Learn about omitting subjects
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. |
| Nicole: 大家好，我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 ) Nichole. |
| David: And we are here today with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 1. Membership Has Its Rewards in Hong Kong. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！有會員咭就有着數。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！jau5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 zau6 jau5 zoek6 sou3 。) |
| David: Right. Although the rewards maybe aren’t that great because we are only buying movie tickets in this lesson. |
| Nicole: 但係都係着數吖！雖然係細啲啫。 ( daan6 hai6 dou1 hai6 zoek6 sou3 aa1 ！seoi1 jin4 hai6 sai3 di1 ze1 。) |
| David: Yeah. Anyway so Nicole, we’ve got a dialogue here. People are buying tickets. What’s happening? Who is in it? |
| Nicole: 兩個朋友去戲院買戲飛。 (loeng5 go3 pang4 jau5 heoi3 hei3 jyun2 maai5 hei3 fei1 。) |
| David: And this is casual Cantonese as always. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！ ( mou5 co3 laak3 ！) |
| David: Let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:兩張八點半嘅戲飛，唔該。 (A: loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1, m4 goi1.) |
| B:八點半鐵甲奇俠兩張。請揀位。螢幕喺呢邊。 (B: baat3 dim2 bun3 tit3 gaap3 kei4 hap6 loeng5 zoeng1. cing2gaan2 wai2. daai6 jing4 mok6 hai2 ni1 bin1.) |
| A:第五排中間。一共幾錢呀？ (A: dai6 ng5 paai4 zung1 gaan1. jat1 gung6 gei2 cin2 aa6?) |
| B:請問有冇會員咭？或者學生證？ (B: cing2 man6 jau5 mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1? waak6 ze2 hok6 sang1 zing3?) |
| A:冇會員咭，有學生證，但係冇帶。 (A: mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1, jau5 hok6 sang1 zing3, daan6 hai6 mou5 daai3.) |
| B:需唔需要而家辦張會員咭？五十蚊一張。立即享受8折優惠，仲送埋兩杯嘢飲。 (B: seoi1 ng4 seoi1 jiu3 ji4 gaa1 baan6 zoeng1 wui2 jyun4 kaat1?ng5 sap6 man1 jat1 zoeng1. lap6 zik1 hoeng2 sau6 baat3 zit3jau1 wai6, zung6 sung3 maai4 loeng5 bui1 je5 jam2.) |
| A:都好喎。需要咩手續？ (A: dou1 hou2 wo3. seoi1 jiu3 me1 sau2 zuk6?) |
| B:麻煩填張表。填好之後激活就得喇。 (B: maa4 fan4 tin4 zoeng1 biu2. tin4 hou2 zi1 hau6 gik1 wut6 zau6 |
| dak1 laa6.) |
| A:填好喇，唔該。 (A: tin4 hou2 laa6, m4 goi1.) |
| B:一共一百五十蚊。憑戲飛喺嗰邊嘅櫃台攞嘢飲。 (B: jat1 gung6 jat1 baak3 ng5 sap6 man1. pang4 hei3 fei1 hai2 go2bin1 ge3 gwai6 toi2 lo2 je5 jam2.) |
| A: I want two tickets for the 8.30 film. |
| B: Two for Iron Man at 8.30. Please select seats. The screen is on this side. |
| A: We'll have the seats in the middle of row 5. How much in total? |
| B: Do you have a membership card? Or a student card? |
| A: I don't have a membership card, and I forgot to bring my student card. |
| B: Would you like to get a membership card right away? It'll costs you 50 HKD but you'll get twenty percent off your tickets right away, and two complimentary drinks. |
| A: Sounds good. How do I get one? |
| B: Please fill out the form, and I'll activate it for you when you're done. |
| A: Done. Thanks. |
| B: It's 150 HKD altogether. You can get the drinks at the counter over there with your tickets. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Nicole: 兩張八點半嘅戲飛，唔該。 (loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1 ，m4 goi1 。) |
| David: I want two tickets for the 8:30 film. |
| Nicole: 八點半鐵甲奇俠兩張。請揀位。螢幕喺呢邊。 (baat3 dim2 bun3 tit3 gaap3 kei4 hap6 loeng5 zoeng1 。cing2 gaan2 wai2 。jing4 mok6 hai2 ni1 bin1 。) |
| David: Two tickets for Iron Man at 8:30. Please select seats. The screen is on this side. |
| Nicole: 第五排中間。一共幾錢呀？ (dai6 ng5 paai4 zung1 gaan1 。jat1 gung6 gei2 cin2 aa3 ？) |
| David: We will have the seats in the middle of row five. How much in total? |
| Nicole: 請問有冇會員咭？或者學生證？ ( cing2 man6 jau5 mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 ？waak6 ze2 hok6 sang1 zing3 ？) |
| David: Do you have a membership card or a student card? |
| Nicole: 冇會員咭，有學生證，但係冇帶。 (mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 ，jau5 hok6 sang1 zing3 ，daan6 hai6 mou5 daai3 。) |
| David: I don’t have a membership card and I forgot to bring my student card. |
| Nicole: 需唔需要而家辦張會員咭？五十蚊一張。立即享受8折優惠，仲送埋兩杯嘢飲。 (seoi1 m4 seoi1 jiu3 ji4 gaa1 baan6 zoeng1 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 ？ng5 sap6 man1 jat1 zoeng1 。lap6 zik1 hoeng2 sau6 baat3 zit3 jau1 wai6 ，zung6 sung3 maai4 loeng5 bui1 je5 jam2 。) |
| David: Would you like to get a membership card right away? It will cost you HKD50 but you will get 20% off your tickets right now and two complimentary drinks. |
| Nicole: 都好喎。需要咩手續？ (dou1 hou2 wo3 。seoi1 jiu3 me1 sau2 zuk6 ？) |
| David: Sounds good. How do I get one? |
| Nicole: 麻煩填張表。填好之後激活就得喇。 (maa4 faan4 tin4 zoeng1 biu2 。tin4 hou2 zi1 hau6 gik1 wut6 zau6 dak1 laa3 。) |
| David: Please fill out the form and I will activate it for you when you are done. |
| Nicole: 填好喇，唔該。( tin4 hou2 laa3 ，m4 goi1 。) |
| David: Done. Thanks. |
| Nicole: 一共一百五十蚊。憑戲飛喺嗰邊嘅櫃台攞嘢飲。 (jat1 gung6 jat1 baak3 ng5 sap6 man1 。pang4 hei3 fei1 hai2 go2 bin1 ge3 gwai6 toi2 lo2 je5 jam2 。) |
| David: It’s HKD150 altogether. You can get the drinks at the counter over there with your tickets. So this is pretty common language. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！香港好多嘅戲院呢都會叫你自己揀位嘅。 (mou5 co3 laa3 ！hoeng1 gong2 hou2 do1 ge3 hei3 jyun2 ne1 dou1 wui2 giu3 nei5 zi6 gei2 gaan2 wai2 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah and we are going to learn a lot about different kinds of cards, discount cards, membership cards in our vocab today. So let’s get to that. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 戲飛。 (hei3 fei1) |
| David: Film ticket. |
| Nicole: 戲 飛, 戲飛, 揀位。 (hei3 fei1, hei3 fei1, gaan2 wai2.) |
| David: To select seats. |
| Nicole: 揀 位, 揀位, 會員咭。 (gaan2 wai2, gaan2 wai2, wui2 jyun4 kaat1.) |
| David: Membership card. |
| Nicole: 會 員 咭, 會員咭, 學生證。 (wui2 jyun4 kaat1, wui2 jyun4 kaat1, hok6 sang1 zing3.) |
| David: Student card. |
| Nicole: 學 生 證, 學生證, 立即。 (hok6 sang1 zing3, hok6 sang1 zing3, lap6 zik1.) |
| David: Immediately. |
| Nicole: 立 即, 立即, 享受。 (lap6 zik1, lap6 zik1, hoeng2 sau6.) |
| David: To enjoy |
| Nicole: 享 受, 享受, 優惠。 (hoeng2 sau6, hoeng2 sau6, jau1 wai6.) |
| David: Benefit. |
| Nicole: 優 惠, 優惠, 折扣。 (jau1 wai6, jau1 wai6, zit3 kau3.) |
| David: Discount. |
| Nicole: 折 扣, 折扣, 激活。 (zit3 kau3, zit3 kau3, gik1 wut6.) |
| David: To activate. |
| Nicole: 激 活, 激活。 (gik1 wut6, gik1 wut6.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. The first word we want to highlight is the verb to activate. |
| Nicole: 激活。 (gik1 wut6 。) |
| David: To activate. |
| Nicole: 激活。 (gik1 wut6 。) |
| David: So Nicole, how do we use this? |
| Nicole: 譬如你可以激活帳戶。 (pei3 jyu4 nei5 ho2 ji5 gik1 wut6 zoeng3 wu6 。) |
| David: You can activate an account. |
| Nicole: 激活帳戶或者激活銀行帳戶。 (gik1 wut6 zoeng3 wu6 waak6 ze2 gik1 wut6 ngan4 hong4 zoeng3 wu6 。) |
| David: That would be to activate a bank account. |
| Nicole: 激活銀行嘅帳戶。 (gik1 wut6 ngan4 hong4 ge3 zoeng3 wu6 。) |
| David: Right. If you do banking at HSBC business banking especially, you are going to used to do it in person with your passport and other ID. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！要親自去激活銀行帳戶。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！jiu3 can1 zi6 heoi3 gik1 wut6 ngan4 hong4 zoeng3 wu6 。) |
| David: Right. So here we are activating a membership card but there are tons of things you can activate. What else? |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞，譬如話激活 (mou5 co3 laa3 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 gik1 wut6 ) e-mail account. |
| David: We’ve also got words for two kinds of discount cards. |
| Nicole: 會員咭同埋學生證。( wui2 jyun4 kaat1 tung4 maai4 hok6 sang1 zing3 。) |
| David: Right. The first is membership card. |
| Nicole: 會員咭。 (wui2 jyun4 kaat1 。) |
| David: Membership card. |
| Nicole: 會員咭。 (wui2 jyun4 kaat1 。) |
| David: And that 咭 is literally card. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！咭。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！kaat1 。) |
| David: Right. If you are dealing with government ID or company ID though, it’s not going to be just a card. It’s going to be |
| Nicole: 證。 (zing3 。) |
| David: Literally identification. |
| Nicole: 冇錯, 證, 因為有張相響度嘅。 (mou5 co3 , zing3 , jan1 wai6 jau5 zoeng1 soeng2 hoeng2 dou6 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah. So it’s got a photo on it usually and usually a signature too. |
| Nicole: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: So in this case, we’ve got a student card. |
| Nicole: 學生證, 有學生證有折扣。 (hok6 sang1 zing3 , jau5 hok6 sang1 zing3 jau5 zit3 kau3 。) |
| David: Yeah. If you have a student card, you are going to get a discount and there are other kinds of IDs that also have this word for identification in them. |
| Nicole: 證， 譬如話身份證。 (zing3 ， pei3 jyu4 waa6 san1 fan2 zing3 。) |
| David: An identity card. |
| Nicole: 結婚證。 (git3 fan1 zing3 。) |
| David: Marriage certificate, perfect marriage. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！離婚證啦, 對應有。 (mou5 co3 laa3 ！lei4 fan1 zing3 laa1 , deoi3 jing3 jau5 。) |
| David: Right. So a bunch of identity words. In this lesson, we have |
| Nicole: 學生證吖！會員咭。 (hok6 sang1 zing3 aa1 ！wui2 jyun4 kaat1 。) |
| David: So in this lesson, we have a number of kinds of proof of ID. |
| Nicole: 身份證, 學生證, 結婚證。 (san1 fan2 zing3 , hok6 sang1 zing3 , git3 fan1 zing3 。) |
| David: Also as a reminder, in earlier lessons, we’ve covered this but there are two ways of saying film tickets. |
| Nicole: 戲飛同埋電影飛。 (hei3 fei1 tung4 maai4 din6 jing2 fei1 。) |
| David: And just a reminder, in earlier lessons we’ve covered this but there are actually three ways of saying movie tickets. |
| Nicole: 戲飛。 (hei3 fei1 。) |
| David: Which is what we have in the dialogue. |
| Nicole: 戲飛, 電影飛。 (hei3 fei1 , din6 jing2 fei1 。) |
| David: Another word for movie ticket. And just as a reminder, in this lesson, we run into this word for film tickets. |
| Nicole: 戲飛。 (hei3 fei1 。) |
| David: Right but there are three others you are going to hear. |
| Nicole: 電影飛，電影票，戲票。 (din6 jing2 fei1 ，din6 jing2 piu3 ，hei3 piu3 。) |
| David: Right. So these two words are interchangeable. |
| Nicole: “飛” 同埋 “票”。 (“fei1 ” tung4 maai4 “piu3 ”。) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Right and with that, let’s get on to our grammar point. Okay Nicole, what we are talking about today is not really a grammar point. |
| Nicole: Eh ….. 好自然嘅嘢。 (hou2 zi6 jin4 ge3 je5 。) |
| David: Or I guess it is. |
| Nicole: 係呀! 其實係 一個 …. 係一個規律嚟嘅。 (hai6 aa3 ! kei4 sat6 hai6 jat1 go3 …. hai6 jat1 go3 kwai1 leot6 lai4 ge2。) |
| David: Right. Broadly speaking, it’s grammatical. The interesting thing is, let’s take a look at some sentences from our dialogue and how we translated them. |
| Nicole: 兩張八點半嘅戲飛，唔該。 (loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1 ，m4 goi1 。) |
| David: I want two tickets for the 8:30 show. |
| Nicole: 兩張八點半嘅戲飛，唔該。請問有冇會員咭？ (loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1 ，m4 goi1 。cing2 man6 jau5 mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 ？) |
| David: Excuse me, do you have a membership card? |
| Nicole: 請問有冇會員咭？ (cing2 man6 jau5 mou5 wui2 jyun4 kaat1 ？) |
| David: And the interesting thing about these sentences and actually most of the ones in our dialogue is that in Cantonese, they don’t really have subjects. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，冇主語嘅，基本上所有嘅句子都係冇主語嘅。 (mou5 co3 ，mou5 zyu2 jyu5 ge3 ，gei1 bun2 soeng6 so2 jau5 ge3 geoi3 zi2 dou1 hai6 mou5 zyu2 jyu5 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. So we are adding them in translation but in the original Cantonese, it’s assumed that we know what we are talking about. |
| Nicole: 譬如話 兩張八點半嘅戲飛。 (pei3 jyu4 waa6 loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1 。) |
| David: Yeah which is, can I have the tickets for the 8:30 show. |
| Nicole: 如果你想講完整嘅句子就係 -- 我想要兩張八點半嘅戲飛。 (jyu4 gwo2 nei5 soeng2 gong2 jyun4 zing2 ge3 geoi3 zi2 zau6 hai6 -- ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 loeng5 zoeng1 baat3 dim2 bun3 ge3 hei3 fei1 。) |
| David: Right but it’s awkward to say the whole thing so we just cut it down. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，因為太禮貌呀！ (mou5 co3 ，jan1 wai6 taai3 lai5 maau6 aa3！) |
| David: Yeah and we already know this. We’ve internalized it but we want to remind you because especially at the upper levels, people here in Hong Kong will throw sentences at you that don’t make any sense if you try to interpret them literally. |
| Nicole: 其實係如果你知道上下文嘅話你會知道點解。 (kei4 sat6 hai6 jyu4 gwo2 nei5 zi1 dou6 soeng6 haa6 man4 ge3 waa2 nei5 wui2 zi1 dou6 dim2 gaai2 。) |
| David: Yeah and we have some good examples for you. Nicole? |
| Nicole: 聖誕節一定要去購物。 (sing3 daan3 zit3 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 kau3 mat6 。) |
| David: Let’s hear that again a bit slower. |
| Nicole: 聖誕節一定要去購物。 (sing3 daan3 zit3 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 kau3 mat6 。) |
| David: So literally that’s Christmas has to go shopping. |
| Nicole: 聖誕節一定要去購物, 但係其實係聖誕節我哋一定要去購物。 (sing3 daan3 zit3 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 kau3 mat6 , daan6 hai6 kei4 sat6 hai6 sing3 daan3 zit3 ngo5 dei6 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 kau3 mat6 。) |
| David: Yeah. It’s not the holiday that’s going shopping, it’s at Christmas everyone goes shopping or at Christmas, I am going to go shopping. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Nicole: 另外一個例子就係 考完試一定要去馬爾代夫。 (ling6 ngoi6 jat1 go3 lai6 zi2 zau6 hai6 haau2 jyun4 si2 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 maa5 ji5 doi6 fu1 。) |
| David: Once again, a bit slower. |
| Nicole: 考完試一定要去馬爾代夫。 (haau2 jyun4 si2 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 maa5 ji5 doi6 fu1 。) |
| David: So the sentence there is, after the exams, someone is going to the Maldives. |
| Nicole: 唔知呀！可能係我，可能係你。 (m4 zi1 aa3 ！ho2 nang4 hai6 ngo5 ，ho2 nang4 hai6 nei5 。) |
| David: Right. Yeah. Is it me? Is it you? We don’t know. You only figure it out contextually. So these two sentences again. |
| Nicole: 聖誕節一定要去購物, 考完試一定要去馬爾代夫。 (sing3 daan3 zit3 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 kau3 mat6 , haau2 jyun4 si2 jat1 ding6 jiu3 heoi3 maa5 ji5 doi6 fu1 。) |
| David: Especially at this upper level, we are going to run into this a lot. At earlier levels, we were a bit careful about it but now gloves are off. Pay attention to context to figure out who the subject is, who is talking, what’s happening. |
| Nicole: 當你慣咗之後你會覺得好自然，好習慣。 (dong1 nei5 gwaan3 zo2 zi1 hau6 nei5 wui2 gok3 dak1 hou2 zi6 jin4 ，hou2 zaap6 gwaan3 。) |
Outro |
| David: Yeah and with that, that’s our lesson for today. Before we go, we do want to remind you. |
| Nicole: 如果你仲未有 sign up 我哋嘅account嘅話，記得去Cantoneseclass101.com (jyu4 gwo2 nei5 zung6 mei6 jau5 signup ngo5 dei2 ge3 account (ge3 waa2 ，gei3 dak1 heoi3 Cantoneseclass101.com) |
| David: Right and sign up. It only takes 5 seconds, we have tested. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！) |
| David: Even faster if you are in the States because our servers are there. So – and if you have any questions, leave a comment on the website. We’d love to hear from you. From Hong Kong, I am David. |
| Nicole: 我係 ( ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David:~ Thanks for listening and we will see you online. |
| Nicole: 下次見。 (haa6 ci3 gin3 。) |
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