Learn how to use action verbs associated with the foot
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hello, and welcome to the Lower Beginner series at CantoneseClass101.com. This is Season 1, Lesson 13, Don’t Get Stepped on in Hong Kong! I’m Eric. |
| Teddy: 哈囉！(haa1 lo3!) And I’m Teddy. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to describe body parts. |
| Teddy: This conversation takes place on a busy street in Hong Kong... |
| Eric: ...between Wendy and Jane. |
| Teddy: And as usual, the speakers will be using casual Cantonese. |
| Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Wendy: 好逼呀！ (hou2 bik1 aa3!) |
| Jane: 有人踩到我隻腳趾。 (jau5 jan4 caai2 dou2 ngo5 zek3 goek3 zi2). |
| Wendy: 有人踢到我腳踭。 (jau5 jan4 tek3 dou2 ngo5 goek3 zaang1). |
| Jane: 我哋快啲走啦！ (ngo5 dei6 faai3 di1 zau2 laa1!) |
| Eric: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Wendy: 好逼呀！ (hou2 bik1 aa3!) |
| Jane: 有人踩到我隻腳趾。 (jau5 jan4 caai2 dou2 ngo5 zek3 goek3 zi2). |
| Wendy: 有人踢到我腳踭。 (jau5 jan4 tek3 dou2 ngo5 goek3 zaang1). |
| Jane: 我哋快啲走啦！ (ngo5 dei6 faai3 di1 zau2 laa1!) |
| Eric: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Wendy: 好逼呀！ (hou2 bik1 aa3!) |
| Eric: It's so crowded! |
| Jane: 有人踩到我隻腳趾。 (jau5 jan4 caai2 dou2 ngo5 zek3 goek3 zi2). |
| Eric: Someone stepped on my toe. |
| Wendy: 有人踢到我腳踭。 (jau5 jan4 tek3 dou2 ngo5 goek3 zaang1). |
| Eric: Someone kicked my heel. |
| Jane: 我哋快啲走啦！ (ngo5 dei6 faai3 di1 zau2 laa1!) |
| Eric: Let's leave here quickly! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Talking about body parts, I remember when I was young, I used to sing a song called "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." |
| Teddy: Oh, yes! We learned the English version in kindergarten. |
| Eric: (sing) "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes,Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!" |
| Teddy: Ha, we have a similar tune in Cantonese as well. |
| Eric: Really? I’ll have to check it out some time. Do kids learn this in kindergarten too? |
| Teddy: Perhaps in preschool, for children who are 1 or 2 years old. |
| Eric: Interesting. Okay, now let’s look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| 逼 (bik1) [natural native speed] |
| crowded |
| 逼 (bik1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 逼 (bik1) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 踩 (caai2) [natural native speed] |
| to step on |
| 踩 (caai2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 踩 (caai2) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 腳趾 (goek3 zi2) [natural native speed] |
| toe |
| 腳趾 (goek3 zi2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 腳趾 (goek3 zi2) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 踢 (tek3) [natural native speed] |
| to kick |
| 踢 (tek3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 踢 (tek3) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 腳 (goek3) [natural native speed] |
| foot |
| 腳 (goek3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 腳 (goek3) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1) [natural native speed] |
| heel |
| 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 膊頭 (bok3 tau4) [natural native speed] |
| shoulder |
| 膊頭 (bok3 tau4) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 膊頭 (bok3 tau4) [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| 快啲 (faai3 di1) [natural native speed] |
| quicker, promptly |
| 快啲 (faai3 di1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 快啲 (faai3 di1) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What should we start with? |
| Teddy: Let's look at the terms for the different parts of the leg. |
| Eric: What can you tell us about this? |
| Teddy: For both the foot and the leg, we say 腳 (goek3). |
| Eric: So you don't distinguish between "foot" and "leg" in Cantonese? |
| Teddy: We do, but 腳 (goek3) is the general term for our legs and feet. Then when we need to identify the upper part of our leg, we say 大髀 (daai6 bei2) for "thigh," and for the lower part, 小腿 (siu2 teoi2) for "calf." |
| Eric: How about toes and heels? |
| Teddy: A toe is 腳趾 (goek3 zi2), and your heel is 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1). |
| Eric: What about the ball of your foot? |
| Teddy: 腳掌 (goek3 zoeng2). |
| Eric: So, do you have different plural and singular forms for these words? In English, we say "foot" and "feet." |
| Teddy: No, we use the classifier to tell whether there is one or more. |
| Eric: OK, so one leg is... |
| Teddy: 一隻腳 (jat1 zek3 goek3). |
| Eric: My leg... |
| Teddy: 我隻腳 (ngo5 zek3 goek3). |
| Eric: My legs… |
| Teddy: 我對腳 (ngo5 deoi3 goek3), meaning “my legs” as a pair. |
| Eric: Ok, can you repeat the words for different parts of the leg in the dialogue please? |
| Teddy: 腳 (goek3) means "foot" or "leg." 腳趾 (goek3 zi2) means "toe," and 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1) means "heel." So you add a word after 腳 (goek3) to indicate the different part of the leg. We have a similar system for the arm as well. |
| Eric: Oh, yes. I remember that we have already learned the word for "hand." Is there any difference in Cantonese between arms and hands? |
| Teddy: Yes, "hand" is 手 (sau2). Then when we talk about fingers, elbows, palms, and other parts of the arm, we add a word after 手 (sau2). |
| Teddy: Here’s a quick quiz for you. Hand is 手 (sau2), so what do you think 手指 (sau2 zi2) is? |
| Eric: "Finger?" |
| Teddy: Right! Now, the ball of the foot is 腳掌 (goek3 zoeng2), so what do you think 手掌 (sau2 zoeng2) is? |
| Eric: Hmm… the ball of our hand, you mean "palm?" |
| Teddy: Right on. You guessed it! |
| Eric: Ok, let's review the vocabulary words for "leg" first. Can you repeat the words for legs, toes and heels? Listener, please repeat after Teddy? |
| Teddy: 腳 (goek3) .[pause] |
| Eric: "Legs." |
| Teddy: 腳趾 (goek3 zi2). [pause] |
| Eric: "Toes." |
| Teddy: 腳踭 (goek3 zaang1). [pause] |
| Eric: "Heels." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use...action verbs associated with our feet. |
| Teddy: In Cantonese, "to kick" is 踢 (tek3) and "to step on with force" is 踩 (caai2). |
| Eric: In most cases, we imply that someone is doing this action toward us. |
| Teddy: Yes, we say 有人踢我 (jau5 jan4 tek3 ngo5). for "someone kicked me," and 有人踩我 (jau5 jan4 caai2 ngo5) for "someone stepped on me." |
| Eric: I remember that we talked about passive sentences in Lesson 11. How do we use these verbs in the passive voice? |
| Teddy: We say 我俾人踢 (ngo5 bei2 jan4 tek3) ﹐and 我俾人踩 (ngo5 bei2 jan4 caai2 ). |
| Eric: In English, we leave out the "someone" by saying, "I was kicked." Or, "I was stepped on." |
| Teddy: In Cantonese, we don't leave out the word "someone." We’ll say 俾人 (bei2 jan4)... as we have learned in Lesson 11. For example, 俾人打 (bei2 jan4 daa2) means "being bitten by someone." |
| Eric: Can you repeat the phrase "being kicked?" |
| Teddy: 俾人踢 (bei2 jan4 tek3). |
| Eric: But how do you say, "Someone kicked me?" |
| Teddy: 有人踢我! (jau5 jan4 tek3 ngo5 !) |
| Eric: How about, "Someone stepped on me?" |
| Teddy: 有人踩我! (jau5 jan4 caai2 ngo5 !) |
| Eric: How about, "Someone is stepping on my toes?" |
| Teddy: 有人踩我啲腳趾! (jau5 jan4 caai2 ngo5 di1 goek3 zi2 !) |
| Eric: What else can you tell us about these action verbs? |
| Teddy: 踩 (caai2) means "to step on." In Cantonese, when we want to say "riding a bicycle," we say 踩單車 (caai2 daan1 ce1), implying that our foot is stepping on the pedals of the bicycle. |
| Eric: So this is quite different from English, in which we use the verb "to ride." |
| Teddy: Right, let's break it down. "Bicycle" is 單車 (daan1 ce1), and "to ride a bicycle" is 踩單車 (caai2 daan1 ce1)—literally "to step on a bicycle." |
| Eric: Got it! |
| Teddy: And there is one more common usage of the verb 踩 (caai2) meaning "to step on," which is "to degrade" or "to belittle someone." |
| Eric: Really? Can you give us an example? |
| Teddy: Let's use this expression - 佢踩我! (keoi5 caai2 ngo5!) There are two possible translations. One is, "He's stepping on me!" Or, "He's stepping on my foot!" The second translation is, "He's degrading me!" Or, "He's belittling me!" |
Outro |
| Eric: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Listeners, for more examples please check out the lesson notes! And we'll see you in the next lesson! |
| Teddy: 拜拜！ (baai1 baai3!) |
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