Learn the most essential Cantonese survival phrases: "Where is the bathroom?"
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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 6. Toilet. In today’s lesson, we will cover an extremely important phrase, where is the bathroom? In Cantonese, where is the bathroom is 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1), 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1). Let’s break it down by syllable 廁 所 喺 邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1). Now the first sound 廁(ci3) is mid flat tone. 廁(ci3) The second one is a rising tone 所(so2 ) followed by 喺(hai2) also a rising tone 喺 邊(hai2 bin1) high flat tone 邊(bin1) and together it sounds like 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1), 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1). Now let’s take a closer look at this phrase 廁所(ci3 so2) is toilet. 廁所(ci3 so2) toilet. 喺(hai2) to be 喺(hai2) to be or in this case, is. 邊(bin1) is where 邊(bin1) is where. You also hear people say 邊度(bin1 dou6) where 邊度(bin1 dou6) where. Both of them means the same, where. I am sure you prefer the shorter one 邊(bin1). So together the sentence sounds like 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1) toilet is where. Pay attention to the word order in Cantonese, it is toilet is where. It’s exactly the opposite of the English word order. It’s the opposite of the English word order. In English, It’s where is the toilet. In Cantonese, it is, the toilet is where. 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1) Now in this sentence, we also learn a very useful phrase that is 喺 邊(hai2 bin1). That’s the second half of the sentence, is where 喺 邊(hai2 bin1). |
| Now normally when you want to ask where something is, you can simply say 喺 邊(hai2 bin1).. With context, people will understand what you are asking 喺 邊(hai2 bin1). That’s where. Now if you want to sound more formal when you are asking where is the bathroom, you might want to say 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) instead of toilet 廁所(ci3 so2). Now if you want to sound more formal when you are asking where is the bathroom, you can replace 廁所(ci3 so2) with 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) which literally means bathroom. 廁所(ci3 so2) is more like toilet rather than a bathroom. So where is the bathroom is 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1). Now let’s break this down 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1), 喺 邊(hai2 bin1). Now the first half of the sentence 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) it literally means the place to wash your hands but it’s more than that 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) bathroom. 喺 邊(hai2 bin1) is something we’ve just learned, is where. So together it’s 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1) bathroom is where. This is a formal and polite way to ask where is the bathroom. 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1) or you might hear people say 洗手間 喺邊度 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1 dou6). Both of them work but I will recommend a easier and shorter way of saying this which is 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1),洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1) . Now when you finally get to the bathroom, there might be one last hurdle. In some instance, only Chinese characters are written on the doors. What to do! What to do! Well calm down. With us, you will always get the easiest and quickest solution. The character men 男(naam4) has more strokes and the character women 女(neoi5) has less strokes. So just compare the two words and see which one is more complex and which one is not. I am sure in this way, you won’t walk in the wrong door unless on purpose. |
| Well another way you can prepare yourself for this is, stop by our website and find the words for men and women. You can find them in the PDF or if you have an iPod, click the center button and you can find them there. The words for men is 男(naam4), 男(naam4). It is the lowest tone 男(naam4) and the word for women is 女(neoi5) . It’s a low rising tone 女(neoi5), 男(naam4) men, 女(neoi5) women. |
| All right, now when traveling, there may not be as many public bathrooms to use. This means your best option is to stop at either café or a restaurant to use their bathrooms. Understandably, café owners aren’t too keen on having people stop in just to use their bathroom. So to be polite, you might buy a bottle of water or order a coffee before asking 唔該(m4 goi1), 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) , 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1). That last sentence means, excuse me, may I borrow the bathroom? 唔該(m4 goi1), 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) , 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1). Excuse me, can or can I not borrow the bathroom? Let’s repeat this sentence one more time. 唔該(m4 goi1), 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) , 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1). 唔該(m4 goi1) is the phrase we’ve learned for a couple of times. It can mean thank you, please or excuse me. In this case, obviously it means excuse me. 唔該(m4 goi1) followed by 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) can or cannot. 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) can or cannot. Now this is a typical Cantonese question asking can or cannot. It’s actually asking can I or can you or can someone. 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5), 可唔可以(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5) can or cannot followed by 借(ze3). That’s a verb to borrow 借(ze3). It’s a mid flat tone. 借(ze3) means to borrow. 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) Can I borrow? 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) That’s the word we just learned, bathroom or the place you wash your hands. 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1), 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1) So the whole question sounds like this 唔該(m4 goi1) excuse me, 可唔可以借 洗手間(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3 sai2 sau2 gaan1 ) Can I borrow the bathroom or may I borrow the bathroom? 可唔可以借 洗手間(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3 sai2 sau2 gaan1 ). Now so far, we’ve learned a couple of sentences. Let’s have a quick review. The simplest and easiest way of asking where is the toilet 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1), 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1) and a more formal way and a more polite way is 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1) bathroom is where 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1) and then we learned the word for men 男(naam4) and the word for women 女(neoi5) and finally we learned the sentence, excuse me, may I borrow the bathroom 唔該(m4 goi1), 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) , 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1). |
| All right, to close our today’s lesson, we like you to practice what you’ve just learned. As always, I will provide you with the English equivalent. Okay 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 it out loud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answers. So 加 油(gaa1 jau2)! Where is the toilet? 廁所喺邊(ci3 so2 hai2 bin1) Where is the bathroom? 洗手間 喺邊 (sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1). Excuse me, may I borrow the bathroom 唔該(m4 goi1), 可唔可以借(ho2 m4 ho2 ji5 ze3) , 洗手間(sai2 sau2 gaan1). That about that’s it for today or today’s lesson. You can keep yourself clean all throughout your Hong Kong travels. Remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and pick up the PDF. You can learn the characters and learn the phrases. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a post. Bye bye. |
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