zung1 ji3 ge3 jan4 , waak6 ze2 nei5 kei4 doi6 keoi5 ho2 ji5 dak1 zoeng2 ge3 jan4 。) |
| David: Yeah. So that’s the candidate that I particularly like. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: And the point is, I don’t have really more or less strongly any particular candidate. |
| Melody: 我冇咩心水人選, 即係我冇一個好肯定嘅人選。(ngo5 mou5 me1 sam1 seoi2 jan4 syun2 , zik1 hai6 ngo5 mou5 jat1 go3 hou2 hang2 ding6 ge3 jan4 syun2 。) |
| David: Yeah. Let’s take a look at this in a few other sentences. |
| Melody: 唔, 譬如話 佢冇咩機會得獎。(m4 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 mou4 me1 gei1 wui6 dak1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: He doesn’t really have a chance to win. |
| Melody: 佢冇咩機會得獎。(keoi5 mou5 me1 gei1 wui6 dak1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: And this is where Cantonese is different than English because the meaning here isn’t saying, he doesn’t really have a chance of winning. It’s the opposite saying he doesn’t have kind of more or less the chances of winning. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: He does have a chance of winning. |
| Melody: 唔,少少， 有少少機會可能得獎。(m4 , siu2 siu2 ， jau5 siu2 siu2 gei1 wui6 ho2 nang4 dak1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: It’s a small one. We are not sure that he doesn’t have a chance. Winning is the point. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 唔, 佢冇咩機會得獎。(mou5 co3 , m4 , keoi5 mou5 me1 gei1 wui6 dak1 zoeng2 。) |
| David: Right. So the feeling here is that we are adding more or less to the end of our verb. |
| Melody: 唔, 如果你話佢冇機會得獎, 可能有少少太傷心, 傷人心。(m4 , jyu4 gwo2 nei5 waa6 keoi5 mou5 gei1 wui6 dak1 zoeng2 , ho2 nang4 jau5 siu2 siu2 taai3 soeng1 sam1 , soeng1 jan4 sam1 。) |
| David: It’s too certain. This is adding this emotion, adding this uncertainty. |
| Melody: 唔, 冇錯。(m4 , mou5 co3 。) |
| David: And also adding a sense of indifference too. So remember, |
| Melody: 冇咩。(mou5 me1 。) |
| David: Means more or less the same thing as |
| Melody: 冇。(mou5 。) |
| David: Except we are adding the sense of uncertainty. We can’t be sure that it holds. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 可能仲有少少機率喺入面, 所以我哋話 冇咩。(mou5 co3 , ho2 nang4 zung6 jau5 siu2 siu2 gei1 leot2 hai2 jap6 min6 , so2 ji5 ngo5 dei6 waa6 mou5 me1 。) |
Outro |
| David: Right. And with that, we are at the end of another lesson. I am David. |
| Melody: 我係 Melody。(ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening. |
| Melody: 好希望我哋下次可以再見。Bye bye. (hou2 hei1 mong6 ngo5 dei6 haa6 ci3 ho2 ji5 zoi3 gin3 。Bye bye .) |
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