Learn how to answer the question "Smoking or Non-smoking?"
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| 大家好(daai6 gaa1 hou2)! Hello and welcome to Cantonese Survival phrases brought to you by cantoneseclass101.com, my name is Nicole and I will be your language teacher and culture guide throughout this course. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Hong Kong or anywhere else in the Cantonese world. You will be surprised at how far a little Cantonese will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in this post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| Cantonese survival phrases, 13. Restaurant III, Smoking. In the last lesson, we learned how to make a reservation in a restaurant. Now, now that you know how to get a table, you have another big issue to tackle. If you want to enjoy your meal, the smoking issue is very important. If you are a smoker and you enter a nonsmoking establishment or if you are a nonsmoker and enter a smoking establishment, this can ruin your meal. In today’s lesson, we will cover how to ask for a smoking or nonsmoking table. And let’s imagine first that you are a smoker. Before entering a restaurant, you need to ask, excuse me, is smoking allowed here? 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1), 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1). Now let’s hear it one more time 唔 該, 呢 度 俾 唔 俾 食 煙(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1). Let’s break it down by syllable. 唔該(m4 goi1) is the word we’ve seen many times which means excuse me 唔該(m4 goi1). 呢度(ni1 dou6) means here. 呢度(ni1 dou6) here. Remember we learned the word this 呢個(ne1 go3) and now we learn the word here 呢度(ni1 dou6), 呢度(ni1 dou6). Now the first sound is a high flat tone 呢(ni1) followed by 度 (dou6) mid flat tone 度 (dou6). 呢度(ni1 dou6) means here and there is 嗰度(go2 dou6 ) there 嗰度(go2 dou6 ). 呢度(ni1 dou6) , 嗰度(go2 dou6 ) here, there. 呢度(ni1 dou6) , 嗰度(go2 dou6 ) Here, there. And it’s followed by 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2). Let’s hear it once again 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2). Now the first and last sound are the same, 俾(bei2) which means allow 俾(bei2) allow. 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2) to allow or not to allow 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2). This is a typical Cantonese way of asking a yes or no question. 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2) To allow or not to allow. 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) Can or cannot 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) can or cannot and 俾唔俾(bei2 m4 bei2) allow or not allow and it’s followed by 食煙( sik6 jin1), 食煙( sik6 jin1). That’s the word to smoke cigarette 食煙( sik6 jin1), 食煙( sik6 jin1). Now it’s literally to eat the cigarette, however it actually means to smoke a cigarette 食煙( sik6 jin1), 食煙( sik6 jin1). Now let’s hear the whole sentence again 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1). Excuse me, here allow or not allow smoking 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1). Now let’s go and see the possible answers. Yes, you may smoke 俾(bei2) or 俾啊( bei2 aa3). That is allow or allow 啊(aa3). As you might have figured out, here we only need to repeat the verb as used in the question in the positive form to say yes in Cantonese. This is an easy answer to the question 俾(bei2). That is a yes. You only need to repeat the verb 俾(bei2). That’s to allow, that’s a positive answer. What if it’s a nonsmoking restaurant, they might answer you with 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔俾(m4 bei2), 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔俾(m4 bei2). That’s, sorry, smoking is not allowed. 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔俾(m4 bei2). And you can see, what I did is I repeat negative form of the verb 唔俾(m4 bei2), 唔俾(m4 bei2). That is not to allow 唔俾(m4 bei2). Now there is another way we can ask, can I smoke here with the phrases that we just learned in previous lessons. That is 可唔可以食煙(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1). Let’s hear it again slowly 可 唔 可 以 食 煙(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1). Now 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) means can or cannot. You are asking, can I or can I not smoke in here 可唔可以食煙(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1). And don’t forget to put the 呢度(ni1 dou6) before that. 呢度可唔可以食煙(ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1) Here, can I smoke? 呢度可唔可以食煙(ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1) here, can I smoke? Now the word order here is a little bit different from the English sentence. Here can I smoke 呢度可唔可以食煙(ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1), and if smoking is allowed, you may hear 可以(ho2 ji5), 可以(ho2 ji5). And you will hear 唔可以(m4 ho2 ji3) if it’s not 唔可以(m4 ho2 ji3). All right, let’s go over all the sentences in this lesson. First, you can ask excuse me, is smoking allowed here 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙 啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1 aa3). Let’s hear it again 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙 啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1 aa3) or you can ask 唔該, 呢度可唔可以食煙啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1 aa3), 唔該, 呢度可唔可以食煙啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1 aa3). And you hear 可以(ho2 ji3) or 俾(bei2) if smoking is allowed or you hear 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔可以( m4 ho2 ji3) if smoking is forbidden. 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔俾(m4 bei2) if you are not allowed to smoke in the restaurant. Nowadays, smoking is generally forbidden in public places in Hong Kong. So remember the phrases we taught in this lesson if you are a smoker and you want to ask for a smoking establishment. All right, to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. As always, I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrases and you are responsible for shouting them out loud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answers. So 加 油(gaa1 jau2)! Excuse me, is smoking allowed here? 唔該, 呢度俾唔俾食煙 啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 bei2 m4 bei2 sik6 jin1 aa3) or 唔該, 呢度可唔可以食煙啊(m4 goi1, ni1 dou6 ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 sik6 jin1 aa3). Yes smoking is allowed 可以(ho2 ji3) or 俾(bei2). Now I am sorry, it’s forbidden 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔可以( m4 ho2 ji3) or 唔好意思(m4 hou2 ji3 si1), 唔俾(m4 bei2). All right, that’s all for our lesson today. Remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and pick up the PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Bye bye. |
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