Learn how to use the preposition 同, meaning "with"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 又見面喇，我係Melody。(jau6 gin3 min6 laa3, ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: And we are here today with upper beginner season 1, Lesson 15. The Hong Kong Disappearing Act. |
| Melody: 應該係喺公司入面發生嘅事。(jing3 goi1 hai6 hai2 gung1 si1 jap6 min6 faat3 sang1 ge3 si6.) |
| David: Yeah so we’ve got a dialogue in casual Cantonese which as Melody has said takes place in an office and it’s between two co-workers who are gossiping. |
| Melody: 兩個同事吱吱浸緊啲嘢。(loeng5 go3 tung4 si6 zi4 zi4 zam3 gan2 di1 je5.) |
| David: Yeah let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:聽講佢辭咗職。 (teng1 gong2 keoi5 ci4 zo2 zik1. ) |
| B:你點知㗎？ (nei5 dim2 zi1 gaa3 ? ) |
| A:佢自己同我講㗎。 (keoi5 zi6 gei2 tung4 ngo5 gong2 gaa3. ) |
| B:其實佢係俾老闆炒㗎。(kei4 sat6 keoi5 hai6 bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 gaa3.) |
| A:唔怪得知啦，走得咁突然。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 laa1, zau2 dak1 gam3 dat6 jin4.) |
| David: Once more, a bit more slowly. |
| A:聽講佢辭咗職。 (teng1 gong2 keoi5 ci4 zo2 zik1. ) |
| B:你點知㗎？ (nei5 dim2 zi1 gaa3 ? ) |
| A:佢自己同我講㗎。 (keoi5 zi6 gei2 tung4 ngo5 gong2 gaa3. ) |
| B:其實佢係俾老闆炒㗎。 (kei4 sat6 keoi5 hai6 bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 gaa3.) |
| A:唔怪得知啦，走得咁突然。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 laa1, zau2 dak1 gam3 dat6 jin4.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A:聽講佢辭咗職。 (teng1 gong2 keoi5 ci4 zo2 zik1. ) |
| A: I heard he quit the job. |
| B:你點知㗎？ (nei5 dim2 zi1 gaa3 ? ) |
| B: How did you know? |
| A:佢自己同我講㗎。(keoi5 zi6 gei2 tung4 ngo5 gong2 gaa3. ) |
| A: He told me himself. |
| B:其實佢係俾老闆炒㗎。 (kei4 sat6 keoi5 hai6 bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 gaa3.) |
| B: Actually he was fired. |
| A:唔怪得知啦，走得咁突然。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 laa1, zau2 dak1 gam3 dat6 jin4.) |
| A: No wonder he left all of a sudden. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 所以佢係俾人炒咗魷魚，然之後自己即刻走咗。(so2 ji3 keoi5 hai6 bei2 jan4 caau2 zo2 jau4 jyu2, jin4 zi1 hau6 zi6 gei2 zik1 hak1 zau2 zo2.) |
| David: Yes sadly even in Hong Kong, people will have to leave jobs on occasion. So that’s where this lesson comes in any way. Our vocab, it’s about quitting work or leaving it or being fired. Let’s get to the vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 聽講 (teng1 gong2) |
| David: To have heard. |
| Melody: 聽講 (teng1 gong2) [slow] 聽講 (teng1 gong2) [normal speed]。職業 (zik1 jip6) |
| David: Profession. |
| Melody: 職業 (zik1 jip6) [slow] 職業 (zik1 jip6) [normal speed]。辭職 (ci4 zik1) |
| David: To resign. |
| Melody: 辭職 (ci4 zik1) [slow] 辭職 (ci4 zik1) [normal speed]。任職 (jam6 zik1) |
| David: To hold a post. |
| Melody: 任職 (jam6 zik1) [slow] 任職 (jam6 zik1) [normal speed]。離職 (lei4 zik1) |
| David: To leave a job. |
| Melody: 離職 (lei4 zik1) [slow] 離職 (lei4 zik1) [normal speed]。老闆 (lou5 baan2) |
| David: Boss. |
| Melody: 老闆 (lou5 baan2) [slow] 老闆 (lou5 baan2) [normal speed]。員工 (jyun4 gung1) |
| David: Staff. |
| Melody: 員工 (jyun4 gung1) [slow] 員工 (jyun4 gung1) [normal speed]。炒魷魚 (caau2 jau4 jyu2) |
| David: To be fired. |
| Melody: 炒魷魚 (caau2 jau4 jyu2) [slow] 炒魷魚 (caau2 jau4 jyu2) [normal speed]。 |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases, starting with the most interesting, that last one. To be fried squid. |
| Melody: 炒魷魚 (caau2 jau4 jyu2) |
| David: To be fried squid. |
| Melody: 炒魷魚。好地道嘅一個詞。(caau2 jau4 jyu2. hou2 dei6 dou6 ge3 jat1 go3 ci4.) |
| David: Yeah this is not actually about seafood. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Right. Melody, what are they talking about? |
| Melody: 佢係關於老闆唔要你喇，就叫做「炒魷魚」。(keoi5 hai6 gwaan1 jyu1 lou5 baan2 m4 jiu3 nei5 laa3, zau6 giu3 zou6 「 caau2 jau4 jyu2 」.) |
| David: Yeah when your boss doesn’t like you, he doesn’t want you working there anymore, he fries you like squid. So it’s euphemism. It means to be fired. |
| Melody: 冇錯。譬如話「我比老闆炒魷魚呀。」(mou5 co3. pei3 jyu4 waa6 「 ngo5 bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 jau4 jyu2 aa3.」 ) |
| David: I was fired by the boss. |
| Melody: 我比老闆炒魷魚呀。(ngo5 bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 jau4 jyu2 aa3.) |
| David: Right and we frequently run into this in the passive voice. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Right. It’s you are fried by someone. Right in that case, by the boss. |
| Melody: 比老闆炒魷魚 (bei2 lou5 baan2 caau2 jau4 jyu2) |
| David: Right. In our vocab section, we have another word that also means to leave a job. |
| Melody: 離職 (lei4 zik1) |
| David: To leave a job. |
| Melody: 離職 (lei4 zik1) |
| David: Now this isn’t quitting. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: And it’s not being fired. It’s a very vague term. |
| Melody: 只不過係離開咗。(zi2 bat1 gwo3 hai6 lei4 hoi1 zo2.) |
| David: Right. So if you use this term, it’s not like fried squid. You are not saying that you’ve quit, you are not saying that you’ve been fired. You are just saying, you are moving on. |
| Melody: 離職(lei4 zik1)。如果你想話係你唔做嘅話呢，我哋會話「辭職」。(jyu4 gwo2 nei5 soeng2 waa6 hai6 nei5 m4 zou6 ge3 waa2 ne1, ngo5 dei6 wui5 waa6 「 ci4 zik1 」.) |
| David: And that’s to resign. |
| Melody: 辭職 (ci4 zik1) |
| David: To resign. So you could say, I have decided to resign. |
| Melody: 我決定要辭職。(ngo5 kyut3 ding6 jiu3 ci4 zik1.) |
| David: I have decided to resign. |
| Melody: 我決定要辭職。(ngo5 kyut3 ding6 jiu3 ci4 zik1.) |
| David: Or maybe you could be more vague. I think it’s time to leave this job. |
| Melody: 我諗係時候要離職喇。(ngo5 lam2 hai6 si4 hau6 jiu3 lei4 zik1 laa3.) |
| David: I think it’s time to leave this job. |
| Melody: 我諗係時候要離職喇。(ngo5 lam2 hai6 si4 hau6 jiu3 lei4 zik1 laa3.) |
| David: As always, we have some useful words here to describe colleagues. We have the word boss. |
| Melody: 老闆 (lou5 baan2) |
| David: Boss. |
| Melody: 老闆 (lou5 baan2) |
| David: And staff |
| Melody: 員工 (jyun4 gung1) |
| David: Staff |
| Melody: 員工 (jyun4 gung1) |
| David: So we can make sentences like last night, the boss fired three staff. |
| Melody: 尋晚老闆炒咗三個員工。(cam4 maan5 lou5 baan2 caau2 zo2 saam1 go3 jyun4 gung1.) |
| David: Last night, the boss fired three staff. |
| Melody: 尋晚老闆炒咗三個員工。(cam4 maan5 lou5 baan2 caau2 zo2 saam1 go3 jyun4 gung1.) |
| David: Right, and note that there instead of saying squid, we are actually putting the number. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Right so they fired |
| Melody: 三個，炒咗三個員工。(saam1 go3, caau2 zo2 saam1 go3 jyun4 gung1.) |
| David: Right. The last word we want to emphasize here is useful for gossiping. It’s to have heard. |
| Melody: 聽講 (teng1 gong2) |
| David: To have heard. |
| Melody: 聽講 (teng1 gong2) |
| David: Which really means to have heard said. |
| Melody: 冇錯，通常你同人哋傾緊八卦嗰陣時話:「聽講老闆炒咗佢。」(mou5 co3, tung1 soeng4 nei5 tung4 jan4 dei6 king1 gan2 baat3 gwaa3 go2 zan6 si4 waa6 :「 teng1 gong2 lou5 baan2 caau2 zo2 keoi5.」 ) |
| David: Yes I’ve heard he’s done something right? And it’s nice because you are not saying where you’ve heard it or who’s said it. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: You are just implying yeah, I have heard something about that. |
| Melody: 聽講 (teng1 gong2 ) |
| David: Right as in I heard he was fired. |
| Melody: 聽講佢俾人炒魷魚。(teng1 gong2 keoi5 bei2 jan4 caau2 jau4 jyu2.) |
| David: Or I heard he was fired by the boss. |
| Melody: 聽講老闆炒咗佢。(teng1 gong2 lou5 baan2 caau2 zo2 keoi5.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In our grammar point today, we want to focus on the new preposition. |
| Melody: 同 (tung4 ) |
| David: With |
| Melody: 同 (tung4 ) |
| David: We hear this in the dialogue in this phrase |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
| David: To speak with me. |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
| David: In the dialogue, we heard it in this line. |
| Melody: 佢自己同我講嘅。(keoi5 zi6 gei2 tung4 ngo5 gong2 ge3.) |
| David: He told me himself. |
| Melody: 佢自己同我講嘅。(keoi5 zi6 gei2 tung4 ngo5 gong2 ge3.) |
| David: He himself with me spoke. Now as a preposition, of course, we are putting this in front of the verb. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: That’s why we get this interesting structure with me to speak. |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
| David: The interesting thing of course is that we can swap out the verb there for any other verb. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So in addition to with me to speak |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
| David: We can use other verbs. For instance |
| Melody: 玩，同我玩 (waan2, tung4 ngo5 waan2) |
| David: That would be to play with me. |
| Melody: 同我玩 (tung4 ngo5 waan2) |
| David: Or to have a good time with me. |
| Melody: 譬如話，今晚去disco同我玩吖。(pei3 jyu4 waa6, gam1 maan5 heoi3 disco tung4 ngo5 waan2 aa1.) |
| David: Will you go to a disco with me tonight. |
| Melody: 今晚去disco同我玩吖。(gam1 maan5 heoi3 disco tung4 ngo5 waan2 aa1.) |
| David: Right and this is much more common in Cantonese than in English because play in English is for kids but in Cantonese, adults who are going to a disco as you say, you are going out to play. |
| Melody: 一齊玩。(jat1 cai4 waan2.) |
| David: Yeah. Another example. |
| Melody: 譬如話「同我食飯」。(pei3 jyu4 waa6 「 tung4 ngo5 sik6 faan6 」.) |
| David: To eat with me. |
| Melody: 同我食飯 (tung4 ngo5 sik6 faan6) |
| David: To eat with me. |
| Melody: 你介唔介意今晚同我食飯？(nei5 gaai3 m4 gaai3 ji3 gam1 maan5 tung4 ngo5 sik6 faan6?) |
| David: Can you come and eat with me tonight? |
| Melody: 你介唔介意今晚同我食飯？(nei5 gaai3 m4 gaai3 ji3 gam1 maan5 tung4 ngo5 sik6 faan6?) |
| David: Do you mind eating with me tonight? |
| Melody: 你介唔介意今晚同我食飯？(nei5 gaai3 m4 gaai3 ji3 gam1 maan5 tung4 ngo5 sik6 faan6?) |
| David: Do you mind eating with me tonight? and of course as a general pattern, we can also change the direct object here. |
| Melody: 冇錯 (mou5 co3) |
| David: So it can be with him. |
| Melody: 同佢 (tung4 keoi5) |
| David: With us. |
| Melody: 同我哋 (tung4 ngo5 dei6) |
| David: With them. |
| Melody: 同佢哋 (tung4 keoi5 dei6) |
| David: For example |
| Melody: 譬如話，聽朝同佢哋食飯。(pei3 jyu4 waa6, ting1 ziu1 tung4 keoi5 dei6 sik6 faan6.) |
| 又譬如話，老闆同員工食飯。 (jau6 pei3 jyu4 waa6, lou5 baan2 tung4 jyun4 gung1 sik6 faan6.) |
| David: The boss ate with the employees. |
| Melody: 老闆同員工食飯。(lou5 baan2 tung4 jyun4 gung1 sik6 faan6.) |
| David: Or one final example. I’ve heard he was fired with his friend. |
| Melody: 聽講佢同佢嘅朋友都被炒魷魚。(teng1 gong2 keoi5 tung4 keoi5 ge3 pang4 jau5 dou1 bei6 caau2 jau4 jyu2.) |
| David: I’ve heard he was fired with his friend. |
| Melody: 聽講佢同佢嘅朋友都被炒魷魚。(teng1 gong2 keoi5 tung4 keoi5 ge3 pang4 jau5 dou1 bei6 caau2 jau4 jyu2.) |
| David: So remember, in Cantonese, the preposition with |
| Melody: 同 (tung4) |
| David: Comes in front of verbs. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: And if you’ve got a direct object, you slide it right in the middle. As with the phrase |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
| David: To speak with me. |
| Melody: 同我講 (tung4 ngo5 gong2) |
Outro |
| David: You are going to run into this in Hong Kong all the time. So make sure you remember it. We are out of time ourselves though. Before we leave you though, we do want to remind you that we’ve got flashcards and other study tools on CantoneseClass101.com. |
| Melody: 你哋一定要登陸，攞一個帳戶，會好有幫助㗎。(nei5 dei6 jat1 ding6 jiu3 dang1 luk6, lo2 jat1 go3 zoeng3 wu6, wui5 hou2 jau5 bong1 zo6 gaa2.) |
| David: Yeah. Create the account. It’s really going to help you get your Cantonese up to speed in a hurry. For now though, that is all the time we have. I am David. |
| Melody: 我係Melody。(ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: Thanks a lot for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Melody: 我哋下次再見 (ngo5 dei6 haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3), bye bye. |
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