Learn how to say "a" which is hidden in Cantonese sentences
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hello and welcome to the Lower Beginner series at CantoneseClass101.com. This is season 1, lesson 9, How Popular is Fast Food in Hong Kong? I’m Eric. |
| Teddy: 哈囉！ (haa1 lo3!) And I’m Teddy. |
| Eric: From this lesson, Teddy and I will be hosting the series after Becky and Olivia. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to place an order at a fast food restaurant. |
| Teddy: And of course, this conversation takes place at a fast food restaurant in Hong Kong. |
| Eric:...between a staff and a customer. |
| Teddy: And as usual, the speakers will be using casual Cantonese. |
| Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 客人: 唔該，一個魚柳包。 (HAAK3 JAN4: m4 goi1, jat1 go3 jyu4 lau5 baau1.) |
| 職員: 係。(ZIK1 JYUN4: hai6.) |
| 客人: 要多個大薯條。(HAAK3 JAN4: jiu3 do1 go3 daai6 syu4 tiu2.) |
| 職員: 喺度食定拎走？(ZIK1 JYUN4: hai2 dou6 sik6 ding6 ling1 zau2?) |
| Eric: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| 客人: 唔該，一個魚柳包。(HAAK3 JAN4: m4 goi1, jat1 go3 jyu4 lau5 baau1.) |
| 職員: 係。(ZIK1 JYUN4: hai6.) |
| 客人: 要多個大薯條。(HAAK3 JAN4: jiu3 do1 go3 daai6 syu4 tiu2.) |
| 職員: 喺度食定拎走？ (ZIK1 JYUN4: hai2 dou6 sik6 ding6 ling1 zau2?) |
| Eric: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| 客人: 唔該，一個魚柳包。(HAAK3 JAN4: m4 goi1, jat1 go3 jyu4 lau5 baau1.) |
| Eric: A fish fillet burger, please. |
| 職員: 係。(ZIK1 JYUN4: hai6.) |
| Eric: Certainly. |
| 客人: 要多個大薯條。(HAAK3 JAN4: jiu3 do1 go3 daai6 syu4 tiu2.) |
| Eric: And one more large fries. |
| 職員: 喺度食定拎走？ (ZIK1 JYUN4: hai2 dou6 sik6 ding6 ling1 zau2?) |
| Eric: For here or to go? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Are there a lot of western-style fast food restaurants in Hong Kong? |
| Teddy: Yes, they’re actually just as popular as the Hong Kong-style fast food restaurants! |
| Eric: Which ones are the most famous? |
| Teddy: I’d say McDonald’s and KFC. |
| Eric: Are they all franchised in Hong Kong? |
| Teddy: Yes, it all started back in the 70s, when KFC started establishing its franchised operations in Hong Kong. But back then, not many people had heard about franchising, so not long after that, all the KFC outlets closed down. |
| Eric: But eventually, KFC re-entered Hong Kong a few years later right? |
| Teddy: Yes. It’s now operated by an area developer. For McDonald’s, it was more successful. The first of its stores opened in January 1975, and it has been a popular option for Hong Kong people since then. |
| Eric: Interesting! Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1) [natural native speed] |
| fish fillet burger |
| 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 薯條 (syu4 tiu2) [natural native speed] |
| French fries |
| 薯條 (syu4 tiu2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 薯條 (syu4 tiu2) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 喺度 (hai2 dou6) [natural native speed] |
| here |
| 喺度 (hai2 dou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 喺度 (hai2 dou6) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 拎走 (ling1 zau2) [natural native speed] |
| take-away |
| 拎走 (ling1 zau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 拎走 (ling1 zau2) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 職員 (zik1 jyun4) [natural native speed] |
| staff |
| 職員 (zik1 jyun4) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 職員 (zik1 jyun4) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 客人 (haak3 jan4) [natural native speed] |
| customer; client |
| 客人 (haak3 jan4) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 客人 (haak3 jan4) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed] |
| excuse me, please, thank you |
| 唔該 (m4 goi1) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| 要 (jiu3) [natural native speed] |
| to want, to need |
| 要 (jiu3) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 要 (jiu3) [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 are we starting with? |
| Teddy: 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1) |
| Eric: And what can you tell us about this? |
| Teddy: 魚 (jyu4) is "fish". And 柳 (lau5) is "meat in strips." So 魚柳 (jyu4 lau5) is "fish fillet." |
| Eric: In Cantonese, is a strip of meat the same as a fillet? |
| Teddy: For many types of meat and fish, yes. |
| Eric: Could you give some examples please? |
| Teddy: for beef, 牛 (ngau4), we say 牛柳 (ngau4 lau5). |
| Eric: "Beef fillet." |
| Teddy: Yes. For chicken, 雞 (gai1), we say 雞柳 (gai1 lau5). |
| Eric: "Chicken fillet." |
| Teddy: Okay. 魚柳, 牛柳, 雞柳 (jyu4 lau5, ngau4 lau5, gai1 lau5) |
| Eric: And in McDonald’s, they sell fish fillet in a bun. |
| Teddy: That’s right. That’s why we add the word “bun” after it. In Cantonese, it’s 包 (baau1). So altogether, 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1.) |
| Eric: Great! Can you repeat that for our listeners please? |
| Teddy: 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1) [pause] "fish" is 魚 (jyu4), "fish fillet" is 魚柳 (jyu4 lau5), "bun" is 包 (baau1), 魚柳包 (jyu4 lau5 baau1). |
| Eric: What’s next? |
| Teddy: Next is 拎走. (ling1 zau2.) |
| Eric: What does each word mean? |
| Teddy: 拎 (ling1) means “to take” or “to grab”, and 走 (zau2) means “to walk”, implying “away”. When we say 拎走 (ling1 zau2), we mean "take away." |
| Eric: Can you repeat the words again? Listeners, repeat after Teddy. |
| Teddy: 拎走 (ling1 zau2) [pause] 拎走 (ling1 zau2) |
| Eric: Great! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how “a” or “one” is hidden in a phrase in Cantonese. |
| Teddy: Yes, in the dialogue, we say 多個 (do1 go3), which actually implies 多一個. (do1 jat1 go3). |
| 個 (go3) is the classifier, and 一個 (jat1 go3) means “one piece.” So 多一個 (do1 jat1 go3) means "one more piece." |
| Eric: In most cases, the “a” or “one” is said so quickly that eventually people skip the word, right? |
| Teddy: Yes, so instead of 多一個﹐(do1 jat1 go3) we often say 多個 (do1 go3). |
| Eric: So how would you say “to want one more piece” ? |
| Teddy: 要多個。 (jiu3 do1 go3.) |
| Eric: How about if we want one more cup… |
| Teddy: 要多杯 (jiu3 do1 bui1), in which 杯 (bui1) is the classifier for cups or glasses. |
| Eric: So how do we say “I want one more cup of coffee” ? |
| Teddy: 我要多杯咖啡。 (ngo5 jiu3 do1 bui1 gaa3 fe1.) |
| Eric: What about if you want two or three more? |
| Teddy: Then we can't skip the number word in between; only “one” can be skipped. So for two, three, or four more, we will say 多兩個, 多三個, 多四個 (do1 oeng5 go3, do1 saam1 go3, do1 sei3 go3), etc. |
| Eric: Does this apply to other verbs, other than “to want”? |
| Teddy: Yes, we can apply this to many verbs. For example, “to eat”, 食 (sik6). We say 食多個 (sik6 do1 go3), “to eat one more”. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Teddy: Sure, 食多個魚柳包。(sik6 do1 go3 jyu4 lau5 baau1.) |
| Eric: “Eat one more Fish Fillet.” |
| Teddy: Yes, and do you know, when I say, 買多個魚柳包 (maai5 do1 go3 jyu4 lau5 baau1), what does it mean? |
| Eric: “Buy one more Fish Fillet.” |
| Teddy: That’s right, so only the verbs are different 要多個﹐食多個﹐買多個. (jiu3 do1 go3, sik6 do1 go3, maai5 do1 go3.) |
| Eric: And we can imply that we're talking about one more piece. |
| Teddy: However, skipping the word “one” happens in many other cases too, not only after “more”. |
| Eric: Can you give some examples please? |
| Teddy: For example, “eat a bun” 食一個包 (sik6 jat1 go3 baau1), is the same as 食個包 (sik6 go3 baau1)。“buy a piece of clothing” 買一件衫 (maai5 jat1 gin6 saam1) is the same as 買件衫. (maai5 gin6 saam1.) |
| Eric: I’ve noticed that people often skip the word “a” or “one” in Cantonese conversation. |
| Teddy: Right, when we don’t mention the number, we usually mean “one”. |
| Eric: And it makes the sentence shorter. |
| Teddy: However, when we want to stress that there is only “one”, we will add 一 (jat1) in the sentence still. |
| Eric: Right, it makes sense, when we want to emphasize “one”, we will say it loud and clear. |
Outro |
| Eric: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, and see you next time. |
| Teddy: 下一堂見 (haa6 jat1 tong4 gin3), or 下堂見(haa6 tong4 gin3). |
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