Learn how to talk about prices
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.
| nei5 ho2, ngo5 hai6 Olivia. Hi everybody! I’m Olivia. |
| Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com’s “saam1 fan1 zung1 gwong2 dung1 waa2”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Cantonese. |
| In the last lesson we learned the phrase ji1 go3 gei2 cin2 aa3? How much is this? However, when referring to different objects, we need to use corresponding measure words. In this lesson we’ll look at the rules for using Cantonese measure words. |
| Let’s say, you want to ask “how much is this?” while pointing to a shirt, just substitute go3 with the measure word for shirt, gin6. |
| ji1 gin6 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| [slowly] ji1 gin6 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| If you know the Cantonese word for shirt, saam1, feel free to add it AFTER the measure word. |
| ji1 gin6 saam1 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| [slowly] ji1 gin6 saam1 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| “How much is this shirt?” |
| Do you remember how to say “how much is that” from last lesson? |
| go2 go3 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| now, try to ask “how much is that?” while pointing to a shirt. |
| Right, it is go2 gin6 gei2 cin2 aa3? |
| To say “four shirts” in Cantonese, start with the amount number, then the measure word, followed by the noun. |
| sei3 gin6 saam1 |
| Number - measure word - noun! Easy! |
| Remember, the noun ALWAYS goes after the measure word. Whenever you learn a new noun, it’s a good idea to learn its measure word as well. |
| Now it’s time for Olivia’s Insights. |
| The measure word gin6 generally covers all tops, shirt, t-shirt, and jackets. |
| For clothing that you wear on the lower body, like pants, dresses, or leggings, the measure word is tiu4. |
| Eg. jat1 tiu4 kwan4 “one dress” |
| For anything that comes in a pair, like shoes and gloves, we use deoi3. |
| Eg. jat1 deoi3 haai4 “one pair of shoes” |
| Note that in Cantonese, pants and leggings are not considered a pair! |
| Before we go, here is a short list of some of the most common measure words in Cantonese! |
| go3 (units) |
| gin6 (for clothing, upper part) |
| tiu4 (for clothing, lower part; and long thin/narrow objects, like road and snake) |
| deoi3 (for pairs) |
| zi1 (for slender inflexible objects, like pen and pistol) |
| zoeng1 (for flat objects, like paper and ticket) |
| gaa3 (for vehicles and machines) |
| lap1 (for small round objects, like pearl and chocolate) |
| Now, you should ask your friends in Hong Kong to go shopping with you to practice these phrases! But first you’ll have to check if they have other plans or not. Do you know how to ask that in Cantonese? If not, I’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| haa6 ci3 gin6! |
Comments
Hide