Learn how to take a bus
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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 lesson 24, Riding the Bus; What’s the Next Stop? In the previous lesson, we learned how to ask the bus driver if the bus covers your destination. Once on a bus, you hear announcement informing the passengers about where the bus will stop next. In Hong Kong, it would be normal that most of the announcements you hear are both Cantonese and English. In the case that there is no English announcement, you may not catch location they announce. The phrase what is the next stop maybe indispensable. In Cantonese, we say 唔該(m4 goi1) excuse me 下一站係咩啊？(haa6 jat1 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). Now let’s hear it again 唔該, 下個站係咩啊(m4 goi1, haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). Now let’s hear it again 唔該, 下個站係咩啊(m4 goi1, haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). Excuse me, what is the next stop or literally translated, excuse me, next stop is what 啊(aa1). Now let’s hear the Cantonese sentence again 唔該, 下個站係咩啊(m4 goi1, haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). |
| Now let’s break it down a little bit. Firstly we have 唔該(m4 goi1) which you should be know well by now, excuse me 唔該, 下個站(m4 goi1, haa6 go3 zaam6) next stop. Let’s hear it again. 下個站(haa6 go3 zaam6). Now if we break this down, 下(haa6) means next 下(haa6) next. 個(go3) is the most common measure word 個(go3)and then we have 站(zaam6) which means stop 站(zaam6). It can be a bus stop, a subway stop or any other stop 站(zaam6), 下個站(haa6 go3 zaam6) next stop and it’s followed by 係(hai6) and it’s followed by 係(hai6) which means to be 係(hai6) to be or in this case it is 係(hai6), 係(hai6). And next we have 咩 (me1). Let’s hear it again 咩(me1). Now we’ve covered this word in previous lesson. It means what or what things or anything 咩 (me1), 咩 (me1). It’s asking what and finally we have the Cantonese particle 啊(aa1), I啊(aa1). It doesn’t have an actual meaning. It’s suggesting that it’s a question 啊(aa1). So let’s hear the whole sentence again 唔該(m4 goi1) excuse me 下個站係咩啊(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). What is the next stop 啊(aa1). |
| Now let’s hear it again slowly and I want you to repeat what I say 下 個 站 係 咩 啊?(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). What is the next stop 下個站係咩啊(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). Now another way of enquiring could be to ask if your desired destination is the next stop. For this phrase, we will use 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4) the Star Ferry port as our example. Now we want to go to 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4) and we want to ask if the next stop is 天星碼頭(tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). In Cantonese, we say 下 個 站 係 唔 係 天 星 碼 頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4), is next stop 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Now let’s hear it again 下 個 站 係 唔 係 天 星 碼 頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Now let’s break it down 下個站(haa6 go3 zaam6) means next stop. 下個站(haa6 go3 zaam6) next stop and it’s followed by 係 唔 係(hai6 m4 hai6). Now this 係(hai6) means to be or in this case, is. So 係 唔 係(hai6 m4 hai6) means to be or not to be 係 唔 係(hai6 m4 hai6). As we’ve learned before, to be or not to be, to do or not to do is a typical Cantonese way of forming a yes or no question. |
| So what we do here is we put the positive and negative form of verb together to form a yes or no question and in this case 係唔 係(hai6 m4 hai6) is there or is or is not. So the whole sentence sounds like this 下個 站係 唔係天星碼頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Is the next stop 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Now let’s practice this sentence again 下個 站係 唔係天星碼頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Is next stop 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Now so far we’ve learned two ways of asking what is the next stop or is the next stop your destination. Let’s have a quick review. First we have, what is the next stop? 下個站係咩啊(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). Let’s hear it again 下個站係咩啊(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3). And then we have, is 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4) the next stop? 下個 站係 唔係天星碼頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). Or you can just replace 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4) with anywhere else you want. 下個 站係 唔係(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6) somewhere. Just add in the place you want at the end of the sentence 下個 站係 唔係(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6) your destination. |
| Now if you travel in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island or 香港島(hoeng1 gong2 dou2) has some great sightseeing spots that you can reach by bus. All right, before we go, we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. As always, I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answers. So 加 油(gaa1 jau2)! What is the next stop 下個站係咩啊(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 me1 a3) and then we learned how to ask if the next stop is your destination 下個 站係 唔係(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6) or is next stop 天星碼頭( tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4), 下個 站係 唔係天星碼頭(haa6 go3 zaam6 hai6 m4 hai6 tin1 sing1 maa5 tau4). All right, that about does it for today. Thank you for listening. |
| Remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, please leave us a comment 再見(zoi3 gin3). |
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