Learn how to use a complex colloquial construction that means "no wonder"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: And we are here today with upper beginner, season 1, Lesson 6. The Hong Kong Pharmacy Lifestyle. |
| Melody: 喺香港睇醫生。(hai2 hoeng1 gong2 tai2 ji1 sang1.) |
| David: Right. We are not seeing the doctor just going to the pharmacy yourself which is what happens in this dialogue. |
| Melody: 冇錯，係個病人同個賣藥嘅人嘅對話。(mou5 co3, hai6 go3 beng6 jan4 tung4 go3 maai6 joek6 ge3 jan4 ge3 deoi3 waa6.) |
| David: True. So we’ve got some – he goes to the doctor after they self-medicated and are having a quick discussion. This is casual Cantonese as always. Let’s go to the dialogue and see what we hear. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:醫生，我頭好痛。 (ji1 sang1, ngo5 tau4 hou2 tung3. ) |
| B:仲有邊度痛？ (zung6 jau5 bin1 dou6 tung3 ? ) |
| A:冇啊，但有少少鼻塞。 (mou5 aa3, daan6 jau5 siu2 siu2 bei6 sak1. ) |
| B:你應該係得咗感冒。 (nei5 jing1 goi1 hai6 dak1 zo2 gam2 mou6. ) |
| A:唔怪得之止痛藥冇用啦。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6 laa1. ) |
| B:你食錯藥喇。(nei5 sik6 co3 joek6 laa3.) |
| David: Once more, a bit more slowly. |
| A:醫生，我頭好痛。 (ji1 sang1, ngo5 tau4 hou2 tung3. ) |
| B:仲有邊度痛？ (zung6 jau5 bin1 dou6 tung3 ? ) |
| A:冇啊，但有少少鼻塞。 (mou5 aa3, daan6 jau5 siu2 siu2 bei6 sak1. ) |
| B:你應該係得咗感冒。 (nei5 jing1 goi1 hai6 dak1 zo2 gam2 mou6. ) |
| A:唔怪得之止痛藥冇用啦。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6 laa1. ) |
| B:你食錯藥喇。(nei5 sik6 co3 joek6 laa3.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A:醫生，我頭好痛。(ji1 sang1, ngo5 tau4 hou2 tung3. ) |
| A: My head hurts a lot, doctor. |
| B:仲有邊度痛？ (zung6 jau5 bin1 dou6 tung3 ? ) |
| B: Does anywhere else hurts? |
| A:冇啊，但有少少鼻塞。 (mou5 aa3, daan6 jau5 siu2 siu2 bei6 sak1. ) |
| A: No, but I have a stuffy nose. |
| B:你應該係得咗感冒。 (nei5 jing1 goi1 hai6 dak1 zo2 gam2 mou6. ) |
| B: You have probably caught a cold. |
| A:唔怪得之止痛藥冇用啦。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6 laa1. ) |
| A: No wonder the pain killers didn't work. |
| B:你食錯藥喇。(nei5 sik6 co3 joek6 laa3.) |
| B: You took the wrong medicine. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 個病人頭痛所以去買藥食。(go3 beng6 jan4 tau4 tung3 so2 ji3 heoi3 maai5 joek6 sik6.) |
| David: Yeah. What I want to know though is why didn’t the painkillers work? |
| Melody: 因為佢食錯藥，佢唔係因為頭痛，佢係感冒。 (jan1 wai6 keoi5 sik6 co3 joek6, keoi5 m4 hai6 jan1 wai6 tau4 tung3, keoi5 hai6 gam2 mou6.) |
| David: Yeah it still should have done something. Any way maybe it’s because the Aspirin in Hong Kong tends to be somewhat weak. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: But our vocab today anyway, it’s about symptoms and it’s about medicine. Let’s get to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 頭痛 (tau4 tung3) |
| David: Headache. |
| Melody: 頭痛 (tau4 tung3) [slow] 頭痛 (tau4 tung3) [normal speed]。肚痛 (tou5 tung3) |
| David: Stomachache. |
| Melody: 肚痛 (tou5 tung3) [slow] 肚痛 (tou5 tung3) [normal speed]。鼻塞 (bei6 sak1) |
| David: Stuffy nose. |
| Melody: 鼻塞 (bei6 sak1) [slow] 鼻塞 (bei6 sak1) [normal speed]。感冒 (gam2 mou6) |
| David: To catch a cold. |
| Melody: 感冒 (gam2 mou6) [slow] 感冒 (gam2 mou6) [normal speed]。發燒 (faat3 siu1) |
| David: Fever. |
| Melody: 發燒 (faat3 siu1) [slow] 發燒 (faat3 siu1) [normal speed]。唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) |
| David: No wonder. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) [slow] 唔怪得之(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) [normal speed]。藥 (joek6) |
| David: Medicine. |
| Melody: 藥 (joek6) [slow] 藥 (joek6) [normal speed]。止痛藥 (zi2 tung3 joek6) |
| David: Painkiller. |
| Melody: 止痛藥 (zi2 tung3 joek6) [slow] 止痛藥 (zi2 tung3 joek6) [normal speed]。 |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our first word is |
| Melody: 頭痛 (tau4 tung3) |
| David: Headache. |
| Melody: 頭痛。譬如話:我頭痛，所以去睇醫生。 (tau4 tung3. pei3 jyu4 waa6: ngo5 tau4 tung3, so2 ji3 heoi3 tai2 ji1 sang1.) |
| David: I’ve got a headache, so I am going to see the doctor. |
| Melody: 我頭痛，所以去睇醫生。(ngo5 tau4 tung3, so2 ji3 heoi3 tai2 ji1 sang1.) |
| David: Right, and there are different kinds of aches and pains. We also have a stomachache. |
| Melody: 肚痛 (tou5 tung3 ) |
| David: Stomachache. |
| Melody: 肚痛 (tou5 tung3 ) |
| David: In our dialogue, we also have a stuffy nose. |
| Melody: 鼻塞 (bei6 sat1) |
| David: A stuffy nose. |
| Melody: 鼻塞 (bei6 sat1 ) |
| David: Right which is the verb to clog with the nose. |
| Melody: 塞住咗，所以鼻塞。(coi3 zyu6 zo2, so2 ji3 bei6 sat1.) |
| David: Yeah it’s like a stuffed car traffic jam in your nose. |
| Melody: 所以我哋通常話:我感冒，所以鼻塞。(so2 ji3 ngo5 dei6 tung1 soeng4 waa6: ngo5 gam2 mou6, so2 ji3 bei6 sat1.) |
| David: Right. I have a cold and so my nose is stuffed. Now what’s interesting about all of these symptoms is that we are translating them as nouns but they also work as verbs. |
| Melody: 冇錯，佢哋係名詞，亦都係動詞。(mou5 co3, keoi5 dei6 hai6 ming4 ci4, jik6 dou1 hai6 dung6 ci4.) |
| David: Right. So I have a cold. |
| Melody: 我感冒。(ngo5 gam2 mou6.) |
| David: I have a headache. |
| Melody: 我頭痛。(ngo5 tau4 tung3.) |
| David: I have a stomachache. |
| Melody: 我肚痛。(ngo5 tou5 tung3.) |
| David: Right. We can use them independently as nouns but when we are pairing them with the subject here, they are becoming verbs naturally. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So in Cantonese, we don’t need to say I have a stomach ache, I have a cold. |
| Melody: 唔使。(m4 sai2.) |
| David: The verb takes care of it. |
| Melody: 我哋直接話「我頭痛」，「我肚痛」，「我感冒」。(ngo5 dei6 zik6 zip3 waa6 「 ngo5 tau4 tung3 」, 「 ngo5 tou5 tung3 」, 「 ngo5 gam2 mou6 」.) |
| David: Right, we also see this with the noun fever. |
| Melody: 發燒 (faat3 siu1) |
| David: Which could equally be a verb. So you could say, I went to the hospital because I have a fever. |
| Melody: 我發燒，所以去醫院。(ngo5 faat3 siu1, so2 ji3 heoi3 ji1 jyun2.) |
| David: Or I have a fever, therefore I go to the hospital. |
| Melody: 我發燒，所以我去醫院。(ngo5 faat3 siu1, so2 ji3 ngo5 heoi3 ji1 jyun2.) |
| David: Right. So remember, in all of these cases, the words are nouns as well as verbs. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So you can use them as standalone nouns but you could also say I have a fever. |
| Melody: 我發燒。(ngo5 faat3 siu1.) |
| David: Which is I plus the word fever. |
| Melody: 我發燒。你發燒。佢發燒。(ngo5 faat3 siu1. nei5 faat3 siu1. keoi5 faat3 siu1.) |
| David: Right. Now the last word we want to highlight for you is just the noun and it’s the word for painkiller. |
| Melody: 止痛藥。(zi2 tung3 joek6.) |
| David: Painkiller. |
| Melody: 止痛藥。(zi2 tung3 joek6.) |
| David: This is a generic word, right. If you are specifically asking for headache medicine. |
| Melody: 我哋可以話「頭痛藥」。(ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji5 waa6 「 tau4 tung3 joek6 」.) |
| David: Headache medicine. |
| Melody: 頭痛藥。(tau4 tung3 joek6.) |
| David: Right. So when you go to the pharmacy, you could ask for either a painkiller |
| Melody: 止痛藥 (zi2 tung3 joek6 ) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 頭痛藥 (tau4 tung3 joek6) |
| David: Headache medicine. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: And with that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Our grammar point today is about a really useful word we can use to make a fantastically local, complex construction. It’s this word. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) |
| David: No wonder. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) |
| David: Right. Melody is saying it with exasperation. Let’s hear it one more time. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 ) |
| David: In the dialogue, we heard it in this line. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之止痛藥冇用。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6.) |
| David: No wonder the painkillers didn’t work. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之止痛藥冇用。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6.) |
| David: Our structure here is the word “no wonder”... |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) |
| David: And then a statement. |
| Melody: 後面係一個結果，譬如話:止痛藥冇用。(hau6 min6 hai6 jat1 go3 git3 gwo2, pei3 jyu4 waa6: zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6.) |
| David: Right. So the full sentence one more time. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之止痛藥冇用啦。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6 laa1.) |
| David: We can see the same pattern elsewhere. For instance, no wonder you’ve got a cold. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你感冒。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 gam2 mou6.) |
| David: No wonder you’ve got a cold. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你感冒。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 gam2 mou6.) |
| David: Now this is the simple construction. In Hong Kong, people are very fond of telling you why something is wrong, right? and when this happens, they are usually going to add something at the end of the statement. For instance... |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你感冒，你著咁少衫。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 gam2 mou6, nei5 zoek3 gam3 siu2 saam1.) |
| David: No wonder you got a cold, you are not wearing very much. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你感冒，你著咁少衫。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 gam2 mou6, nei5 zoek3 gam3 siu2 saam1.) |
| David: Or how about no wonder you’ve got a stomachache, you are eating this garbage food. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你會肚痛，亂咁食嘢。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 wui5 tou5 tung3, lyun6 gam3 sik6 je5.) |
| David: Right. Eating in a chaotic fashion really. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: No wonder you’ve got a stomachache, you are eating so irregularly. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你會肚痛，亂咁食嘢。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 wui5 tou5 tung3, lyun6 gam3 sik6 je5.) |
| David: Right. So this is a really straightforward way to make the construction. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: It’s more obvious to English speakers. There is another way that Cantonese speakers will use which is even more native though and that’s to take the reason and put it at the start of the sentence. For instance, you are wearing so little. No wonder you’ve got a cold. |
| Melody: 你著咁少衫，唔怪得之會感冒。(nei5 zoek3 gam3 siu2 saam1, m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 wui5 gam2 mou6.) |
| David: You are practically wearing nothing. No wonder you’ve got a cold. |
| Melody: 你著咁少衫，唔怪得之會感冒啦。(ei5 zoek3 gam3 siu2 saam1, m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 wui5 gam2 mou6 laa1.) |
| David: Right or after you come back from a night market, they might say, you are eating so irregularly. No wonder you’ve got a stomach ache. |
| Melody: 你亂咁食嘢，唔怪得之會肚痛啦。(nei5 lyun6 gam3 sik6 je5, m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 wui5 tou5 tung3 laa1.) |
| David: Right or you are eating at McDonald’s. I think that counts for a lot of people too. Right… |
| Melody: 所以我哋前面原因，後面結果。(so2 ji3 ngo5 dei6 cin4 min6 jyun4 jan1, hau6 min6 git3 gwo2.) |
| David: Right. So this is a more complex pattern… |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: But it’s really, really natural and you are going to hear it and if you can use it, you are going to sound really native too. Remember, the easiest structure is no wonder. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1) |
| David: Plus the statement. For instance |
| Melody: 唔怪得之止痛藥冇用。(m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 zi2 tung3 joek6 mou5 jung6.) |
| David: If you want to add a reason, you can do this either at the end of the sentence. |
| Melody: 唔怪得之你感冒，你著咁少衫。 (m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 nei5 gam2 mou6, nei5 zoek3 gam3 siu2 saam1.) |
| David: Or by fronting the reason to the start of the sentence. |
| Melody: 你亂咁食嘢，唔怪得之會肚痛。(nei5 lyun6 gam3 sik6 je5, m4 gwaai3 dak1 zi1 wui5 tou5 tung3.) |
| David: And that last structure is going to make you sound incredibly native. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
Outro |
| David: Right. And with that though, we are at the end of our time for today. |
| Melody: David，但係走之前呢，我哋想提醒大家一定要上我哋嘅網站。 (daan6 hai6 zau2 zi1 cin4 ne1, ngo5 dei6 soeng2 tai4 sing2 daai6 gaa1 jat1 ding6 jiu3 soeng5 ngo5 dei6 ge3 mong5 zaam6.) |
| David: Right. If you haven’t created an account yet, give us an email address where we can send you a password and you are going to get access to a lot of free stuff. |
| Melody: 佢一定會好有用。(keoi5 jat1 ding6 wui5 hou2 jau5 jung6.) |
| David: Yeah it really is going to help you get your Cantonese from this upper beginner level up towards intermediate and then advanced fluency. So check that out online. The address is CantoneseClass101.com |
| Melody: 希望喺上面見到你哋。(hei1 mong6 hai2 soeng6 min6 gin3 dou2 nei5 dei6.) |
| David: 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. |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide