Learn how to use 點都要 meaning "no matter what"
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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: Upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson 4. Beware of the Typhoon in Hong Kong. |
| Nicole: 小心打颱風。 (siu2 sam1 daa2 toi4 fung1 。) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got an upper level lesson today. Tons of useful weather vocab that we haven’t touched on at earlier levels especially about the Typhoon. |
| Nicole: 唔，關於颱風嘅嗰啲詞彙。 (m4 ，gwaan1 jyu1 toi4 fung1 ge3 go2 di1 ci4 wui6 。) |
| David: Yeah. So Nicole, what’s happening in our dialogue today? |
| Nicole: Eh, 香港打颱風，就嚟打颱風，所以兩個同事商量緊早啲放工。 (hoeng1 gong2 daa2 toi4 fung1 ，zau6 lai4 daa2 toi4 fung1 ，so2 ji5 loeng5 go3 tung4 si6 soeng1 loeng4 gan2 zou2 di1 fong3 gung1 。) |
| David: Yes. We even have some suspect behavior with sandbags. We are not – we don’t quite understand. |
| Nicole: 哈哈哈！好好笑！ (haa1 haa1 haa1 ！hou2 hou2 siu3 ！) |
| David: Anyway, this is casual Cantonese as always. Let’s get to our dialogue. So we are as confused by this sandbag stuff as you are. Nicole, what’s happening with the wind signal? |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:今日天氣好似唔係幾好，好陰沉。 (A: gam1 jat6 tin1 hei3 hou2 ci5 m4 hai6 gei2 hou2. hou2 jam1 cam4.) |
| B:係啊。天氣預報話最近有熱帶氣旋，聽日有可能打颱風。 (B: hai6 aa3. tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3 waa6 zeoi3 gan6 jau5 jit3 daai3 hei3 syun4, ting1 jat6 jau5 ho2 nang4 daa2 toi4 fung1.) |
| A:唔係呀嘛？趁未開始打颱風嗱嗱聲返屋企啦。老細有冇話早收工呀？ (A: m4 hai6 aa3 maa3? can3 mei6 hoi1 ci2 daa2 toi4 fung1 naa4 naa2 seng1 faan1 uk1 kei2 laa1. lou5 sai3 jau5 mou5 waa6 zou2 sau1 gung1 aa3?) |
| B:唔使佢話啦，天文台話收就收啦。不過點都要閂咗窗，攞沙袋擋住玻璃門先走得。 (B: m4 sai2 keoi5 waa6 laa1, tin1 man4 toi4 waa6 sau1 zau6 sau1 laa1. bat1 gwo3 dim2 dou1 jiu3 saan1 zo2 coeng1, lo2 saa1 doi2 dong3 zyu6 bo1 lei1 mun4 sin1 zau2 dak1.) |
| A:天氣預報有冇話今次掛幾號風球呀？出面已經開始落雨喇。 (A: tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3 jau5 mou5 waa6 gam1 ci3 gwaa3 gei2 hou6 fun1 kau4 aa3? ceot1 min6 ji5 ging1 hoi1 ci2 lok6 jyu5 laa6.) |
| B:未講。不過有可能係八號風球。 (B: mei6 gong2. bat1 gwo3 jau5 ho2 nang4 hai6 baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4.) |
| A:希望掛耐啲，聽日都唔使返工。 (A: hei1 mong6 gwaa3 noi6 di1, ting1 jat6 dou1 m4 sai2 faan1 gung1.) |
| A: The weather doesn't seem good today. It's overcast. |
| B: The weather forecast has just warned of tropical cyclone and typhoon might arrive tomorrow. |
| A: Really? Before the typhoon trikes, let's go home quickly. Has the boss said we can get off work early? |
| B: There's no need to wait for him. If the weather channel says to leave, just do it. But no matter what, we have to close the windows and put sandbags against the glass door. |
| A: Did the weather forecast say which wind signal will be hoisted this time? It's already raining outside. |
| B: They haven't said yet, but it will probably be number 8. |
| A: I hope it last awhile, then we don't need to come to work tomorrow. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Nicole: Oh! 風球，每次打颱風嗰陣就會掛風球。 (fung1 kau4 ，mui5 ci3 daa2 toi4 fung1 go2 zan6 zau6 wui2 gwaa3 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Yeah and it’s got to hit #8 before people get off work right? |
| Nicole: 冇錯，我哋每次都希望佢有八號風球。 (mou5 co3 ，ngo5 dei6 mui5 ci3 dou1 hei1 mong6 keoi5 jau5 baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. So if you guys are on the east coast, this is the Hong Kong equivalent of the snow day. Anyway, let’s get right to this weather vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 陰沉。 (jam1 cam4.) |
| David: Overcast. |
| Nicole: 陰 沉, 陰沉, 熱帶氣旋。 (jam1 cam4, jam1 cam4, jit6 daai3 hei3 syun4.) |
| David: Tropical cyclone. |
| Nicole: 熱 帶 氣 旋, 熱帶氣旋, 颱風。 (jit6 daai3 hei3 syun4, jit6 daai3 hei3 syun4, toi4 fung1.) |
| David: Typhoon. |
| Nicole: 颱 風, 颱風, 天氣預報。 (toi4 fung1, toi4 fung1, tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3.) |
| David: Weather forecast. |
| Nicole: 天 氣 預 報, 天氣預報, 天文台。 (tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3, tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3, tin1 man4 toi4.) |
| David: Weather station. |
| Nicole: 天 文 台, 天文台, 懸掛。 (tin1 man4 toi4, tin1 man4 toi4, jyun4 gwaa3. ) |
| David: To hang. |
| Nicole: 懸 掛, 懸掛, 風球。 (jyun4 gwaa3, jyun4 gwaa3, fung1 kau4.) |
| David: The strong wind signal. |
| Nicole: 風 球, 風球, 暴雨。 (fung1 kau4, fung1 kau4, bou6 jyu5.) |
| David: Heavy rain. |
| Nicole: 暴 雨, 暴雨。 (bou6 jyu5, bou6 jyu5.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Okay. Some of our vocab today is very Hong Kong specific. The most Hong Kong specific is probably the strong wind signal. |
| Nicole: 風球。 (fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Yeah Nicole, what is this strong wind signal – literally that’s its wind ball. |
| Nicole: Yeah， 因為掛颱風嗰陣佢係好似一個球咁樣嘅，所以我哋叫佢做風球。 (jan1 wai6 gwaa3 toi4 fung1 go2 zan6 keoi5 hai6 hou2 ci5 jat1 go3 kau4 gam3 joeng2 ge3 ，so2 ji5 ngo5 dei6 giu3 keoi5 zou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Yeah it’s if you’ve seen it on TV when there is strong winds or typhoons, they have the instrument that measures the wind. |
| Nicole: 冇錯嘞！就好似球。 ( mou5 co3 laak3 ！zau6 hou2 ci5 kau4 。) |
| David: Yes it’s the balls that are cut into half that capture the wind and they make this thing spin. So it’s the wind ball. |
| Nicole: 唔，好形象㗎嘛！風球。 (m4 ，hou2 jing4 zoeng6 gaa2 maa3 ！fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. And in Hong Kong, it means you’ve got a level 8 wind alert which means everyone gets off work. |
| Nicole: Yeay! |
| David: Okay so anyway, that is the strong wind signal. |
| Nicole: 風球。 ( fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: And that’s why if you work in an office in Hong Kong, you are going to hear people who are very excited when a typhoon comes. |
| Nicole: 係呀！但係好可惜係一般佢都會係 weekends 先過嚟㗎！所以冇用。 (hai6 aa3 ！daan6 hai6 hou2 ho2 sik1 hai6 jat1 bun1 keoi5 dou1 wui2 hai6 weekends sin1 gwo3 lei4 gaa3 ！so2 ji5 mou5 jung6 。) |
| David: Yeah. So it’s happy times generally in Hong Kong when there is a typhoon. The word for typhoon we had |
| Nicole: 颱風。 (toi4 fung1 。) |
| David: Typhoon. |
| Nicole: 颱風。( toi4 fung1 。) |
| David: And this is a loan word in English. So it’s not clear if it’s coming from Cantonese or coming from Japanese but it’s worked its way into English from Asian languages. |
| Nicole: 颱風。 (toi4 fung1 。) |
| David: And a typhoon is technically the same thing as a hurricane. |
| Nicole: 颶風 (geoi6 fung1 ) |
| David: Hurricane. |
| Nicole: 颶風, 但係嗰個分別就在於颱風係喺太平洋嘅，颶風係喺大西洋嘅。 (geoi6 fung1 , daan6 hai6 go2 go3 fan1 bit6 zau6 zoi6 jyu1 toi4 fung1 hai6 hai2 taai3 ping4 joeng4 ge3 ，geoi6 fung1 hai6 hai2 daai6 sai1 joeng4 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. We find hurricanes in the Atlantic, typhoons in the pacific. So once again, we’ve got cyclone. |
| Nicole: 熱帶氣旋。 (jit6 daai3 hei3 syun4 。) |
| David: Right which is a tiny version of |
| Nicole: 颱風。 (toi4 fung1 。) |
| David: Or |
| Nicole: 颶風。 ( geoi6 fung1 。) |
| David: Right. Finally, we’ve got some pretty standard words. We’ve got weather forecast. |
| Nicole: 天氣預報。 (tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3 。) |
| David: Right. We’ve got weather channel or weather station. |
| Nicole: 天文台。 ( tin1 man4 toi4 。) |
| David: Right. And literally this is the observatory. |
| Nicole: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: But it could also refer to a television station. |
| Nicole: 唔，但係喺香港就冇專門嘅一個channel 嘅。 ( m4 ，daan6 hai6 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 zau6 mou5 zyun1 mun4 ge3 jat1 go3 channel ge3 。) |
| David: And then last but not least, if it’s not a hurricane, if it’s not even a cyclone, you can still have heavy rain. |
| Nicole: 暴雨。 (bou6 jyu5 。) |
| David: Heavy rain. |
| Nicole: 暴雨。 (bou6 jyu5 。) |
| David: Right but everyone in their hearts wants it to be |
| Nicole: 八號風球。 (baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Right. So they can get off work. And with that, let’s get to our grammar point. It’s grammar time. Okay Nicole, we’ve got a structure we want to teach people today. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，就係 “點都要”。 (mou5 co3 ，zau6 hai6 “dim2 dou1 jiu3 ”。) |
| David: Right. This is a pattern we can use to make sentences that start, no matter what. |
| Nicole: 點都要, 譬如話喺個 dialogue 入面我哋聽到, “點都要閂咗窗。” (dim2 dou1 jiu3 , pei3 jyu4 waa6 hai2 go3 dialogue jap6 min6 ngo5 dei6 teng1 dou2 , “dim2 dou1 jiu3 saan1 zo2 coeng1 。”) |
| David: No matter what, close the windows. |
| Nicole: 點都要閂咗窗。 (dim2 dou1 jiu3 saan1 zo2 coeng1 。) |
| David: Right. We want to highlight this because in simple sentences, it’s almost exactly the same as in English. However with more complex sentences, there is going to be something tricky here. To start though, let’s look at some other simple sentences. For instance, at the weather channel, people like to get off work too. So you might hear co-workers saying, no matter what, hang the strong wind signal. |
| Nicole: 點都要掛八號風球。 (dim2 dou1 jiu3 gwaa3 baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: No matter what, hang the strong wind signal. |
| Nicole: 點都要掛八號風球。 ( dim2 dou1 jiu3 gwaa3 baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. |
| Nicole: 但係呢打颱風嗰陣呢，點都要留喺屋企。 (daan6 hai6 ne1 daa2 toi4 fung1 go2 zan6 ne1 ，dim2 dou1 jiu3 lau4 hai2 nguk1 kei5 。) |
| David: No matter what, stay at home. |
| Nicole: 點都要留喺屋企。 (dim2 dou1 jiu3 lau4 hai2 nguk1 kei5 。) |
| David: Right. No matter what, stay at home and the important thing here is that it’s contextual what you are talking about. And in English, when we want at context, we say things like, no matter what the wind channel says or no matter what the weather ends up being. In Cantonese, we provide this kind of explanation at the beginning of the sentence before this pattern. For instance |
| Nicole: 無論天氣係點，點都要掛八號風球。(mou4 leon6 tin1 hei3 hai6 dim2 ，dim2 dou1 jiu3 gwaa3 baat3 hou6 fung1 kau4 。) |
| David: No matter what the weather is, hang the strong wind signal or |
| Nicole: 天氣預報講乜都好， 點都要留喺屋企。 (tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3 gong2 mat1 dou1 hou2 ， dim2 dou1 jiu3 lau4 hai2 nguk1 kei5 。) |
| David: No matter what the weather forecast says, stay at home and the final point we wanted to make here is about negation. With this pattern, we always use it for positive statements. Do this, hang the signal, stay at home. If we want to make this negative, we have to change the pattern from |
| Nicole: 要。 ( jiu3 。) |
| David: To. |
| Nicole: 唔好。 ( m4 hou2 。) |
| David: So the entire pattern changes from |
| Nicole: 點都要。 (dim2 dou1 jiu3 。) |
| David: To |
| Nicole: 點都唔好。 (dim2 dou1 m4 hou2 。) |
| David: Right. For instance, no matter what the weather forecast says, don’t stay at home. |
| Nicole: 天氣預報講乜都好， 點都唔好留喺屋企。 (tin1 hei3 jyu6 bou3 gong2 mat1 dou1 hou2 ， dim2 dou1 m4 hou2 lau4 hai2 nguk1 kei5 。) |
| David: Right. Come to work, things will be fine. Another one might be, no matter if it’s a hurricane or a typhoon, don’t go outside. |
| Nicole: 颱風又好，颶風又好，點都唔好出街。(toi4 fung1 jau6 hou2 ，geoi6 fung1 jau6 hou2 ，dim2 dou1 m4 hou2 ceot1 gaai1 。) |
Outro |
| David: Right. And with that, that’s the end of our lesson for today. We hope if you are in Hong Kong, you are never caught outside in a hurricane or a typhoon. And we hope that you have a good time the next time they hang this strong wind signal. For our part, we will and that’s our lesson for today. Nicole, before we go, there is one thing we do want to remind people. |
| Nicole: 快啲嚟我哋網站註冊啦！ (faai3 di1 lai4 ngo5 dei6 mong5 zaam6 zyu3 caak3 laa1 ！) |
| David: Yeah and it just takes an email address to sign up and it literally takes 5 seconds for our server to authenticate you and give you a free account. |
| Nicole: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: For now though, that is all the time we have. Thank you for listening and we will see you online. |
| Nicole: 下次見。 (haa6 ci3 gin3 。) |
| David: Bye bye. |
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