Learn how to use the verb "to come"
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| nei5 ho2, ngo5 hai6 Olivia. Hi everybody! I’m Olivia. |
| Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com’s “saam1 fan1 zung1 gwong2 dung1 waa2”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Cantonese. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to use the verb heoi3, which means “to go”. |
| In this lesson, we will learn how to use another common verb lei4, "to come". |
| Imagine a friend of yours is organizing a party and he asks you: nei5 lei4 m4 lei4? That means "Are you coming?" |
| So let’s break down this question: |
| First we had: |
| nei5 which is simply "you." |
| Then lei4 m4 lei4 , which is a combination of "come" and “not come”, as you should know by now, it’s a very common way to construct a question in Chinese. |
| Altogether, [slowly] nei5 lei4 m4 lei4? |
| What if you want to add some details to the question? Remember, time and date go before the verb, while action and location go after. |
| Let’s see some examples: |
| nei5 ting1 jat6 lei4 m4 lei4? |
| ting1 jat6 means “tomorrow”, so the question is “are you coming tomorrow?” |
| [slowly] nei5 ting1 jat6 lei4 m4 lei4? |
| nei5 lei4 m4 lei4 ngo5 gung1 si1? |
| ngo5 is “me” or “my”, gung1 si1 is “office”, so I’m asking “are you coming to my office?” |
| [slowly] nei5 lei4 m4 lei4 ngo5 gung1 si1? |
| nei5 haa6 sing1 kei4 lei4 m4 lei4 tek3 bo1? |
| haa6 sing1 kei4 is “next week”, and tek3 bo1 means “play soccer”. |
| So altogether, “are you coming to play soccer next week? |
| [slowly] nei5 haa6 sing1 kei4 lei4 m4 lei4 tek3 bo1? |
| To answer this question, you can say |
| hou2 a3 for “yes”, or m4 lei4 laa6 for “no”. |
| If you want to say "Yes, and I’ll bring some friends along." Then say hou2 a3, ngo5 daai3 maai4 di1 pang4 jau5 jat1 cai4 lei4. |
| Let’s break this sentence down: |
| hou2 a3 → “yes” |
| ngo5 → “I” |
| daai3 maai4 → “bring along” |
| di1 → “some” |
| pang4 jau5 → “friends” |
| jat1 cai4 → “together” |
| lei4 → this lesson’s focus, “to come” |
| [slowly] hou2 a3, ngo5 daai3 maai4 di1 pang4 jau5 jat1 cai4 lei4. |
| Now it’s time for Olivia’s insights |
| Another common usage for lei4, is when you’re trying to persuade someone, for example, to tell you a secret, or go somewhere with you, just say lei4 laa1 with a sweet voice. It’s just like “come on!” |
| In this lesson, we learned how to use the verb lei4 to invite people! |
| So now, our lesson series about common Cantonese verbs is over, and from the next lesson, we will jump into some very important interrogative Cantonese words! |
| I’ll be waiting for you in the next saam1 fan1 zung1 gwong2 dung1 waa2 lesson. |
| haa6 ci3 gin3. |
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