Learn how to use the character 口, meaning "mouth"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Nicole: 大家好，我係 (daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 ) Nicole. |
| David: And we are here today with upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 14. Landlord Problems in Hong Kong. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，喺香港呢租客同業主係會出啲拗撬嘅。 (mou5 co3 ，hai2 hoeng1 gong2 ne1 zou1 haak3 tung4 jip6 zyu2 hai6 wui2 ceot1 di1 aau3 giu6 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. The landlord problem is always the same too. It’s that they want more money. |
| Nicole: 係呀！租客嘅問題就係我唔想比咁多錢。 (hai6 aa3 ！zou1 haak3 ge3 man6 tai4 zau6 hai6 ngo5 m4 soeng2 bei2 gam3 do1 cin2 。) |
| David: Or in your case that they are not going to repair the water that is flooding through the wall. |
| Nicole: 呢種係最差嘅業主喇！最弊嘅問題。 (ni1 zung2 hai6 zeoi3 caa1 ge3 jip6 zyu2 laa1 ！zeoi3 bai6 ge3 man6 tai4 。) |
| David: So the money problem is easier in some ways. Nicole, what’s happening in our dialogue today? |
| Nicole: Eh … 個租客想租約啦! 想續租啦！跟住業主想加租。 (go3 zou1 haak3 soeng2 zou1 joek3 laa1 ! soeng2 zuk6 zou1 laa1 ！gan1 zyu6 jip6 zyu2 soeng2 gaa1 zou1 。) |
| David: Yeah and this is in casual Cantonese as always. So let’s get to it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 喂？業主呀？我係你個租客。 (A: wai2? jip6 zyu2 aa4? ngo5 hai6 nei5 go3 zou1 haak3.) |
| B: 下個月到期嗰個？ (B: haa6 go3 jyut6 dou3 kei4 go2 go3?) |
| A: 係呀，我想續約呀。 (A: hai6 aa6, ngo5 soeng2 zuk6 joek3 aa6.) |
| B: 續約冇問題，但係屋租要貴少少喎。 (B: zuk6 joek3 mou5 man6 tai4, daan6 hai6 uk1 zou1 jiu3 gwai3 siu2 siu2 wo3.) |
| A: 又要貴？你巳經收多我一個月嘅按金囉喎。 (A: jau6 jiu3 gwai3? nei5 ji5 ging1 sau1 do1 ngo5 jat1 go3 jyut6 ge3 on3 gam1 lo3 wo3.) |
| B: 我哋呢個地段，你住過都知道幾旺㗎啦。 (B: ngo5 dei6 ni1 go3 dei6 dyun6, nei5 zyu6 gwo3 dou1 zi1 dou3 gei2 wong6 gaa3 laa1.) |
| A: 我一向按時交租，地方保持得好乾淨㗎。 (A: ngo5 jat1 hoeng3 on3 si4 gaau1 zou1, dei6 fong1 bou2 ci4 dak1 hou2 gon1 zeng6.) |
| B: 見係熟客，我先至貴少少咋，其他人我要翻倍呀。 (B: gin3 hai6 suk6 haak3, ngo5 sin1 zi3 gwai3 siu2 siu2 zaa3, kei4 taa1 jan4 ngo5 jiu3 faan1 pui5 aa3.) |
| A: 咁貴幾多呀？ (A: gam2 gwai3 gei2 do1 aa3?) |
| B: 貴一千。 (B: gwai3 jat1 cin1.) |
| A: 貴五百啦！ (A: gwai3 ng5 baak3 laa1!) |
| B: 萬七蚊，一口價。 (B: maan6 cat1 man1, jat1 hau2 gaa3.) |
| A: Hello, landlord? I'm your tenant. |
| B: The one whose rental is up next month? |
| A: Yeah, I want to continue to rent your apartment. |
| B: That's not a problem, but the rent for next year is a bit more expensive. |
| A: You want to increase the rent again? You already took one more month of deposit from me. |
| B: Now that you lived there you know how busy this location is. |
| A: I've always pay the rent on time, and keep the place clean. |
| B: Because you're an old customer, I'll only increased the rent a bit, for anyone else I would double it. |
| A: So, how much more expensive? |
| B: $ 1,000 Hong Kong Dollars. |
| A: How about $ 500? |
| B: $ 17,000. Take it or leave it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: What I find interesting is the landlord in this dialogue is incredibly wealthy. |
| Nicole: 係呀！ (hai6 aa3 ！) |
| David: Or maybe it’s a company. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，佢可能係個人，可能係公司，公司會有好多房出租。 (mou5 co3 ，keoi5 ho2 nang4 hai6 go3 jan4 ，ho2 nang4 hai6 gung1 si1 ，gung1 si1 wui2 jau5 hou2 do1 fong2 ceot1 zou1 。) |
| David: Yeah. It’s sort of a bit weird though because he’s being flexible on price but you don’t expect that as much if it’s a company. |
| Nicole: It’s just a bargain skill. |
| David: Yeah. all kinds of renting, okay. Anyway let’s get to our vocab for today. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 業主。 (jip6 zyu2.) |
| David: Landlord. |
| Nicole: 業 主, 業主, 租客。 (jip6 zyu2, jip6 zyu2, zou1 haak3. ) |
| David: Tenant. |
| Nicole: 租 客, 租客, 到期。 (zou1 haak3, zou1 haak3, dou6 kei4.) |
| David: To come due. |
| Nicole: 到 期, 到期, 續約。 (dou6 kei4, dou6 kei4, zuk6 joek3.) |
| David: To renew a lease. |
| Nicole: 續 約, 續約, 屋租。 (zuk6 joek3, zuk6 joek3, uk1 zou1.) |
| David: Rent. |
| Nicole: 屋 租, 屋租, 按金。 (uk1 zou1, uk1 zou1, on3 gam1. ) |
| David: Deposit. |
| Nicole: 按 金, 按金, 地段。 (on3 gam1, on3 gam1, dei6 dyun6.) |
| David: Location. |
| Nicole: 地 段, 地段, 旺。 (dei6 dyun6, dei6 dyun6, wong6. ) |
| David: Busy. |
| Nicole: 旺, 旺, 熟客。 (wong6, wong6, suk6 haak3.) |
| David: Old customer. |
| Nicole: 熟 客, 熟客, 翻倍。 (suk6 haak3, suk6 haak3, faan1 pui5. ) |
| David: To double. |
| Nicole: 翻 倍, 翻倍, 一口價。 (faan1 pui5, faan1 pui5, jat1 hau2 gaa3.) |
| David: Take it or leave it. |
| Nicole: 一 口 價, 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3, jat1 hau2 gaa3.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Of course, we have the words for landlord. |
| Nicole: 業主。 (jip6 zyu2 。) |
| David: And tenant. |
| Nicole: 租客。 ( zou1 haak3 。) |
| David: We are missing the word for lease here. |
| Nicole: 租約。 (zou1 joek3 。) |
| David: Lease. |
| Nicole: 租約。 (zou1 joek3 。) |
| David: And as we’ve covered in other lessons, it’s common to have two-year leases in Hong Kong. |
| Nicole: 生約，死約。 (saang1 joek3 ，sei2 joek3 。) |
| David: Right and the first year is inflexible and the second year is, you can leave whenever you want to. |
| Nicole: 唔，冇錯喇！死約同埋生約。 (m4 ，mou5 co3 laak3 ！sei2 joek3 tung4 maai4 saang1 joek3 。) |
| David: Right. Moving on to some of the more interesting new stuff here, we have the word for an old customer. |
| Nicole: 熟客。熟客係好常見嘅，你可以係食市嘅熟客，酒店嘅熟客，任何書店嘅熟客都得。 (suk6 haak3. suk6 haak3 hai6 hou2 soeng4 gin3 ge3 ，nei5 ho2 ji5 hai6 sik6 si5 ge3 suk6 haak3 ，zau2 dim3 ge3 suk6 haak3 ，jam6 ho4 syu1 dim3 ge3 suk6 haak3 dou1 dak1 。) |
| David: Right. So we are not talking about age. |
| Nicole: 唔係, 唔係, 唔係。（m4 hai6, m4 hai6, m4 hai6.) |
| David: Right. Now it’s just someone who you’ve dealt with before. |
| Nicole: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right. An existing tenant in this situation. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！譬如喺租屋嗰陣呢，你嘅熟客就係你嘅舊嘅租客。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！pei3 jyu4 hai2 zou1 nguk1 go2 zan6 ne1 ，nei5 ge3 suk6 haak3 zau6 hai6 nei5 ge3 gau6 ge3 zou1 haak3 。) |
| David: Right. So an old customer when you are renting it to someone you’ve rented from before. The next phrase I’d like to highlight actually is this last one. Take it or leave it. |
| Nicole: 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: Take it or leave it. |
| Nicole: 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: It literally means a price that I am saying in a single breath. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！即係冇得改嘅。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！zik1 hai6 mou5 dak1 goi2 ge3 。) Fixed price. |
| David: Yes not changing, I am serious. You have to pay this price. I am not negotiating. |
| Nicole: 係呀！其實係好禮貌嘅一種講法。 (hai6 aa3 ！kei4 sat6 hai6 hou2 lai5 maau6 ge3 jat1 zung2 gong2 faat3 。) |
| David: So how often in Hong Kong if someone says this, do they mean it? |
| Nicole: Well 我 …..我....我唔知, 我唔知, 可能 ….. 去大商場呢, 大商場係一口價就真係一口價。 (ngo5 …..ngo5 ....ngo5 m4 zi1 , ngo5 m4 zi1 , ho2 nang4 ….. heoi3 daai6 soeng1 coeng4 ne1 , daai6 soeng1 coeng4 hai6 jat1 hau2 gaa3 zau6 zan1 hai6 jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: Yeah. You can experiment with this at home and let us know. I’ve got a question for you about this Nicole. How rude is this? In English, if you say fixed price, you know take it or leave it, that’s you know, it’s a bit aggressive. |
| Nicole: Well, 對廣東人嚟講 Okay 我覺得，其實幾禮貌下嘅，如果你真係要you take it or leave it 嘅話，你就會講 唔租就算。 (deoi3 gwong2 dung1 jan4 lei4 gong2 Okay ngo5 gok3 dak1 ，kei4 sat6 gei2 lai5 maau6 haa5 ge3 ，jyu4 gwo2 nei5 zan1 hai6 jiu3 you take it or leave it ge3 waa2 ，nei5 zau6 wui2 gong2 m4 zou1 zau6 syun3 。) |
| David: Right. That’s like, if you don’t want it, then forget it. |
| Nicole: 呢個真係 ...真係好唔禮貌。 (ne1 go3 zan1 hai6 ...zan1 hai6 hou2 m4 lai5 maau6 。) |
| David: Yeah. So the polite way of saying this is, |
| Nicole: 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: A fixed price. |
| Nicole: 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: And the more aggressive way of saying it is |
| Nicole: 唔要就算。 (m4 jiu3 zau6 syun3 。) |
| David: Yeah and you can’t see Nicole but she is dismissively throwing her arms open… |
| Nicole: You have to do that. |
| David: Yeah. Okay so some relatively simple vocab, a couple of tricky phrases. Let’s get on to our grammar point which is about an interesting measure word. It’s grammar time. Okay Nicole, what are we talking about today? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Nicole: 今日我哋要學 “口” 字。 (gam1 jat6 ngo5 dei6 jiu3 hok6 “hau2 ” zi6 。) |
| David: This is the character that means mouth. |
| Nicole: “口”，冇錯喇! 之前我哋都遇過 “口” 字，但係之前係做量詞嘅，咁一般嚟形容名詞啦，譬如話 一家三口。 (“hau2 ”，mou5 co3 laak3 ! zi1 cin4 ngo5 dei6 dou1 jyu6 gwo3 “hau2 ” zi6 ，daan6 hai6 zi1 cin4 hai6 zou6 loeng6 ci4 ge3 ，gam2 jat1 bun1 lei4 jing4 jung4 ming4 ci4 laa1 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 jat1 gaa1 saam1 hau2 。) |
| David: Right where it’s referring to the number of people in the household. So that would be a family of three. |
| Nicole: 冇錯, 譬如話 一口井。 (mou5 co3 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 jat1 hau2 zeng2 。) |
| David: Or a well, the measure word for well is the mouth of the well. |
| Nicole: 或者五口人。 (waak6 ze2 ng5 hau2 jan4 。) |
| David: Five people. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，但係我哋今次呢就會見到唔同嘅用法。 (mou5 co3 ，daan6 hai6 ngo5 dei6 gam1 ci3 ne1 zau6 wui2 gin3 dou2 m4 tung4 ge3 jung6 faat3 。) |
| David: Right because in our dialogue today, it’s being used like a measure word but the meaning is different. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，個業主話 一口價。 (mou5 co3 ，go3 jip6 zyu2 waa6 jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: Yeah things to note. This is not the proper measure word for price. |
| Nicole: 一口價。 (jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: And that’s our big hint that we are dealing with something else. So the expression here is take it or leave it. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！一口價。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！jat1 hau2 gaa3 。) |
| David: Right. |
| Nicole: 咁其實係一種好禮貌嘅講法嚟嘅。 (gam2 kei4 sat6 hai6 jat1 zung2 hou2 lai5 maau6 ge3 gong2 faat3 laei4 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah. So the expression here, the idea here is that we are not really dealing with the character as a measure word. It’s more of a measure of duration in this case. |
| Nicole: 係喇！好似業主咁講，即我唔嘥時間同你傾㗎啦！如果你唔想要呢個價位嘅呢，就唔好租啦！ (hai6 laak3 ！hou2 ci5 jip6 zyu2 gam3 gong2 ，zik1 ngo5 m4 saai1 si4 gaan3 tung4 nei5 king1 gaa3 laa3 ！jyu4 gwo2 nei5 m4 soeng2 jiu3 ni1 go3 gaa3 wai2 ge3 ne1 ，zau6 m4 hou2 zou1 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. So the measure word here is being used to suggest that our duration is short. |
| Nicole: 另外一個例子就係 “一口氣”。 (ling6 ngoi6 jat1 go3 lai6 zi2 zau6 hai6 “jat1 hau2 hei3 ”。) |
| David: In a single breath. |
| Nicole: 一口氣。 (jat1 hau2 hei3 。) |
| David: And it’s not really in a single breath. It’s not that specific. It just means in a hurry. |
| Nicole: 係喇! 即係你趕住去做，或者係喺你冇時間之前, 你一次過做晒佢，譬如話 佢一口氣跑上十樓。 (hai6 laak3 ! zik1 hai6 nei5 gon2 zyu6 heoi3 zou6 ，waak6 ze2 hai6 hai2 nei5 mou5 si4 gaan3 zi1 cin4 , nei5 jat1 ci3 gwo3 zou6 saai3 keoi5 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 jat1 hau2 hei3 paau2 soeng5 sap6 lau2 。) |
| David: He rushed up to the 10th floor in a single breath. |
| Nicole: 佢一口氣跑上十樓。 (keoi5 jat1 hau2 hei3 paau2 soeng5 sap6 lau2 。) |
| David: And that’s physically impossible. So it really means you know, without stopping you know. |
| Nicole: 係喇！即係好趕住去嘅，另外一個例子係 我哋一口氣做完晒呢個月嘅工作。 (hai6 laak3 ！zik1 hai6 hou2 gon2 zyu6 heoi3 ge3 ，ling6 ngoi6 jat1 go3 lai6 zi2 hai6 ngo5 dei6 jat1 hau2 hei3 zou6 jyun4 saai3 ni1 go3 jyut6 ge3 gung1 zok3 。) |
| David: Right. We finished all the work for this month in a single stretch. |
| Nicole: 我哋一口氣做完晒呢個月嘅工作。 (ngo5 dei6 jat1 hau2 hei3 zou6 jyun4 saai3 ni1 go3 jyut6 ge3 gung1 zok3 。) |
| David: Right. So again, we are not being literal. We are not saying it’s a single breath. We are saying, in a short duration of time, we finished all the work for this month in a rush. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！) |
| David: So to review, |
| Nicole: 我哋有呢個詞 ”口”，但係佢唔係成日都可以做量詞嘅，譬如話 “一口價” 同埋 “一口氣”。 ( ngo5 dei6 jau5 ni1 go3 ci4 ”hau2 ”，daan6 hai6 keoi5 m4 hai6 sing4 jat6 dou1 ho2 ji5 zou6 loeng6 ci4 ge3 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 “jat1 hau2 gaa3 ” tung4 maai4 “jat1 hau2 hei3 ”。) |
| David: Right and in these cases, it’s being used to suggest the duration is short. This is an advanced usage. If you ever run into this measure word in situations where it doesn’t make sense, pay attention to the secondary meaning. For now though, that’s all the time we have. Before we leave though, we did want to remind you, we have an email address where you can reach us. That is |
Outro |
| Nicole: Contactus@cantoneseclass101.com |
| David: And we look forward to hearing from you. You can also leave comments on the site. From Hong Kong, I am David. |
| Nicole: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| David: Thank you for listening and we will see you guys online. |
| Nicole: Bye bye. |
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