Learn how to omit "this" and "that"
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| 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 7. Buying a Computer in Hong Kong. |
| Melody: 喺香港買電腦。(hai2 hoeng1 gong2 maai5 din6 nou5.) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got a dialogue that is casual Cantonese as always. Melody, where does this take place? |
| Melody: 應該係喺電器舖入面。(jing3 goi1 hai6 hai2 din6 hei3 pou2 jap6 min6.) |
| David: Right and it’s between a salesperson and a customer who wants a good deal on their new computer. |
| Melody: 銷售人員同埋個客嘅對話。(siu1 sau6 jan4 jyun4 tung4 maai4 go3 haak3 ge3 deoi3 waa6.) |
| David: Let’s take a listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:部電腦幾多錢？ (bou6 din6 nou5 gei2 do1 cin2?) |
| B:五千八百蚊。 (ng5 cin1 baat3 baak3 man1. ) |
| A:太貴喇。 (taai3 gwai3 laa3.) |
| B:唔要配件，四千八，一口價。 (m4 jiu3 pui3 gin2, sei3 cin1 baat3, jat1 hau2 gaa3. ) |
| A:冇鼠標鍵盤我點用啊？ (mou5 syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 ngo5 dim2 jung6 aa3?) |
| B:鼠標鍵盤都有。 (syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 dou1 jau5. ) |
| A:咁冇咩啊？ (gam2 mou5 me1 aa3? ) |
| B:主板。 (zyu2 baan2.) |
| David: Once more, a bit more slowly. |
| A:部電腦幾多錢？ (bou6 din6 nou5 gei2 do1 cin2?) |
| B:五千八百蚊。 (ng5 cin1 baat3 baak3 man1. ) |
| A:太貴喇。 (taai3 gwai3 laa3.) |
| B:唔要配件，四千八，一口價。 (m4 jiu3 pui3 gin2, sei3 cin1 baat3, jat1 hau2 gaa3. ) |
| A:冇鼠標鍵盤我點用啊？ (mou5 syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 ngo5 dim2 jung6 aa3?) |
| B:鼠標鍵盤都有。 (syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 dou1 jau5. ) |
| A:咁冇咩啊？ (gam2 mou5 me1 aa3? ) |
| B:主板。(zyu2 baan2.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A:部電腦幾多錢？ (bou6 din6 nou5 gei2 do1 cin2?) |
| A: How much is this computer? |
| B:五千八百蚊。 (ng5 cin1 baat3 baak3 man1. ) |
| B: 5800 HKD. |
| A:太貴喇。 (taai3 gwai3 laa3.) |
| A: It's too expensive. |
| B:唔要配件，四千八，一口價。(m4 jiu3 pui3 gin2, sei3 cin1 baat3, jat1 hau2 gaa3. ) |
| B: No accessories, 4800 HKD, no bargain. |
| A:冇鼠標鍵盤我點用啊？ (mou5 syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 ngo5 dim2 jung6 aa3?) |
| A: How can I use a computer without a mouse or keyboard? |
| B:鼠標鍵盤都有。 (syu2 biu1 gin6 pun2 dou1 jau5. ) |
| B: Mouse and keyboard are included. |
| A:咁冇咩啊？ (gam2 mou5 me1 aa3? ) |
| A: Then what accessories are missing? |
| B:主板。(zyu2 baan2.) |
| B: The motherboard. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 香港真係好識做生意呀。(hoeng1 gong2 zan1 hai6 hou2 sik1 zou6 saang1 ji3 aa3.) |
| David: Yeah Melody, have you run into this kind of computer salesman? |
| Melody: 冇呀，應該。冇遇到咁奇怪嘅銷售人員。(mou5 aa3, jing3 goi1. mou5 jyu6 dou3 gam3 kei4 gwaai3 ge3 siu1 sau6 jan4 jyun4.) |
| David: Yeah me neither. Anyway, as you can guess, our vocab today is all about computer terminology for when you are out buying your next machine. |
| Melody: 一齊嚟聽下。(jat1 cai4 l3i4 teng1 haa5.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 電腦 (din6 nou5) |
| David: Computer. |
| Melody: 電腦 (din6 nou5) [slow] 電腦 (din6 nou5) [normal speed]。主板 (zyu2 baan2) |
| David: Motherboard. |
| Melody: 主板 (zyu2 baan2) [slow] 主板 (zyu2 baan2) [normal speed]。硬盤 (ngaang6 pun2) |
| David: Hard drive. |
| Melody: 硬盤 (ngaang6 pun2) [slow] 硬盤 (ngaang6 pun2) [normal speed]。光碟 (gwong1 dip2) |
| David: Optical disc. |
| Melody: 光碟 (gwong1 dip2) [slow] 光碟 (gwong1 dip2) [normal speed]。鼠標 (syu2 biu1) |
| David: Mouse. |
| Melody: 鼠標 (syu2 biu1) [slow] 鼠標 (syu2 biu1) [normal speed]。鍵盤 (gin6 pun2) |
| David: Keyboard. |
| Melody: 鍵盤 (gin6 pun2) [slow] 鍵盤 (gin6 pun2) [normal speed]。顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3) |
| David: Monitor. |
| Melody: 顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3) [slow] 顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3) [normal speed]。屏幕 (ping4 mok6) |
| David: Screen. |
| Melody: 屏幕 (ping4 mok6) [slow] 屏幕 (ping4 mok6) [normal speed]。一口價 (jat1 hau2 gaa3) |
| David: No haggling |
| Melody: 一口價 (jat1 hau2 gaa3) [slow] 一口價 (jat1 hau2 gaa3) [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: 電腦 (din6 nou5) |
| David: Computer. |
| Melody: 電腦 (din6 nou5) |
| David: And there are different kinds of computers. First we have the desktop computer. |
| Melody: 枱式電腦 (toi4 sik1 din6 nou5 ) |
| David: Desktop computer. |
| Melody: 枱式電腦 (toi4 sik1 din6 nou5) |
| David: Next we have the portable computers, laptops. |
| Melody: 手提電腦 (sau2 tai4 din6 nou5) |
| David: Laptop computer. |
| Melody: 手提電腦 (sau2 tai4 din6 nou5) |
| David: Do you want a desktop or a laptop computer? |
| Melody: 你想要枱式電腦定係手提電腦？ (nei5 soeng2 jiu3 toi4 sik1 din6 nou5 ding6 hai6 sau2 tai4 din6 nou5?) |
| David: Do you want a desktop computer or a laptop computer? |
| Melody: 你想要枱式電腦定係手提電腦？(nei5 soeng2 jiu3 toi4 sik1 din6 nou5 ding6 hai6 sau2 tai4 din6 nou5?) |
| David: Right and now we have a new kind with the iPad. |
| Melody: 冇錯，平板電腦。(mou5 co3, ping4 baan2 din6 nou5.) |
| David: Literally it’s a flat screen computer. |
| Melody: 係，平板電腦。(hai6, ping4 baan2 din6 nou5.) |
| David: Our next word is the word for motherboard. |
| Melody: 主板 (zyu2 baan2 ) |
| David: Motherboard. |
| Melody: 主板 (zyu2 baan2 ) |
| David: Right and we also have a lot of words here for various parts of a computer. For instance, the mouse. |
| Melody: 鼠標 (syu2 biu1) |
| David: Mouse. |
| Melody: 鼠標 (syu2 biu1) |
| David: Or keyboard. |
| Melody: 鍵盤 (gin6 pun2) |
| David: Keyboard. |
| Melody: 鍵盤 (gin6 pun2) |
| David: When you are buying a computer, you can get a discount by asking them not to give you these accessories if you already have them. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So you can say I don’t need a mouse or a keyboard. |
| Melody: 我可以唔使鼠標或者鍵盤。(ngo5 ho2 ji3 m4 sai2 syu2 biu1 waak6 ze2 gin6 pun2.) |
| David: I don’t need a mouse. |
| Melody: 我可以唔使鼠標。(ngo5 ho2 ji3 m4 sai2 syu2 biu1.) |
| David: I don’t need a keyboard. |
| Melody: 我可以唔使鍵盤。(ngo5 ho2 ji3 m4 sai2 gin6 pun2.) |
| David: I don’t need a mouse or a keyboard. |
| Melody: 我可以唔使鼠標或者鍵盤。(ngo5 ho2 ji3 m4 sai2 syu2 biu1 waak6 ze2 gin6 pun2.) |
| David: Another really important thing you need is the monitor. |
| Melody: 顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3) |
| David: Monitor. |
| Melody: 顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3 ) |
| David: And we measure monitors in inches. So you can have a 20 inch monitor. |
| Melody: 二十英吋顯示器 (ji6 sap6 jing1cyun3 hin2 si6 hei3) |
| David: A 25 inch monitor. |
| Melody: 二十五英吋嘅顯示器 (ji6 sap6 ng5 jing1cyun3 ge3 hin2 si6 hei3) |
| David: Just put the number first and then |
| Melody: 英吋 (jing1 cyun3) |
| David: Inches. |
| Melody: 英吋 (jing1 cyun3) |
| David: And then the word for monitor. |
| Melody: 顯示器 (hin2 si6 hei3) |
| David: Last but not least, we have got this wonderful phrase which you are going to hear all the time in Hong Kong Bazaars. |
| Melody: 一口價 (jat1 hau2 gaa3) |
| David: Literally one mouth price. |
| Melody: 一口價 (jat1 hau2 gaa3) |
| David: It just means no haggling. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Right. |
| Melody: 通常會聽到「一口價，冇得傾」。(tung1 soeng4 wui5 teng1 dou3 「 jat1 hau2 gaa3, mou5 dak1 king1 」.) |
| David: It’s one price and I am not going to talk about it again. |
| Melody: 一口價，冇得傾。(jat1 hau2 gaa3, mou5 dak1 king1.) |
| David: Right which means that the price isn’t negotiable. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: If they say this, you can get them down. So that’s our vocab for today focused mostly on computer parts. It should be useful the next time you are buying machine. Now let’s get on to our grammar point where we’ve got something really interesting. |
| Melody: 一齊嚟聽下。(jat1 cai4 lei4 teng1 haa5.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In our grammar point today, we want to take a look at this sentence from our dialogue. |
| Melody: 部電腦幾多錢？(bou6 din6 nou5 gei2 do1 cin2?) |
| David: How much is this computer? |
| Melody: 部電腦幾多錢？(bou6 din6 nou5 gei2 do1 cin2?) |
| David: Note that we translated this as “how much is THIS computer” but in Cantonese, the word THIS is missing. |
| Melody: 部電腦 (bou6 din6 nou5) |
| David: This computer. |
| Melody: 部電腦 (bou6 din6 nou5) |
| David: Note that we don’t say |
| Melody: 呢部電腦，或者嗰部電腦 (ni1 bou6 din6 nou5, waak6 ze2 go2 bou6 din6 nou5) |
| David: Right. We are not specifying this or that. We just say |
| Melody: 部電腦 (bou6 din6 nou5) |
| David: Right. What’s happening here is because everyone knows what we are talking about. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: We can drop the determiner and just use the measure word. |
| Melody: 因為佢知道你特定指邊一個，所以唔使「呢個」或者「嗰個」，直接「部電腦」就得喇。(jan1 wai6 keoi5 zi1 dou6 nei5 dak6 ding6 zi2 bin1 jat1 go3, so2 ji3 m4 sai2 「 ni1 go3 」 waak6 ze2 「 go2 go3 」, zik6 zip3 「 bou6 din6 nou5 」 zau6 dak1 laa3.) |
| David: Right. This is a really colloquial way to speak in Cantonese. |
| Melody: 係呀，冇錯。(hai6 aa3, mou5 co3.) |
| David: A lot of textbooks don’t teach you this but when you are out on the streets, you are going to hear it all the time. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: We’ve got a couple of example sentences for you just so we can practice hearing this. |
| Melody: 譬如話:部電腦。(pei3 jyu4 waa6: bou6 din6 nou5.) |
| David: This computer. |
| Melody: 我要買部電腦。(ngo5 jiu3 maai5 bou6 din6 nou5.) |
| David: I want to buy this computer or |
| Melody: 部電腦壞咗。(bou6 din6 nou5 waai6 zo2.) |
| David: This computer is broken. Melody, a question for you. If we say that |
| Melody: 部電腦壞咗 (bou6 din6 nou5 waai6 zo2) |
| David: That means this computer or my computer or both. |
| Melody: 兩個都可以。(loeng5 go3 dou1 ho2 ji3.) |
| David: Yeah so it can’t mean this or it can’t mean that or it could also mean other directional phrases like mine or yours. It all depends on the context. |
| Melody: 但係對方知道你講嘅係邊一部。(daan6 hai6 deoi3 fong1 zi1 dou6 nei5 gong2 ge3 hai6 bin1 jat1 bou6.) |
| David: Right. As long as the other person knows, you are okay. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So that’s the word computer which takes the measure word. |
| Melody: 部 (bou6) |
| David: You can use this with any other noun as long as you get the measure word right. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: For instance |
| Melody: 個鼠標 (go3 syu2 biu1 ) |
| David: This mouse. |
| Melody: 個鼠標 (go3 syu2 biu1) |
| David: This mouse is broken. |
| Melody: 個鼠標壞咗。(go3 syu2 biu1 waai6 zo2.) |
| David: This mouse is too expensive. |
| Melody: 個鼠標好貴。(go3 syu2 biu1 hou2 gwai3.) |
| David: What about a keyboard. |
| Melody: 個鍵盤 (go3 gin6 pun2) |
| David: That’s this keyboard. |
| Melody: 個鍵盤 (go3 gin6 pun2) |
| David: Or that keyboard. |
| Melody: 冇錯，兩個都可以代表。(mou5 co3, loeng5 go3 dou1 ho2 ji3 doi6 biu2.) |
| David: This keyboard is broken. |
| Melody: 個鍵盤壞咗。(go3 gin6 pun2 waai6 zo2.) |
| David: This keyboard is broken. |
| Melody: 個鍵盤壞咗。(go3 gin6 pun2 waai6 zo2.) |
| David: If you are shopping for a computer, you are also even need to pick the size of monitor. So you might say, this monitor is too small. |
| Melody: 個顯示器太細喇。(go3 hin2 si6 hei3 taai3 sai3 laa3.) |
| David: This monitor is too big. |
| Melody: 個顯示器太大喇。(go3 hin2 si6 hei3 taai3 daai6 laa3.) |
| David: So a general rule, in colloquial Cantonese, when we already know what object we are talking about, we don’t need to use a determiner like |
| Melody: 呢，嗰。(ni1, go2.) |
| David: We can just jump directly to the measure word and follow it with the object. |
| Melody: 譬如話:「部電腦」，「個鼠標」，「個鍵盤」。(pei3 jyu4 waa6:「 bou6 din6 nou5 」, 「 go3 syu2 biu1 」, 「 go3 gin6 pun2 」.) |
| David: And that can mean, this, that or something like mine or yours depending on the context. |
| Melody: 只要對方知道就得喇。(zi2 jiu3 deoi3 fong1 zi1 dou6 zau6 dak1 laa3.) |
Outro |
| David: Right. So that’s our show for today. We’ve covered a lot of language you are going to run into in computer markets as well as a really colloquial way to refer to things. |
| Melody: 下次買電腦可以用。(haa6 ci3 maai5 din6 nou5 ho2 ji3 jung6.) |
| David: Yes and don’t forget that wonderful phrase for when you are shopping. |
| Melody: 一口價。(jat1 hau2 gaa3.) |
| David: When you hear that, start haggling because they are flexible on the price. |
| Melody: 一口價。(jat1 hau2 gaa3.) |
| David: Yeah and with that, that’s all the time we have. As always, if you haven’t created an account at CantoneseClass101.com, what are you waiting for? |
| Melody: 上嚟我哋嘅網站，即刻攞一個用戶啦。(soeng5 lei4 ngo5 dei6 ge3 mong5 zaam6, zik1 hak1 lo2 jat1 go3 jung6 wu6 laa1.) |
| David: Yeah. It only takes about 5 seconds to create an account and it’s totally free. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: 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: 下次再見 (haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3)，Bye bye. |
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