Learn how to speak of time in general
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.
Intro |
|---|
| Nicole: 大家好 (daai6 gaa1 hou2). I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: Matt here! Welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 12. In this lesson you'll learn about making plans. |
| Nicole: Right. This conversation takes place over the phone. |
| Matt: And it's between two friends. |
| Nicole: So they're speaking casual Cantonese as always. |
Lesson conversation |
| 你幾時得閒呀？(nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4 aa3?) |
| 下個禮拜吖。(haa6 go3 lai5 baai3 aa1). |
| 禮拜六？ (lai5 baai3 luk6?) |
| 禮拜日。 (lai5 baai3 jat6.) |
| English Host: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 你幾時得閒呀？(nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4 aa3?) |
| 下個禮拜吖。(haa6 go3 lai5 baai3 aa1). |
| 禮拜六？ (lai5 baai3 luk6?) |
| 禮拜日。 (lai5 baai3 jat6.) |
| English Host: And now with the English translation. |
| 你幾時得閒呀？(nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4 aa3?) |
| Matt: When will you have time? |
| 下個禮拜吖。(haa6 go3 lai5 baai3 aa1). |
| Matt: Next week. |
| 禮拜六？ (lai5 baai3 luk6?) |
| Matt: Saturday? |
| 禮拜日。 (lai5 baai3 jat6.) |
| Matt: Sunday. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: So this is another useful phrase that we need to know if we want to ask a girl out. |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒？ (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4?) |
| Matt: Yeah exactly. "When will you have time?" |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒？(nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4?) I bet you used that a lot. |
| Matt: I remember last time I said this to a girl though. |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒？ (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4?) |
| Matt: Yeah that's right and she said, she responded to me 'last week.' |
| Nicole: 上個禮拜 (soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: Anyway we'll cover that phrase as well in our vocabulary section. |
| Nicole: Right. We also got lots of vocab about weekday. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: Let's take a look now at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Nicole: 幾時 (gei2 si4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: When. |
| Nicole: 幾時 (gei2 si4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 幾時 (gei2 si4) [natural native speed]. 得閒 (dak1 haan4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: To have time or to be available. |
| Nicole: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 得閒 (dak1 haan4) [natural native speed]. 下個 (haa6 go3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next or next one. |
| Nicole: 下個 (haa6 go3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 下個 (haa6 go3) [natural native speed].上個 (soeng6 go3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Last or last one. |
| Nicole: 上個 (soeng6 go3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 上個 (soeng6 go3) [natural native speed]. 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Week. |
| Nicole: 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) [natural native speed]. 星期 (sing1 kei4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Also mean week. |
| Nicole: 星期 (sing1 kei4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 星期 (sing1 kei4) [natural native speed]. 禮拜六 (lai5 baai3 luk6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Saturday. |
| Nicole: 禮拜六 (lai5 baai3 luk6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 禮拜六 (lai5 baai3 luk6) [natural native speed]. 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Sunday. |
| Nicole: 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6) [natural native speed]. 一 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: One (1). |
| Nicole: 一 (jat1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 一 (jat1) [natural native speed]. 二 (ji6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Two (2). |
| Nicole: 二 (ji6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 二 (ji6) [natural native speed]. 三 (saam1) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Three (3). |
| Nicole: 三 (saam1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 三 (saam1) [natural native speed]. 四 (sei3) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Four (4). |
| Nicole: 四 (sei3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 四 (sei3) [natural native speed]. 五 (ng5) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Five (5). |
| Nicole: 五 (ng5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 五 (ng5) [natural native speed]. 六 (luk6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Six (6). |
| Nicole: 六 (luk6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 六 (luk6) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Matt: All right, let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases that we used in this lesson. |
| Nicole: Okay. The first one is 禮拜 (lai5 baai3) |
| Matt: Week. |
| Nicole: Right. In the dialogue we heard 下個禮拜 (haa6 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: Next week. |
| Nicole: 下個禮拜 (haa6 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: Next week. |
| Nicole: Or you can say 呢個禮拜 (ni1 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: This week. |
| Nicole: Right. Remember we learned 呢個 (ni1 go3) in earlier lessons. |
| Matt: Right. And that means this or this one. |
| Nicole: Right 呢個 (ni1 go3) Now simply stick 呢個 (ni1 go3) before 禮拜 (lai5 baai3). It becomes 禮拜 (lai5 baai3). 呢個禮拜 (ni1 go3 lai5 baai3) |
| Matt: Or this week |
| Nicole: Or your favorite answer 上個禮拜 (soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: Last week, not really my favorite answer. |
| Nicole: 上個禮拜 (soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: I notice when you say next week you're not saying ‘next week', but you're actually saying 'down week'; when you say last week you're saying 'up week.' What's going on with that? |
| Nicole: Yeah. Well we have an imaginary standing calendar, with the beginning of time on top, and future at the bottom. So when we say in the past, we use 上 (soeng6) which means up. So when we say in the future, we use 下 (haa6), which means down. |
| Matt: It sounds like you're making things up again, Nicole. |
| Nicole: Well, it makes perfect sense to me. |
| Matt: Okay. But there's another less frequently used word for week as well. What's that Nicole? |
| Nicole: 星期 (sing1 kei4). |
| Matt: Week. |
| Nicole: 星期 (sing1 kei4). |
| Matt: Week. |
| Nicole: You can say 上個星期 (soeng6 go3 sing1 kei4). |
| Matt: Which means last week. |
| Nicole: Or 呢個星期 (ni1 go3 sing1 kei4). |
| Matt: This week. |
| Nicole: Or 下個星期 (haa6 go3 sing1 kei4). |
| Matt: Next week. |
| Nicole: Right. Or if you want to specify a day, you can say 下個星期六 (haa6 go3 sing1 kei4 luk6) |
| Matt: Next Saturday or literally next week six. |
| Nicole: Yep. 下個星期六 (haa6 go3 sing1 kei4 luk6) |
| Matt: We understand the first half, but what's the second half here, Nicole? How do you say Saturday? |
| Nicole: 星期六 (sing1 kei4 luk6). |
| Matt: Saturday, or literally week six. |
| Nicole: Yup. That's the way Cantonese express weekdays. First, you say the word 星期 (sing1 kei4), or you can say 禮拜 (lai5 baai3). |
| Matt: Week. |
| Nicole: And then 一 (jat1)，二 (ji6)，三 (saam1)，四 (sei3)，五 (ng5)， 六 (luk6) |
| Matt: That's numbers one through six. You scared our listeners a little bit there. |
| Nicole: Sorry. Now I'll say them slowly one by one. |
| Matt: And I'll say the English. And I want you listeners to make sure that you're repeating after Nicole. I'll make sure to leave a pause in there. |
| Nicole: Okay. 一 (jat1 ) |
| Matt: One. |
| Nicole: 一 (jat1 ) |
| Matt: One. |
| Nicole: 二 (ji6) |
| Matt: Two. |
| Nicole: 二 (ji6) |
| Matt: Two. |
| Nicole: 三 (saam1) |
| Matt: Three. |
| Nicole: 三 (saam1) |
| Matt: Three. |
| Nicole: 四 (sei3) |
| Matt: Four. |
| Nicole: 四 (sei3) |
| Matt: Four. |
| Nicole: 五 (ng5) |
| Matt: Five. |
| Nicole: 五 (ng5) |
| Matt: Five. |
| Nicole: 六 (luk6) |
| Matt: Six. |
| Nicole: 六 (luk6) |
| Matt: Six. |
| Nicole: 日 (jat6) |
| Matt: Hey, that's not the word for seven. |
| Nicole: No, it's not. It's a bonus word. It means Sunday 日 (jat6) |
| Matt: So that literally means day when you translate it. |
| Nicole: Right 日 (jat6) |
| Matt: So Monday will be Week 1. |
| Nicole: 禮拜一 (lai5 baai3 jat1) |
| Matt: Tuesday will be week 2. |
| Nicole: 禮拜二 (lai5 baai3 ji6) |
| Matt: Wednesday will be week 3. |
| Nicole: 禮拜三 (lai5 baai3 saam1) |
| Matt: Thursday will be week 4. |
| Nicole: 禮拜四 (lai5 baai3 sei3) |
| Matt: Friday will be week 5. |
| Nicole: 禮拜五 (lai5 baai3 ng5) |
| Matt: And Saturday will be week 6. |
| Nicole: 禮拜六。 (lai5 baai3 luk6) |
| Matt: And then Sunday is the one that's going to be different because it's not using a number but our bonus word will be? |
| Nicole: 日 (jat6). And together it's 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6) which means “Sunday.” |
| Matt: So the structure is really simple. You say the word for week. |
| Nicole: 禮拜(lai5 baai3) or 星期 (sing1 kei4) |
| Matt: Then the number or 'day' for Sunday. |
| Nicole: Yep, 日 (jat6). When you say Sunday, it's 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6). There's no week 7, only 禮拜日 (lai5 baai3 jat6). |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: Okay. That's a lot for our listeners to remember. Now let's get to our grammar section. The focus of this lesson is asking when. In the dialog we heard? |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒？ (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4?) |
| Matt: When will you have time? |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒？ (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4?) |
| Matt: When will you have time? If we break it down, the first sound here is? |
| Nicole: 你 (nei5). |
| Matt: Which means you and then we'll have? |
| Nicole: 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| Matt: When, literally 'how much time'. |
| Nicole: Right 幾時 (gei2 si4) (slow), 幾時 (gei2 si4) (normal). |
| Matt: Although it's literally 'how much time', it's not asking 'how long' or about the actual clock time. It's more of a general 'when'. |
| Nicole: Right. 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| Matt: And it's always followed by... |
| Nicole: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| Matt: To be free, or to have time. |
| Nicole: Right. You can say 好得閒 (hou2 dak1 haan4) |
| Matt: Which means to have plenty of time. |
| Nicole: Right, remember the 好 (hou2) we learned that before? It means very. So you can say 好 (hou2) 得閒 (dak1 haan4) or you can ask 你幾時得閒 (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4), when do you have time? |
| Matt: So the structure here is very simple. When you want to ask when someone does something, you say the subject. |
| Nicole: 你 (nei5) |
| Matt: And then 'when.' |
| Nicole: 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| Matt: And then the verb. |
| Nicole: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| Matt: Or when do you have time? |
| Nicole: 你幾時得閒 (nei5 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4). |
| Matt: Can you give us more examples here Nicole? |
| Nicole: Sure. 你幾時食飯？ (nei5 gei2 si4 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: When do you eat? Or when will you eat? |
| Nicole: 你幾時食飯？ (nei5 gei2 si4 sik6 faan6?) |
| Matt: Because Cantonese don't conjugate verbs, you need the context to tell if the person's asking about now or the future. |
| Nicole: Right. So for instance 佢幾時學廣東話？ (keoi5 gei2 si4 hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2?) |
| Matt: When will they learn Cantonese? That's what Nicole usually says to me. |
| Nicole: Better yet, you can put adjectives after 幾時 (gei2 si4). |
| Matt: Right. Because adjectives act like verbs in Cantonese. |
| Nicole: That's a good tip. For instance, 你幾時肚餓？ (nei5 gei2 si4 tou5 ngo6?) |
| Matt: When will you be hungry? |
| Nicole: 你幾時肚餓？(nei5 gei2 si4 tou5 ngo6?) When will you be hungry? Or 媽媽幾時攰？ (maa4 maa1 gei2 si4 gui6?) |
| Matt: When will mom be tired? |
| Nicole: Moms are never tired. 媽媽唔攰 (maa4 maa1 m4 gui6). |
| Matt: That's right, but our listeners are. And this is a pretty long lesson. We've learned how to say weekdays. |
| Nicole: Yeah, like 禮拜一 (lai5 baai3 jat1) Monday. |
| Matt: And how to ask when. |
| Nicole: 幾時 (gei2 si4). |
| Matt: We've also learned numbers 1 to 6. |
| Nicole: 一二三四五六 (jat1 ji6 saam1 sei3 ng5 luk6). |
| Matt: And a little bit slower. |
| Nicole: 一二三四五六 (jat1 ji6 saam1 sei3 ng5 luk6). |
| Nicole: I bet our listeners want to ask 呢個 (ni1 go3) podcast 幾時完 (gei2 si4 jyun4)? |
| Matt: When does this podcast finish? Well it finishes after we remind them to download the very helpful PDFs. |
| Nicole: Yup located in the Premium learning center. |
| Matt: On CantoneseClass101.com. That just about does it for us today. So make sure you stop by CantonesePod101.com; and pick up the lesson notes. |
| Nicole: It has the conversation transcript… |
| Matt: ...vocabulary, sample sentences, a grammar explanation, |
| Nicole: ...and a cultural insight section. |
| Matt: Seeing the Cantonese... |
| Nicole: ...really helps you remember faster. |
| Matt: But don't take our word for it, please have a look for yourself! |
| Nicole: And let us know what you think! |
| Matt: I'm Matt. |
| Nicole: I'm Nicole. |
| Matt: We'll see you next time. |
| Nicole: See you. |
Comments
Hide