Learn how to use 咪 in a positive sense
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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 8. Everything is on Sale in Hong Kong. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！香港好多Sales 㗎！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！hoeng1 gong2 hou2 do1 Sales gaa3 ！) |
| David: Yeah especially electronics. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，特別呢喺 Christmas 同埋或者Easter 嘅時候呢會有大 Sales 嘅。 (mou5 co3 ，dak6 bit6 ne1 hai2 Christmas tung4 maai4 waak6 ze2 Easter ge3 si4 hau6 ne1 wui2 jau5 daai6 Sales ge3 。) |
| David: Huh and especially at Festival Walk… |
| Nicole: 啊！又一城。 (aa1 ！jau6 jat1 sing4 。) |
| David: Our favorite shopping center in Hong Kong. That said, our dialogue Nicole, where does it take place, what’s happening today? |
| Nicole: Eh, 兩個朋友.... 喺佢哋間屋企啦可能，咁呀...傾緊新買嘅電腦，手提電腦。 (loeng5 go3 pang4 jau5 .... hai2 keoi5 dei6 gaan1 nguk1 kei5 laa1 ho2 nang4 ，gam2 aa6 ...king1 gan2 san1 maai5 ge3 din6 nou5 ，sau2 tai4 din6 nou5 。) |
| David: Yes. It’s a new laptop. We are going to find out all about it and this dialogue is casual Cantonese as always. Let’s get to it. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:部手提電腦幾靚喎，幾時買㗎？ (A: bou6 sau2 tai4 din6 nou5 gei2 leng3 wo3, gei2 si4 maai5 gaa3?) |
| B:今年年初。我買嗰陣啱啱好有活動，電子產品全線降價，平咗三成。 (B: gam1 nin2 nin4 co1, ngo5 maai5 go2 zan6 ngaam1 ngaam1 hou2 jau5 wut6 dung6, din6 zi2 caan2 ban2 cyun4 sin3 gong3 gaa3, peng4 zo2 saam1 sing4.) |
| A:咁你咪執到？呢啲益街坊嘅優惠好少有㗎。(A: gam2 nei5 mai6 zap1 dou3? ni1 di1 jik1 gaai1 fong1 ge3 jau1 wai6 hou2 siu2 jau5 gaa3.) |
| B:商家梗係唔會傻到蝕本啦。鼠標、螢幕保護膜同埋個電腦袋，加加埋埋都唔少錢啦。 (B: soeng1 gaa1 gang2 hai6 m4 wui5 so4 dou3 sik6 bun2 laa1. syu2 biu1, ping4 mok6 bou2 wu6 mok2 tung4 maai4 go3 din6 nou5 doi6, gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4 dou1 m4 siu2 cin2 laa1.) |
| A:人地出隻雞，你出豉油都好應該吖。部機好用咪得囉。 (A: jan4 dei6 ceot1 zek3 gai1, nei5 ceot1 si6 jau4 dou1 hou2 jing1 goi1 aa1. bou6 gei1 hou2 jung6 mai6 dak1 lo1.) |
| B:好用至奇。電池頂唔够兩粒鐘，散熱又差。總之平嘢冇好嘢啦。 (B: hou2 jung6 zi3 kei4. din6 ci4 ding2 m4 gau3 loeng5 lap1 zung1, saan3 jit6 jau6 caa1. zung2 zi1 peng4 je5 mou5 hou2 je5 laa1.) |
| A: Nice laptop! When did you get it? |
| B: At the beginning of this year, they were having a promotion on electronics. I got thirty percent off this one. |
| A: What a steal. You don't see this kind of sale very often. |
| B: The store isn't dumb enough to lose money. I also bought a mouse, monitor protection screen, and laptop bag. Those weren't cheap at all. |
| A: That makes sense. After all, you got a bargain. At least the machine is good. |
| B: But it isn't. The battery doesn't even last for two hours, and the heat dissipation is awful. Anyway, I got what I paid for. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: I’ve got to say, I really don’t understand the monitor protection screens. |
| Nicole: 我都唔明，係呀！點解會有人買螢幕保護貼呢？我係唔用嘅。 ( ngo5 dou1 m4 ming4 ，hai6 aa3 ！dim2 gaai2 wui2 jau5 jan4 maai5 jing4 mok6 bou2 wu6 tip3 ne1 ？ngo5 hai6 m4 jung6 ge3 。) |
| David: I mean, I’ve heard that they are supposed to protect you from radiation but I don’t see how that’s possible. |
| Nicole: 哈哈哈！因為佢會加厚啲嘅，所以可以反射啲或者係減少過濾啲輻射，而且仲賣到好貴添。 (haa1 haa1 haa1 ！jan1 wai6 keoi5 wui2 gaa1 hau5 di1 ge3 ，so2 ji5 ho2 ji5 faan2 se6 di1 waak6 ze2 hai6 gaam2 siu2 gwo3 leoi6 di1 fuk1 se6 ，ji4 ce2 zung6 maai6 dou3 hou2 gwai3 tim1 。) |
| David: Yeah it’s about making money. |
| Nicole: 冇錯。 (mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Anyway, let’s get to our vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Nicole: 全線。 (cyun4 sin3.) |
| David: The entire line. |
| Nicole: 全 線, 全線, 益。 (cyun4 sin3 , cyun4 sin3, jik1.) |
| David: To benefit. |
| Nicole: 益, 益, 蝕。 (jik1, jik1, sit6.) |
| David: To lose money. |
| Nicole: 蝕, 蝕, 鼠標。 (sit6, sit6, syu2 biu1.) |
| David: Mouse. |
| Nicole: 鼠 標, 鼠標, 螢幕。 (syu2 biu1, syu2 biu1, jing4 mok6.) |
| David: Screen. |
| Nicole: 螢 幕, 螢幕, 鍵盤。 (jing4 mok6, jing4 mok6, gin6 pun2.) |
| David: Keyboard. |
| Nicole: 鍵 盤, 鍵盤, 保護膜。 (gin6 pun2, gin6 pun2, bou2 wu6 mok2.) |
| David: Protection screen. |
| Nicole: 保 護 膜, 保護膜, 至奇。 (bou2 wu6 mok2, bou2 wu6 mok2, zi3 kei4. ) |
| David: It would be strange if. |
| Nicole: 至 奇, 至奇, 散熱。 (zi3 kei4, zi3 kei4, saan3 jit6.) |
| David: Heat dissipation. |
| Nicole: 散 熱, 散熱, 加加埋埋。 (saan3 jit6, saan3 jit6, gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4. ) |
| David: In total. |
| Nicole: 加 加 埋 埋, 加加埋埋。 (gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4, gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: In previous lessons, we’ve already covered some computer terminology. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！譬如鼠標啦！螢幕啦！鍵盤啦！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！pei3 jyu4 syu2 biu1 laa1 ！jing4 mok6 laa1 ！gin6 pun2 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. In this lesson, we have some new terminology though, the ever important protection screen. |
| Nicole: 保護膜, 好重要嘅保護膜。 (bou2 wu6 mok2 , hou2 zung6 jiu3 ge3 bou2 wu6 mok2 。) |
| David: Right. And these are used in Hong Kong to protect you from what Nicole? |
| Nicole: Eh ….. 心理作用。 (sam1 lei5 zok3 jung6 。) |
| David: Yeah. I’ve heard radiation. |
| Nicole: 輻射。 (fuk1 se6 。) |
| David: And I’ve heard that they have anti-glare screens. |
| Nicole: 可能係，呀！同埋有啲貼咗保護膜之後，其他人係睇唔到你嘅 screen 嘅。 (ho2 nang4 hai6 ，aa1 ！tung4 maai4 jau5 di1 tip3 zo2 bou2 wu6 mok2 zi1 hau6 ，kei4 taa1 jan4 hai6 tai2 m4 dou2 nei5 ge3 screen ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah. Anyway if it works, I think that’s strange. |
| Nicole: 同埋嗰時嘅..Eh... 佢嘅保護膜係好硬嘅 好厚嘅保護膜嚟嘅。 (tung4 maai4 go2 si4 ge3 ..Eh ... keoi5 ge3 bou2 wu6 mok2 hai6 hou2 ngaang6 ge3 hou2 hau5 ge3 bou2 wu6 mok2 lai4 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Nicole: 但係呢我覺得貼咗嗰啲保護膜之後呢 不利於散熱。 (daan6 hai6 ne1 ngo5 gok3 dak1 tip3 zo2 go2 di1 bou2 wu6 mok2 zi1 hau6 ne1 bat1 lei6 jyu1 saan3 jit6 。) |
| David: Yeah. Anyway, these are not just for computers. |
| Nicole: 冇錯，你仲可以有手機嘅保護膜。 ( mou5 co3 ，nei5 zung6 ho2 ji5 jau5 sau2 gei1 ge3 bou2 wu6 mok2 。) |
| David: Right. A cell phone screen protection. And don’t put those on yourself. Get the sales person to do it. |
| Nicole: 因為你自己呢係好難貼得好嘅。 (jan1 wai6 nei5 zi6 gei2 ne1 hai6 hou2 naan4 tip3 dak1 hou2 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah, yeah. I always… |
| Nicole: 一定會有嗰啲氣泡。 (jat1 ding6 wui2 jau5 go2 di1 hei3 paau1 。) |
| David: I always get air below mine. |
| Nicole: 但係有一定嘅工具可以拯救你嘅。 (daan6 hai6 jau5 jat1 ding6 ge3 gung1 geoi6 ho2 ji5 cing2 gau3 nei5 ge3 。) |
| David: So anyway, that’s a protection screen. |
| Nicole: 保護膜。 (bou2 wu6 mok2 。) |
| David: Moving on, we’ve got this interesting phrase here. It would be strange if. |
| Nicole: 至奇, 佢全稱嘅意思就係 “咁先至會奇怪”。 (zi3 kei4 , keoi5 cyun4 cing1 ge3 ji3 si1 zau6 hai6 “gam2 sin1 zi3 wui2 kei4 gwaai3 ”。) |
| David: If it was this way, it would be strange. |
| Nicole: 如果係咁至奇, 咁一般嚟講你就會用喺你肯定唔會發生嘅事身上。 (jyu4 gwo2 hai6 gam2 zi3 kei4 , gam2 jat1 bun1 lei4 gong2 nei5 zau6 wui2 jung6 hai2 nei5 hang2 ding6 m4 wui2 faat3 sang1 ge3 si6 san1 soeng6 。) |
| David: Nicole, can you give us an example of this? |
| Nicole: 冇問題！如果佢唔遲到，咁至奇。 (mou5 man6 tai4 ！jyu4 gwo2 keoi5 m4 ci4 dou3 ，gam2 zi3 kei4 。) |
| David: If he is on time, that would be strange. |
| Nicole: 唔，因為佢每日都遲到吖嘛！ (m4 ，jan1 wai6 keoi5 mui5 jat6 dou1 ci4 dou3 aa1 maa3 ！) |
| David: Yeah because he is always really, really, really late. |
| Nicole: 遲晒大到，日日都遲晒大到。 (ci4 saai3 daai6 dou3 ，jat6 jat6 dou1 ci4 saai3 daai6 dou3 。) |
| David: Yeah. Moving on, one more word we want to mention is, in total. |
| Nicole: 加加埋埋。 (gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4 。) |
| David: Which you have to say really quickly in Cantonese. |
| Nicole: I think so 加加埋埋。 (gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4 。) |
| David: Right. For instance |
| Nicole: 鼠標、螢幕，鍵盤，加加埋埋都要500蚊。 (syu2 biu1 、jing4 mok6 ，gin6 pun2 ，gaa1 gaa1 maai4 maai4 dou1 jiu3 ng5 baak3 man1 。) |
| David: For instance, the mouse, the screen and the keyboard are all together $500. |
| Nicole: 都唔算貴吖！(dou1 m4 syun3 gwai3 aa1 ！) That’s not expensive. |
| David: That’s not expensive at all. |
| Nicole: 唔，好平。 (m4 ，hou2 peng4 。) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: Yeah. So that’s our vocab for this lesson. We’ve got a great grammar point today. So let’s get to it. It’s grammar time. Okay Nicole, we are talking about the specific character today. |
| Nicole: “咪”，之前我哋教過 “咪”嘅意思即係 “ 唔好”。 (“mai5 ”，zi1 cin4 ngo5 dei6 gaau3 gwo3 “mai5 ”ge3 ji3 si1 zik1 hai6 “m4 hou2 ”。) |
| David: Right. At earlier levels, we’ve taught you this means do not. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！譬如話唔好開門呀！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！pei3 jyu4 waa6 m4 hou2 hoi1 mun4 aa3 ！) |
| David: Don’t open the door. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！或者係唔好入嚟呀！ (mou5 co3 laak3 ！waak6 ze2 hai6 m4 hou2 jap6 lei4 aa3 ！) |
| David: Or don’t come in. |
| Nicole: 所以呢個 “咪” 字呢就表示 “唔好”。 ( so2 ji5 ni1 go3 “mai5 ” zi6 ne1 zau6 biu2 si6 “m4 hou2 ”。) |
| David: Right and that makes this lesson somewhat strange when we start looking at the dialogue. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！因為我哋喺 dialogue 入面呢見到呢個 “咪” 字呢出現咗兩次，而兩次呢 |
| ”咪” 都唔係表示否定個喎！佢係表示肯定嘅。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！jan1 wai6 ngo5 dei6 hai2 dialogue jap6 min6 ne1 gin3 dou2 ni1 go3 “mai6 ” zi6 ne1 ceot1 jin6 zo2 loeng5 ci3 ，ji4 loeng5 ci3 ne1 ”mai6 ” dou1 m4 hai6 biu2 si6 fau2 ding6 go3 wo3 ！keoi5 hai6 biu2 si6 hang2 ding6 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. In our dialogue, we run into this but it’s not being used in a negative sense at all. It’s being used in the positive sense as in these examples from our dialogue. |
| Nicole: 咁你咪執到？ (gam2 nei5 mai6 zap1 dou2?) |
| David: Then you pick it up from the street. |
| Nicole: 咁你咪執到？ (gam2 nei5 mai6 zap1 dou2?) |
| David: Then you pick it up from the street. |
| Nicole: 佢嘅意思即係話 你買咗個好平好抵嘅嘢。 (keoi5 ge3 ji3 si1 zik1 hai6 waa6 nei5 maai5 zo2 go3 hou2 peng4 hou2 dai2 ge3 je5 。) |
| David: Right. So in this usage, even though the word is technically supposed to be negative, the meaning here, it’s not negative at all. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！佢係反問嘅語氣，佢其實即係話 “係” 咁解。 (mou5 co3 laak3 ！keoi5 hai6 faan2 man6 ge3 jyu5 hei3 ，keoi5 kei4 sat6 zik1 hai6 waa6 “hai6 ” gam2 gaai2 。) |
| David: Yeah. So we are using this in a rhetorical sense and this is what we see in our next sentence as well. |
| Nicole: 好用咪得囉。 (hou2 jung6 mai6 dak1 lo1 。) |
| David: As long as it’s good, it’s okay. |
| Nicole: 好用咪得囉。 (hou2 jung6 mai6 dak1 lo1 。) |
| David: As long as it’s good, it’s okay. |
| Nicole: 雖然字面上係話 “好用唔得嘅”，但係其實係 “好用就得喇！” (seoi1 jin4 zi6 min2 soeng6 hai6 waa6 “hou2 jung6 m4 dak1 ge3 ”，daan6 hai6 kei4 sat6 hai6 “hou2 jung6 zau6 dak1 laak3 ！”) |
| David: Yeah. So the key thing to remember here is that |
| Nicole: “咪” 字呢並唔係所有都表示否則或者係負面嘅。 (“mai6 ” zi6 ne1 bing6 m4 hai6 so2 jau5 dou1 biu2 si6 fau2 zak1 waak6 ze2 hai6 fu6 min6 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. Sometimes we run into it in a positive sense. Right, so the key thing is that |
| Nicole: 唔係所有嘅 “咪” 都係負面嘅。 (m4 hai6 so2 jau5 ge3 “mai6 ” dou1 hai6 fu6 min6 ge3 。) |
| David: Right. Sometimes it’s used in the positive sense. |
| Nicole: 冇錯喇！如果係喺反問句嘅話。 ( mou5 co3 laak3 ！jyu4 gwo2 hai6 hai2 faan2 man6 geoi3 ge3 waa2 。) |
| David: Yeah if we are making rhetorical statements as in the dialogue. |
| Nicole: 唔，就係咁。 (m4 ，zau6 hai6 gam2 。) |
Outro |
| David: Okay so that’s our lesson for today. Before we go, we wanted to remind you of one thing. |
| Nicole: 記住去我哋嘅高級會員中心 download 所有嘅 PDF. (gei3 zyu6 heoi3 ngo5 dei6 ge3 gou1 kap1 wui2 jyun4 zung1 sam1 download so2 jau5 ge3 PDF .) |
| David: Right. They have the transcript, they have the copy of the vocab and we take pains to write up the grammar points in a way that make them easy to understand. So… |
| Nicole: 一定會幫到你學嘅。 (jat1 ding6 wui2 bong1 dou3 nei5 hok6 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah. It will be a big help. For now though, that’s all the time we have. Coming to you not far from Festival Walk, 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 。) |
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