Learn a little bit about legal terminology
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| 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’ve got intermediate season 1, Lesson 9 today. How Low Would You Go for Chinese Dough! |
| Melody: David呀! 我覺得呢呢個對話係應該警察問緊個女兇手，佢懷疑佢殺咗佢嘅老公？(David aa4 ! ngo5 gok3 dak1 ne1 ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 hai6 jing1 goi1 ging2 caat3 man6 gan2 go3 neoi5 hung1 sau2 ，keoi5 waai4 ji4 keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 ge3 lou5 gung1 ？) |
| David: Right. It’s taking place in a court. It’s between a woman who’s been accused of murdering her husband or maybe that’s husbands. So we’ve got a coldblooded killer here, maybe. |
| Melody: 所以話千祈唔好激女人，如果激嬲咗會好恐怖。(so2 ji5 waa6 cin1 kei4 m4 hou2 gik1 neoi5 jan2 ，jyu4 gwo2 gik1 nau1 zo2 wui2 hou2 hung2 bou3 。) |
| David: Right and even though they are in court, they are still speaking casual Cantonese as always. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 係你用晒你先後兩個老公啲錢之後... (A: hai6 nei5 jung6 saai3 nei5 sin1 hau6 loeng5 go3 lou5 gung1 di1 cin2 zi1 hau6...) |
| B: 係佢哋自己破產。(B: hai6 keoi5 dei6 zi6 gei2 po3 caan2.) |
| A: 因為你買珠寶首飾同埋去歐洲旅行? (A: jan1 wai6 nei5 maai5 zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 tung4 maai4 heoi3 au1 zau1 leoi5 hang4 ?) |
| B: 佢哋鐘意買禮物俾我，我有咩辦法呀！(B: keoi5 dei6 zung1 ji3 maai5 lai5 mat5 bei2 ngo5, ngo5 jau5 me1 baan6 faat3 aa3 !) |
| A: 咁啲相你點解釋呀？(A: gam2 di1 soeng2 nei5 dim2 gaai2 sik1 aa3 ?) |
| B: 我...我都唔知你喺度講緊咩！(B: ngo5... ngo5 dou1 m4 zi1 nei5 hai2 dou6 gong2 gan2 me1 !) |
| A: 我哋有證據證明你毒死你現任老公。睇吓陪審團信唔信你！(A: ngo5 dei6 jau5 zing3 geoi3 zing3 ming4 nei5 duk6 sei2 nei5 jin6 jam4 lou5 gung1. tai2 haa5 pui4 sam2 tyun4 seon3 m4 seon3 nei5 !) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 係你用晒你先後兩個老公啲錢之後... (A: hai6 nei5 jung6 saai3 nei5 sin1 hau6 loeng5 go3 lou5 gung1 di1 cin2 zi1 hau6...) |
| B: 係佢哋自己破產。(B: hai6 keoi5 dei6 zi6 gei2 po3 caan2.) |
| A: 因為你買珠寶首飾同埋去歐洲旅行? (A: jan1 wai6 nei5 maai5 zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 tung4 maai4 heoi3 au1 zau1 leoi5 hang4 ?) |
| B: 佢哋鐘意買禮物俾我，我有咩辦法呀！(B: keoi5 dei6 zung1 ji3 maai5 lai5 mat5 bei2 ngo5, ngo5 jau5 me1 baan6 faat3 aa3 !) |
| A: 咁啲相你點解釋呀？(A: gam2 di1 soeng2 nei5 dim2 gaai2 sik1 aa3 ?) |
| B: 我...我都唔知你喺度講緊咩！(B: ngo5... ngo5 dou1 m4 zi1 nei5 hai2 dou6 gong2 gan2 me1 !) |
| A: 我哋有證據證明你毒死你現任老公。睇吓陪審團信唔信你！(A: ngo5 dei6 jau5 zing3 geoi3 zing3 ming4 nei5 duk6 sei2 nei5 jin6 jam4 lou5 gung1. tai2 haa5 pui4 sam2 tyun4 seon3 m4 seon3 nei5 !) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 係你用晒你先後兩個老公啲錢之後... (A: hai6 nei5 jung6 saai3 nei5 sin1 hau6 loeng5 go3 lou5 gung1 di1 cin2 zi1 hau6...) |
| A: After you spent all your husbands' money... |
| B: 係佢哋自己破產。(B: hai6 keoi5 dei6 zi6 gei2 po3 caan2.) |
| B: They went bankrupt themselves. |
| A: 因為你買珠寶首飾同埋去歐洲旅行? (A: jan1 wai6 nei5 maai5 zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 tung4 maai4 heoi3 au1 zau1 leoi5 hang4 ?) |
| A: Because you bought jewelry and went to Europe on vacation? |
| B: 佢哋鐘意買禮物俾我，我有咩辦法呀！(B: keoi5 dei6 zung1 ji3 maai5 lai5 mat5 bei2 ngo5, ngo5 jau5 me1 baan6 faat3 aa3 !) |
| B: I couldn't help that they liked to buy me presents. |
| A: 咁啲相你點解釋呀？(A: gam2 di1 soeng2 nei5 dim2 gaai2 sik1 aa3 ?) |
| A: Then how do you explain these photos? |
| B: 我...我都唔知你喺度講緊咩！(B: ngo5... ngo5 dou1 m4 zi1 nei5 hai2 dou6 gong2 gan2 me1 !) |
| B: I... I don't know what you're talking about! |
| A: 我哋有證據證明你毒死你現任老公。睇吓陪審團信唔信你！(A: ngo5 dei6 jau5 zing3 geoi3 zing3 ming4 nei5 duk6 sei2 nei5 jin6 jam4 lou5 gung1. tai2 haa5 pui4 sam2 tyun4 seon3 m4 seon3 nei5 !) |
| A: We can prove that you poisoned your current husband. Let's see if the jury believes you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: So Melody, you think she did it? |
| Melody: 唔... 真係唔知，但係如果佢殺死咗兩個老公，實在太恐怖啦！(m4 ... zan1 hai6 m4 zi1 ，daan6 hai6 jyu4 gwo2 keoi5 saat3 sei2 zo2 loeng5 go3 lou5 gung1 ，sat6 zoi6 taai3 hung2 bou3 laa3 ！) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| David: Yeah it is a lot to go through. So our vocab today anyway, this is useful if you find yourself in a court or if you find yourself watching crime dramas on television. Let’s get to it. |
| Melody: 用晒。(jung6 saai3。) |
| David: To spend all. |
| Melody: 用 晒, 用晒, 破產。(jung6 saai3, jung6 saai3, po3 caan2。) |
| David: To go bankrupt. |
| Melody: 破 產, 破產, 珠寶首飾。(po3 caan2, po3 caan2, zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1。) |
| David: Jewelry. |
| Melody: 珠 寶 首 飾, 珠寶首飾, 解釋。( zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1, zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1, gaai2 sik1。) |
| David: To explain. |
| Melody: 解 釋, 解釋, 證據。(gaai2 sik1, gaai2 sik1, zing3 geoi3。) |
| David: Proof. |
| Melody: 證 據, 證據, 證明。(zing3 geoi3, zing3 geoi3, zing3 ming4。) |
| David: To prove. |
| Melody: 證 明, 證明, 毒死。(zing3 ming4, zing3 ming4, duk6 sei2。) |
| David: To poison. |
| Melody: 毒 死, 毒死, 現任。(duk6 sei2, duk6 sei2, jin6 jam6。) |
| David: Current. |
| Melody: 現 任, 現任, 埋屍。(jin6 jam6, jin6 jam6, maai4 si1 。) |
| David: To bury a body. |
| Melody: 埋 屍, 埋屍, 陪審團。(maai4 si1, maai4 si1, pui4 sam2 tyun4。) |
| David: Jury. |
| Melody: 陪 審 團, 陪審團。(pui4 sam2 tyun4, pui4 sam2 tyun4。) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words. The first word we want to talk about is jewelry. |
| Melody: 珠寶首飾。(zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 。) |
| David: Jewelry. |
| Melody: 珠寶首飾。(zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 。) |
| David: And this is really two words. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right. First we have jewels. |
| Melody: 珠寶。(zyu1 bou2 。) |
| David: And then we have other things like bracelets or necklaces. |
| Melody: 係呀！喺香港呢如果係女人身上帶嘅嗰啲裝飾品都叫做 首飾。(hai6 aa3 ！hai2 hoeng1 gong2 ne1 jyu4 gwo2 hai6 neoi5 jan2 san1 soeng6 daai3 ge3 go2 di1 zong1 sik1 ban2 dou1 giu3 zou6 sau2 sik1 。) |
| David: Right. So things that you put on your body. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: In our dialogue, we hear this woman had an awful lot of |
| Melody: 珠寶首飾。(zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 。) |
| David: And the result is that her husband went bankrupt. |
| Melody: 佢老公破產。(keoi5 lou5 gung1 po3 caan2 。) |
| David: To go bankrupt. |
| Melody:破產。(po3 caan2 。) |
| David: Right. It literally means to break production. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: And then your company is out of business. |
| Melody: 破產, 其實而家好咗好多啦! 但係喺香港九七年金融風暴嗰陣時 就有好多人破產。(po3 caan2 , kei4 sat6 ji4 gaa1 hou2 zo2 hou2 do1 laa3 ! daan6 hai6 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 gau2 cat1 nin4 gam1 jung4 fung1 bou6 go2 zan6 si4 zau6 jau5 hou2 do1 jan4 po3 caan2 。) |
| David: Right. |
| Melody: 香港九七年金融風暴 就有好多人破產。(hoeng1 gong2 gau2 cat1 nin4 gam1 jung4 fung1 bou6 zau6 jau5 hou2 do1 jan4 po3 caan2 。) |
| David: In Hong Kong’s 1997 financial crisis, a lot of people went bankrupt. |
| Melody: 唔，或者你可能會警告你個老婆話 唔好再買咁多珠寶首飾啦！我就嚟破產啦！(m4 ，waak6 ze2 nei5 ho2 nang4 wui2 ging2 gou3 nei5 go3 lou5 po4 waa6 m4 hou2 zoi3 maai5 gam3 do1 zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 laa3 ！ngo5 zau6 lai4 po3 caan2 laa3 ！) |
| David: Right. So that is don’t buy so much jewelry, I am going to go bankrupt. |
| Melody: 唔好再買咁多珠寶首飾啦！我就嚟破產啦！希望你用唔到呢句話。(m4 hou2 zoi3 maai5 gam3 do1 zyu1 bou2 sau2 sik1 laa3 ！ngo5 zau6 lai4 po3 caan2 laa3 ！hei1 mong6 nei5 jung6 m4 dou2 ni1 geoi3 waa6 。) |
| David: Okay. So our next word is the verb to explain |
| Melody: 解釋。(gaai2 sik1 。) |
| David: To explain |
| Melody: 解釋。(gaai2 sik1 。) |
| David: And in the dialogue, we had the lawyer or the accuser say, how do you explain these photos? |
| Melody: 啲相你點解釋呀！(di1 soeng2 nei5 dim2 gaai2 sik1 aa3 ！) |
| David: How do you explain these photos? |
| Melody: 啲相你點解釋呀！(di1 soeng2 nei5 dim2 gaai2 sik1 aa3 ！) |
| David: All right or maybe they should have asked, explain why you poisoned your husband. |
| Melody: 解釋下點解你要殺死你現任老公！(gaai2 sik1 haa5 dim2 gaai2 nei5 jiu3 saat3 sei2 nei5 jin6 jam6 lou5 gung1 ！) |
| David: We often see this verb used without a complement. |
| Melody: 一下。(jat1 haa5 。) |
| David: So it’s |
| Melody: 解釋下點解你要殺死你現任老公！(gaai2 sik1 haa55 dim2 gaai2 nei5 jiu3 saat3 sei2 nei5 jin6 jam6 lou5 gung1 ！) |
| David: Right and oddly enough in that sentence, it does make it a bit more polite. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: It’s only going to take a minute, tell us why you poisoned her husband right? |
| Melody: 係，有少少惡嘅嗰種語氣。(hai6 ，jau5 siu2 siu2 ngok3 ge3 go2 zung2 jyu5 hei3 。) |
| David: Yeah. Our next word is the word to poison. |
| Melody: 毒死。(duk6 sei2 。) |
| David: To poison. |
| Melody: 毒死。(duk6 sei2 。) |
| David: Or literally to poison to death. |
| Melody: 毒死。(duk6 sei2 。) |
| David: All right. |
| Melody: 譬如話佢毒死咗 現任老公。(pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 duk6 sei2 zo2 jin6 jam6 lou5 gung1 。) |
| David: She poisoned her current husband. |
| Melody: 現任老公。(jin6 jam6 lou5 gung1 。) |
| David: Current husband. Now this is a bit strange because even in Cantonese if the guy is passed on, he’s not really her current. We are just saying this because she has had multiple husbands. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: So we are being specific. If you want to be specific though, you could say not your current husband, you could say your former husband. |
| Melody: 前任老公, 前任老公或者 前夫。(cin4 jam6 lou5 gung1 , cin4 jam6 lou5 gung1 waak6 ze2 cin4 fu1 。) |
| David: Yes former spouse. |
| Melody: 前夫。(cin4 fu1 。) |
| David: What about future husband? |
| Melody:下任老公。(haa6 jam6 lou5 gung1 。) |
| David: Right. And these positions, we can use them with other jobs too. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: So you could say current president. |
| Melody: 現任總統。(jin6 jam6 zung2 tung2 。) |
| David: Next president. |
| Melody: 下任總統。(haa6 jam6 zung2 tung2 。) |
| David: Next president. |
| Melody:下任總統。(haa6 jam6 zung2 tung2 。) |
| David: Okay. So a lot of useful vocab. You will have noticed that we avoided a lot of legal terms. That’s because that’s what we are going to talk about in our grammar section today. |
| Melody: 冇錯，我哋一齊嚟聽下。(mou5 co3 ，ngo5 dei6 jat1 cai4 lai4 teng1 haa5 。) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Okay Melody, our grammar point today, it’s not really a grammar point. Right, we want to talk about this theme of going to court. |
| Melody: 去法庭上面你可能會用到, but 希望你用唔到。(heoi3 faat3 ting4 soeng6 min6 nei5 ho2 nang4 wui2 jung6 dou2 , but hei1 mong6 nei5 jung6 m4 dou2 。) |
| David: Right. So first thing first. We should know two words. We should know the word for court |
| Melody: 法庭。(faat3 ting4 。) |
| David: Court. |
| Melody: 法庭。(faat3 ting4 。) |
| David: And law |
| Melody:法律。(faat3 leot6 。) |
| David: Law. |
| Melody:法律。(faat3 leot6 。) |
| David: So in our dialogue, this woman is in court because she’s been accused of something. |
| Melody: 係呀！佢殺咗佢嘅現任老公或者前任老公, 或者兩個都殺咗。(hai6 aa3 ！keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 ge3 jin6 jam6 lou5 gung1 waak6 ze2 cin4 jam6 lou5 gung1 , waak6 ze2 loeng5 go3 dou1 saat3 zo2 。) |
| David: Right. So there are two parties in any court case. The first is the plaintiff. |
| Melody: 控告人。(hung3 gou3 jan4 。) |
| David: Or the accuser. |
| Melody: 控告人。(hung3 gou3 jan4 。) |
| David: The second is the defendant. |
| Melody: 被告人。(bei6 gou3 jan4 。) |
| David: The defendant. |
| Melody: 被告人。(bei6 gou3 jan4 。) |
| David: So the plaintiff is the one who is accusing someone and the defendant is the person who’s been accused of something. |
| Melody: 冇錯呀！David, 咁呢個對話入面呢 個女人係被告人, 佢係被懷疑係成為兇手嘅。(mou5 co3 aa3 ！David , gam2 ne1 go3 deoi3 waa6 jap6 min6 ne1 go3 neoi5 jan2 hai6 bei6 gou3 jan4 , keoi5 hai6 bei6 waai4 ji4 hai6 sing4 wai4 hung1 sau2 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. So what we are hearing in the dialogue is probably some kind of opening testimony or opening statement in the question. |
| Melody: 係呀！咁對話入面呢有兩個好重要嘅詞, 第一個係 證據。(hai6 aa3 ！gam2 deoi3 waa6 jap6 min6 ne1 jau5 loeng5 go3 hou2 zung6 jiu3 ge3 ci4 , dai6 jat1 go3 hai6 zing3 geoi3 。) |
| David: Evidence. |
| Melody: 證據。(zing3 geoi3 。) |
| David: And |
| Melody: 證明。(zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: To testify. |
| Melody: 證明。(zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Now people always get these two mixed up. Everyone gets this mixed up. |
| Melody: 唔。。。但係唔係好難。(m4… daan6 hai6 m4 hai6 hou2 naan4 。) |
| David: Yes let’s hear them again. |
| Melody: 證據, 證明。(zing3 geoi3 , zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Okay we are going to try to help you get this clear. The most important difference is the first one. |
| Melody: 證據 係個名詞。(zing3 geoi3 hai6 go3 ming4 ci4 。) |
| David: Yes it’ a noun as in the sentence, there is no evidence she killed her former husband. |
| Melody: 冇證據話佢殺咗佢老公。(mou5 zing3 geoi3 waa6 keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 lou5 gung1 。) |
| David: There is no evidence she killed her former husband. |
| Melody: 冇證據話佢殺咗佢老公。(mou5 zing3 geoi3 waa6 keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 lou5 gung1 。) |
| David: Or the police have evidence that she poisoned him. |
| Melody: 警察有證據指佢毒死佢。(ging2 caat3 jau5 zing3 geoi3 zi2 keoi5 duk6 sei2 keoi5 。) |
| David: The police have evidence that she poisoned him. |
| Melody: 警察有證據指佢毒死佢。(ging2 caat3 jau5 zing3 geoi3 zi2 keoi5 duk6 sei2 keoi5 。) |
| David: Right. So this is a noun. So we often hear it in sentences where we say to have evidence or not to have evidence. |
| Melody: 有證據, 冇證據。(jau5 zing3 geoi3 , mou5 zing3 geoi3 。) |
| David: Right. This is different than our verb. |
| Melody: 係呀！證明係個動詞。(hai6 aa3 ！zing3 ming4 hai6 go3 dung6 ci4 。) |
| David: Yes. It’s a verb. |
| Melody: 證明。(zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: As in the sentence. |
| Melody: 警察証明佢殺咗佢前夫。(ging2 caat3 zing3 ming4 keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 cin4 fu1 。) |
| David: The police testified that she killed her former husband. |
| Melody: 警察証明佢殺咗佢前夫。(ging2 caat3 zing3 ming4 keoi5 saat3 zo2 keoi5 cin4 fu1 。) |
| David: For another example, we might hear that she refused to testify in court. |
| Melody: 佢喺法庭上拒絕證明。(keoi5 hai2 faat3 ting4 soeng6 keoi5 zyut6 zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: She refused to testify in court. |
| Melody: 佢喺法庭上拒絕證明。(keoi5 hai2 faat3 ting4 soeng6 keoi5 zyut6 zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Right. The tricky thing is that this verb to testify |
| Melody: 證明。(zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Can also show up as a noun on occasion. |
| Melody:冇錯呀！但係意思會唔一樣，譬如話畢業證明。(mou5 co3 aa3 ！daan6 hai6 ji3 si1 wui2 m4 jat1 joeng6 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 bat1 jip6 zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Right. That would be a graduation – to a degree, really its proof of graduation. |
| Melody: 冇錯, 畢業證明。(mou5 co3 , bat1 jip6 zing3 ming4 。) |
| David: Or you could also hear someone refer to as a witness. |
| Melody: 證明人。(zing3 ming4 jan4 。) |
| David: A witness. |
| Melody: 證明人。(zing3 ming4 jan4 。) |
| David: Right. So this confuses a lot of people but don’t let it confuse you. |
| Melody: 唔，冇錯呀！因為唔駛擔心，好多情況下證據係名詞，證明係動詞。(m4 ，mou5 co3 aa3 ！jan1 wai6 m4 sai2 daam1 sam1 ，hou2 do1 cing4 fong3 haa6 zing3 geoi3 hai6 ming4 ci4 ，zing3 ming4 hai6 dung6 ci4 。) |
| David: Right and don’t forget the other words we taught you in this lesson either. Court. |
| Melody: 法庭。(faat3 ting4 。) |
| David: Law |
| Melody: 法律。(faat3 leot6 。) |
| David: Plaintiff. |
| Melody: 控告人。(hung3 gou3 jan4 。) |
| David: Defendant. |
| Melody: 被告人。(bei6 gou3 jan4 。) |
Outro |
| David: And with that, we are out of time today. Thank you for listening. If you have any questions, leave us a comment on the site. We look forward to hearing from you. |
| Melody: 希望喺上面可以見到你哋，今日嘅錄音到此為止，下次再見，我係Melody。(hei1 mong6 hai2 soeng6 min6 ho2 ji5 gin3 dou2 nei5 dei6 ，gam1 jat6 ge3 luk6 jam1 dou3 ci2 wai4 zi2 ，haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3 ，ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: I am David and we will see you next time. |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide