Learn about a grammar pattern that helps you ask if someone can not just do something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，我係 Melody，又見面啦！(daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 Melody ，jau6 gin3 min6 laa3 ！) |
| David: And we are here today with intermediate, season 1, Lesson 20. Destructive Dogs and Apartments Don’t Mix in Hong Kong. |
| Melody: 唔，呢個對話呢應該係個 agent 同埋個租屋嘅人喺度對緊話。(m4 ，ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 ne1 jing1 goi1 hai6 go3 agent tung4 maai4 go3 zou1 nguk1 ge3 jan4 hai2 dou6 deoi3 gan2 waa6 。) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got a dialogue between an agent and a renter who was looking for a place for them and their dog. |
| Melody: 唔，佢堅持要養狗，但係個業主唔知同唔同意。(m4 ，keoi5 gin1 ci4 jiu3 joeng5 gau2 ，daan6 hai6 go3 jip6 zyu2 m4 zi1 tung4 m4 tung4 ji3 。) |
| David: Right. So this lesson is going to be useful if you’ve got a dog or a cat and you need to rent an apartment in Hong Kong. The dialogue is in casual and colloquial Cantonese as always. Let’s get to it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你覺得呢間屋點呀？(A: nei5 gok3 dak1 ni1 gaan1 uk1 dim2 aa3?) |
| B: 都幾好，幾時可以交吉？(B: dou1 gei2 hou2, gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1?) |
| A: 下個月一號，你有冇其他要求？(A: haa6 go3 jyut6 jat1 hou6, nei5 jau5 mou5 kei4 taa1 jiu1 kau4.) |
| B: 業主俾唔俾養狗㗎？我有兩隻狗。(B: jip6 zyu2 bei2 m4 bei2 joeng5 gau2 gaa3? ngo5 jau5 loeng5 zek3 gau2.) |
| A: 咁可能有啲問題。上手住客都有養狗，但係佢哋咬爛咗好多嘢。(A: gam2 ho2 nang4 jau4 di1 man6 tai4. soeng6 sau2 zyu6 haak3 dou1 jau5 joeng5 gau2, daan6 hai6 keoi5 dei6 ngaau5 laan6 zo2 hou2 do1 je5.) |
| A: 你幫我問下業主先啦！(A: nei5 bong1 ngo5 man6 haa5 jip6 zyu2 sin1 laa1!) |
| B: 我即管幫你問吓，其實你唔養狗得唔得？(B: ngo5 zik1 gun2 bong1 nei5 man6 haa5, kei4 sat6 nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| A: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(A: nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 你覺得呢間屋點呀？(A: nei5 gok3 dak1 ni1 gaan1 uk1 dim2 aa3?) |
| B: 都幾好，幾時可以交吉？(B: dou1 gei2 hou2, gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1?) |
| A: 下個月一號，你有冇其他要求？(A: haa6 go3 jyut6 jat1 hou6, nei5 jau5 mou5 kei4 taa1 jiu1 kau4.) |
| B: 業主俾唔俾養狗㗎？我有兩隻狗。(B: jip6 zyu2 bei2 m4 bei2 joeng5 gau2 gaa3? ngo5 jau5 loeng5 zek3 gau2.) |
| A: 咁可能有啲問題。上手住客都有養狗，但係佢哋咬爛咗好多嘢。(A: gam2 ho2 nang4 jau4 di1 man6 tai4. soeng6 sau2 zyu6 haak3 dou1 jau5 joeng5 gau2, daan6 hai6 keoi5 dei6 ngaau5 laan6 zo2 hou2 do1 je5.) |
| A: 你幫我問下業主先啦！(A: nei5 bong1 ngo5 man6 haa5 jip6 zyu2 sin1 laa1!) |
| B: 我即管幫你問吓，其實你唔養狗得唔得？(B: ngo5 zik1 gun2 bong1 nei5 man6 haa5, kei4 sat6 nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| A: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(A: nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 你覺得呢間屋點呀？(A: nei5 gok3 dak1 ni1 gaan1 uk1 dim2 aa3?) |
| A: What do you think about this apartment? |
| B: 都幾好，幾時可以交吉？(B: dou1 gei2 hou2, gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1?) |
| B: Pretty good, when is it available? |
| A: 下個月一號，你有冇其他要求？(A: haa6 go3 jyut6 jat1 hou6, nei5 jau5 mou5 kei4 taa1 jiu1 kau4.) |
| A: The first of next month, do you have any other requests? |
| B: 業主俾唔俾養狗㗎？我有兩隻狗。(B: jip6 zyu2 bei2 m4 bei2 joeng5 gau2 gaa3? ngo5 jau5 loeng5 zek3 gau2.) |
| B: Does the landlord permit dogs? I have two dogs. |
| A: 咁可能有啲問題。上手住客都有養狗，但係佢哋咬爛咗好多嘢。(A: gam2 ho2 nang4 jau4 di1 man6 tai4. soeng6 sau2 zyu6 haak3 dou1 jau5 joeng5 gau2, daan6 hai6 keoi5 dei6 ngaau5 laan6 zo2 hou2 do1 je5.) |
| A: This could be a problem. The last tenant also had dogs, but they bit a lot of stuff. |
| A: 你幫我問下業主先啦！(A: nei5 bong1 ngo5 man6 haa5 jip6 zyu2 sin1 laa1!) |
| A: Can you ask the landlord for me? |
| B: 我即管幫你問吓，其實你唔養狗得唔得？(B: ngo5 zik1 gun2 bong1 nei5 man6 haa5, kei4 sat6 nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| B: I'll try to ask for you, but couldn't you just not bring the dogs here? |
| A: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(A: nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1?) |
| A: Could you not comb you hair before going out everyday? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 唔，咁最後一句呢係佢講得好直接, 佢可能真係一定要堅持養狗, 但係有少少唔係幾禮貌。(m4 ，gam2 zeoi3 hau6 jat1 geoi3 ne1 hai6 keoi5 gong2 dak1 hou2 zik6 zip3 , keoi5 ho2 nang4 zan1 hai6 jat1 ding6 jiu3 gin1 ci4 joeng5 gau2 , daan6 hai6 jau5 siu2 siu2 m4 hai6 gei2 lai5 maau6 。) |
| David: I think the last line is actually a bit hard to understand. You have to realize they are not being serious. They are being sarcastic. |
| Melody: 唔，冇錯，但係其實有少少唔係好禮貌, 佢有份講嘢。(m4 ，mou5 co3 ，daan6 hai6 kei4 sat6 jau5 siu2 siu2 m4 hai6 hou2 lai5 maau6 , keoi5 jau5 fan2 gong2 je5 。) |
| David: Yeah like you want me to live without my dogs or you are going to live without combing your hair. |
| Melody: 係呀！冇錯，但係佢好錫佢隻狗囉可能。(hai6 aa3 ！mou5 co3 ，daan6 hai6 keoi5 hou2 sek3 keoi5 zek3 gau2 lo1 ho2 nang4 。) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Yeah. Anyway, our vocab today is rental vocab. So let’s get to it. |
| Melody: 交吉。(gaau1 gat1。) |
| David: To be available. |
| Melody: 交 吉, 交吉, 其他。(gaau1 gat1, gaau1 gat1, kei4 taa1。) |
| David: Other. |
| Melody: 其 他, 其他, 要求。(kei4 taa1, kei4 taa1, jiu1 kau4。) |
| David: Request. |
| Melody: 要 求, 要求, 業主。(jiu1 kau4, jiu1 kau4, jip6 zyu2。) |
| David: Landlord. |
| Melody: 業 主, 業主, 住客。(jip6 zyu2, jip6 zyu2, zyu6 haak3。) |
| David: Tenant. |
| Melody: 住 客, 住客, 租約。(zyu6 haak3, zyu6 haak3, zou1 joek3。) |
| David: Rental agreement. |
| Melody: 租 約, 租約, 即管。(zou1 joek3, zou1 joek3, zik1 gun2。) |
| David: To try. |
| Melody: 即 管, 即管, 梳頭。(zik1 gun2, zik1 gun2, so1 tau4。) |
| David: To comb one’s hair. |
| Melody: 梳 頭, 梳頭, 出街。(so1 tau4, so1 tau4, ceot1 gaai1。) |
| David: To go out. |
| Melody: 出 街, 出街。(ceot1 gaai1, ceot1 gaai1。) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words. Our first word is |
| Melody: 交吉。(gaau1 gat1 。) |
| David: To be available. |
| Melody: 交吉。(gaau1 gat1 。) |
| David: Or to be vacant. We use this to talk about apartments, and it’s vacant. |
| Melody: 係，冇錯，譬如我哋成日會問 業主幾時可以交吉？(hai6 ，mou5 co3 ，pei3 jyu4 ngo5 dei6 sing4 jat6 wui2 man6 jip6 zyu2 gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1 ？) |
| David: Right. That’s a really useful sentence to know. Melody… |
| Melody: 業主幾時可以交吉？(jip6 zyu2 gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1 ？) |
| David: When can the landlord be ready to rent it out. |
| Melody: 業主幾時可以交吉？(jip6 zyu2 gei2 si4 ho2 ji5 gaau1 gat1 ？) |
| David: When will the landlord be ready to rent it out or when will it be available. |
| Melody: 唔，咁其中有一個詞 業主。(m4 ，gam2 kei4 zung1 jau5 jat1 go3 ci4 jip6 zyu2 。) |
| David: And that’s the word for landlord. |
| Melody: 業主。(jip6 zyu2 。) |
| David: Landlord. |
| Melody: 或者我哋可以叫佢 屋主。(waak6 ze2 ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji5 giu3 keoi5 nguk1 zyu2 。) |
| David: Landlord. |
| Melody: 業主同埋屋主都係一樣嘅。(jip6 zyu2 tung4 maai4 nguk1 zyu2 dou1 hai6 jat1 joeng6 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. So there are two ways of saying landlord. The first is |
| Melody: 業主。(jip6 zyu2 。) |
| David: The second is |
| Melody: 屋主。(nguk1 zyu2 。) |
| David: Right. Now the opposite of the landlord is of course the tenant. |
| Melody: 住客。(zyu6 haak3 。) |
| David: Tenant. |
| Melody: 住客, 咁通常呢業主同住客之間呢會有 租約。(zyu6 haak3 , gam2 tung1 soeng4 ne1 jip6 zyu2 tung4 zyu6 haak3 zi1 gaan1 ne1 wui2 jau5 zou1 joek3 。) |
| David: A rental agreement. |
| Melody: 租約。(zou1 joek3 。) |
| David: Right which is literally it’s a rental contract or rental condition. |
| Melody: 唔，咁租約入面呢通常就會標明晒業主同埋住客嘅所有要求。(m4 ，gam2 zou1 joek3 jap6 min6 ne1 tung1 soeng4 zau6 wui2 biu1 ming4 saai3 jip6 zyu2 tung4 maai4 zyu6 haak3 ge3 so2 jau5 jiu1 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. If you rent an apartment in Hong Kong, your rental agent is going to ask you if you have any requests. |
| Melody: 你仲有冇咩嘢要求？(nei5 zung6 jau5 mou5 me1 je5 jiu1 kau4 ？) |
| David: And that’s the word for requests. |
| Melody: 要求。(jiu1 kau4 。) |
| David: A request. |
| Melody: 要求, 我哋通常會聽到 你有冇咩嘢特別要求？(jiu1 kau4 , ngo5 dei6 tung1 soeng4 wui2 teng1 dou2 nei5 jau5 mou5 me1 je5 dak6 bit6 jiu1 kau4 ？) |
| David: Do you have any special requests? |
| Melody: 你有冇咩嘢特別要求？(nei5 jau5 mou5 me1 je5 dak6 bit6 jiu1 kau4 ？) |
| David: Do you have any special requests? |
| Melody: 所以如果你哋要去租屋嘅話呢, 呢幾個詞好有用, 記住啦！交吉, 業主, 租客, 租約, 要求。(so2 ji5 jyu4 gwo2 nei5 dei6 jiu3 heoi3 zou1 nguk1 ge3 waa2 ne1 , ni1 gei2 go3 ci4 hou2 jau5 jung6 , gei3 zyu6 laa3 ！gaau1 gat1 , jip6 zyu2 , zou1 haak3 , zou1 joek3 , jiu1 kau4 。) |
| David: And now our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Okay so our grammar point today is about a pattern that we can use when asking negative questions. Right like can’t you not do this or could you not do that? Now it’s this pattern. |
| Melody: 唔 ......... 得唔得？(m4 ......... dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Is it possible not. |
| Melody: 唔 ……….. 得唔得？(m4 ……….. dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Or really it’s not and then at the end we say, is that okay. Now this structure confuses a lot of people because we’ve got a negative and then a question but you know, it can either be a negative question or a positive question depending on how it’s raised. So we are going to look at this in more detail by pulling up some examples. Our first example comes straight from the dialogue. |
| Melody: 你唔養狗得唔得？(nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Can you not raise dogs? |
| Melody: 你唔養狗得唔得？(nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Is there any way for you not to raise dogs, to which the answer is, |
| Melody: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Is there any way for you to go out without combing your hair? |
| Melody: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Can you not comb your hair and go out. Is that okay? |
| Melody: 所以呢 唔 ……….. 得唔得？ 中間呢係加入一個你想否定嘅動作, 你唔鍾意對方去繼續呢個動作。(so2 ji5 ne1 m4 ……….. dak1 m4 dak1 ？ zung1 gaan1 ne1 hai6 gaa1 jap6 jat1 go3 nei5 soeng2 fau2 ding6 ge3 dung6 zok3 , nei5 m4 zung1 ji3 deoi3 fong1 heoi3 gai3 zuk6 ni1 go3 dung6 zok3 。) |
| David: Right. And it has to be a verb that goes in the middle. For instance, can you not fight? |
| Melody: 唔嘈交得唔得？(m4 cou4 gaau1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Can you not fight, can you not argue? |
| Melody: 唔嘈交得唔得？(m4 cou4 gaau1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: You are really saying, can you not fight, is that okay? |
| Melody: 唔嘈交得唔得？或者有陣時我哋租屋嗰陣時會話 唔簽約得唔得？(m4 cou4 gaau1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？waak6 ze2 jau5 zan6 si4 ngo5 dei6 zou1 nguk1 go2 zan6 si4 wui2 waa6 m4 cim1 joek3 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Is it okay if we don’t sign a contract? |
| Melody: 唔簽約得唔得？(m4 cim1 joek3 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Right. If that happens in Hong Kong, runaway. People in Hong Kong are very, very, very good about getting everything in writing. So there is not a lot of rentals that take place without a contract. |
| Melody: 唔，我覺得一定要簽約, 咁樣有保障啲。(m4 ，ngo5 gok3 dak1 jat1 ding6 jiu3 cim1 joek3 , gam2 joeng2 jau5 bou2 zoeng3 di1 。) |
| David: Right. So one more time, the question, is it okay if we don’t sign a contract. |
| Melody: 唔簽約得唔得？(m4 cim1 joek3 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Literally not sign a contract, is that okay? |
| Melody: 我哋唔簽約得唔得？咁不如我放喺句子入面可能會更清楚, 譬如話我哋和平相處, 唔嘈交得唔得？即係表示你唔想再同佢嘈交啦！你話 唔嘈交得唔得呀？(ngo5 dei6 m4 cim1 joek3 dak1 m4 dak1 ？gam2 bat1 jyu4 ngo5 fong3 hai2 geoi3 zi2 jap6 min6 ho2 nang4 wui2 gang3 cing1 co2 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 ngo5 dei6 wo4 ping4 soeng1 cyu2 , m4 cou4 gaau1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？zik1 hai6 biu2 si6 nei5 m4 soeng2 zoi3 tung4 keoi5 cou4 gaau1 laa1 ！nei5 waa6 m4 cou4 gaau1 dak1 m4 dak1 aa3 ？) |
| David: Yeah. So it’s an interesting structure because it’s about emotions. |
| Melody: 係呀！(hai6 aa3 ！) |
| David: You know, you can ask this very straightforward, is it okay if you don’t do that or as in our dialogue, it can be filled with sarcasm. You know, is it okay if you don’t do that? |
| Melody: 唔，好多時候係表示你唔鍾意呢件事, 叫佢唔好再做啦！(m4 ，hou2 do1 si4 hau6 hai6 biu2 si6 nei5 m4 zung1 ji3 ni1 gin6 si6 , giu3 keoi5 m4 hou2 zoi3 zou6 laa3 ！) |
| David: Right. So to review, in our dialogue again, we have two instances of this. The first is serious. |
| Melody: 你唔養狗得唔得？(nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: You know, is it possible for you not to raise dogs? |
| Melody: 你唔養狗得唔得？( nei5 m4 joeng5 gau2 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: The second is a sarcastic rebuttal. |
| Melody: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Is it possible for you to go out and not comb your hair? |
| Melody: 你唔梳頭出街得唔得？(nei5 m4 so1 tau4 ceot1 gaai1 dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: Once again, the grammar pattern here is |
| Melody: 唔 ……….. 得唔得？(m4 ……….. dak1 m4 dak1 ？) |
| David: And we put a verb in the middle. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
Outro |
| David: And with that, that’s all the time we have today. I am David. |
| Melody: 我係Melody。(ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we will look forward to seeing you next week. |
| Melody: 好希望下次再見。 (hou2 hei1 mong6 haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3 。) Bye-bye! |
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