Learn how to use 得閒 ("someday"/"when you are free") plus a verb phrase
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: And Melody, today we have upper beginner, season 1, Lesson 12. Why Didn’t You Answer My Cantonese Call? |
| Melody: 點解你唔聽我電話？(dim2 gaai2 nei5 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2?) |
| David: Right, so we’ve got a dialogue today that’s casual Cantonese and it’s between two friends. |
| Melody: 冇錯，其中一個好嬲，因為第二個人唔聽佢電話。(mou5 co3, kei4 zung1 jat1 go3 hou2 nau1, jan1 wai6 dai6 ji6 go3 jan4 m4 teng1 keoi5 din6 waa2.) |
| David: Right. He is angry. He’s been calling. No one has been picking up. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Why not? I want to know. And we are going to find out in our dialogue right now. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:頭先點解唔聽我電話？ (tau4 sin1 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2? ) |
| B:開緊會，手機靜音。 (hoi1 gan2 wui5, sau2 gei1 zing6 jam1. ) |
| A:咁你得閒再打俾我啦。(gam2 nei5 dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 laa1. ) |
| B:搵我有咩事？ (wan2 ngo5 jau5 me1 si6? ) |
| A:急事。 (gap1 si6.) |
| B:咩急事？(me1 gap1 si6? ) |
| A:想問你點解唔聽我電話囉。(soeng2 man6 nei5 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2 lo1.) |
| David: Once more, a bit more slowly. |
| A:頭先點解唔聽我電話？ (tau4 sin1 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2? ) |
| B:開緊會，手機靜音。 (hoi1 gan2 wui5, sau2 gei1 zing6 jam1. ) |
| A:咁你得閒再打俾我啦。 (gam2 nei5 dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 laa1. ) |
| B:搵我有咩事？(wan2 ngo5 jau5 me1 si6? ) |
| A:急事。 (gap1 si6.) |
| B:咩急事？ (me1 gap1 si6? ) |
| A:想問你點解唔聽我電話囉。(soeng2 man6 nei5 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2 lo1.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A:頭先點解唔聽我電話？ (tau4 sin1 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2? ) |
| A: Why didn't you answer my call just now? |
| B:開緊會，手機靜音。 (hoi1 gan2 wui5, sau2 gei1 zing6 jam1. ) |
| B: I'm at a meeting. My phone was on mute. |
| A:咁你得閒再打俾我啦。(gam2 nei5 dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 laa1. ) |
| A: Then call me back when you are free. |
| B:搵我有咩事？ (wan2 ngo5 jau5 me1 si6? ) |
| B: What did you call me for? |
| A:急事。 (gap1 si6.) |
| A: Emergency. |
| B:咩急事？ (me1 gap1 si6? ) |
| B: What emergency? |
| A:想問你點解唔聽我電話囉。(soeng2 man6 nei5 dim2 gaai2 m4 teng1 ngo5 din6 waa2 lo1.) |
| A: I wanted to ask why you didn't answer my call. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: I think I know why he is not answering. |
| Melody: 點解？(dim2 gaai2?) |
| David: It’s because he has borrowed money. |
| Melody: 你想像力好豐富。(nei5 soeng2 zoeng6 lik6 hou2 fung1 fu3.) |
| David: Right it’s the end of the month. It’s chasing him down. Anyway, our vocab today is all about cell phones. Everyone uses this stuff in Hong Kong. So let’s get to it. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 電話 (din6 waa2) |
| David: Telephone. |
| Melody: 電話 (din6 waa2) [slow] 電話 (din6 waa2) [normal speed]。手機 (sau2 gei1) |
| David: Cell phone. |
| Melody: 手機 (sau2 gei1) [slow] 手機 (sau2 gei1) [normal speed]。靜音 (zing6 jam1) |
| David: Silent. |
| Melody: 靜音 (zing6 jam1) [slow] 靜音 (zing6 jam1) [normal speed]。震動 (zan3 dung6) |
| David: To vibrate. |
| Melody: 震動 (zan3 dung6) [slow] 震動 (zan3 dung6) [normal speed]。模式 (mou4 sik1) |
| David: Mode. |
| Melody: 模式 (mou4 sik1) [slow] 模式 (mou4 sik1) [normal speed]。再 (zoi3) |
| David: Again. |
| Melody: 再 (zoi3) [slow] 再 (zoi3) [normal speed]。 急事 (gap1 si6) |
| David: Emergency. |
| Melody: 急事 (gap1 si6) [slow] 急事 (gap1 si6) [normal speed]。 開會 (hoi1 wui5) |
| David: To have a meeting. |
| Melody: 開會 (hoi1 wui5) [slow] 開會 (hoi1 wui5) [normal speed]。 |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our first word is |
| Melody: 電話 (din6 waa2) |
| David: Telephone. |
| Melody: 電話 (din6 waa2) |
| David: Telephone. And the verb that goes with this is |
| Melody: 打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2) |
| David: To dial a telephone. |
| Melody: 打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2) |
| David: Punch your telephone. Punching your numbers. |
| Melody: 廣東話比較搞笑。 (gwong2 dung1 waa2 bei2 gaau3 gaau2 siu3.) |
| David: Right. So if you want someone to call you, you can tell them, give me a call. |
| Melody: 打電話俾我。(daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 ngo5.) |
| David: Give me a call. |
| Melody: 打電話俾我。(daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 ngo5.) |
| David: Right. This works with a regular phone. It also works with a cell phone. |
| Melody: 手機 (sau2 gei1 ) |
| David: Cell phone. |
| Melody: 手機 (sau2 gei1) |
| David: And that’s literally a hand machine. |
| Melody: 冇錯，手機。或者有陣時我哋叫佢「手提」。 (mou5 co3, sau2 gei1. waak6 ze2 jau5 zan6 si4 ngo5 dei6 giu3 keoi5 「 sau2 tai4 」.) |
| David: So you can say either |
| Melody: 手機 (sau2 gei1 ) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 手提 (sau2 tai4) |
| David: I lost my cell phone. |
| Melody: 我手機唔見咗。 (ngo5 sau2 gei1 m4 gin3 zo2.) |
| David: Right or I lost my cell phone. |
| Melody: 我手提唔見咗。(ngo5 sau2 gei1 m4 gin3 zo2.) |
| David: Right. If that happens and you are lucky, it’s not because you’ve lost it, it’s because it’s on silent mode or mute mode. Right, you are going to hear this all over the place in Hong Kong because there are a lot of restaurants and public places where people will ask you to turn off your phone. Now the word for silent is |
| Melody: 靜音 (zing6 jam1) |
| David: Silent |
| Melody: 靜音 (zing6 jam1) |
| David: And mode |
| Melody: 模式 (mou4 sik1) |
| David: Mode |
| Melody: 模式 (mou4 sik1) |
| David: So people will refer to this as silent mode. |
| Melody: 靜音模式 (zing6 jam1 mou4 sik1) |
| David: Silent mode. |
| Melody: 靜音模式 (zing6 jam1 mou4 sik1) |
| David: Please use silent mode. |
| Melody: 請打開靜音模式。 (cing2 daa2 hoi1 zing6 jam1 mou4 sik1.) |
| David: Please use silent mode. |
| Melody: 請打開靜音模式，或者會有「震動模式」。(cing2 daa2 hoi1 zing6 jam1 mou4 sik1, waak6 ze2 wui5 jau5 「 zan3 dung6 mou4 sik1 」.) |
| David: Right. It’s the same thing, vibration mode. |
| Melody: 震動模式。(zan3 dung6 mou4 sik1.) |
| David: So you may also hear people say, please turn your phone on to vibrate. |
| Melody: 請用震動模式。(cing2 jung6 zan3 dung6 mou4 sik1.) |
| David: The last word we want to highlight for you here is the word emergency. |
| Melody: 急事 (gap1 si6) |
| David: Emergency. |
| Melody: 急事 (gap1 si6) |
| David: And it literally means, it’s something that causes you to be anxious. |
| Melody: 冇錯，係好 急嘅一件事。(mou5 co3, hai6 hou2 gap1 ge3 jat1 gin6 si6.) |
| David: Yeah. |
| Melody: 急事。(gap1 si6.) |
| David: Right. What’s the emergency? |
| Melody: 有咩急事？(jau5 me1 gap1 si6?) |
| David: Right or is there an emergency? |
| Melody: 有咩急事？(jau5 me1 gap1 si6?) |
| David: Right. And if someone asks you that, you can say, there is no emergency. I just lost my cell phone. |
| Melody: 你可以話:冇咩急事，我唔見咗我嘅手機。(nei5 ho2 ji3 waa6: mou5 me1 gap1 si6, ngo5 m4 gin3 zo2 ngo5 ge3 sau2 gei1.) |
| David: Or there is no emergency. I just lost my cell phone. |
| Melody: 冇咩急事，我唔見咗我嘅手提。(mou5 me1 gap1 si6, ngo5 m4 gin3 zo2 ngo5 ge3 sau2 tai4.) |
| David: Right. And with that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In our grammar point today, we want to introduce a particular sentence pattern. We see it in this line in the dialogue. |
| Melody: 咁你得閒再打俾我啦。(gam2 nei5 dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 laa1.) |
| David: Then call me back when you are free. |
| Melody: 咁你得閒再打俾我啦。(gam2 nei5 dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 laa1.) |
| David: The critical word here is |
| Melody: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| David: When free. |
| Melody: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| David: And the important thing to note is that we are following this with a verb. |
| Melody: 再打俾我 (zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5 ) |
| David: Again to give me a call. |
| Melody: 得閒再打俾我 (dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5) |
| David: When free, again give me a call. |
| Melody: 得閒再打俾我，得閒後面加入一個動作。(dak1 haan4 zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5, dak1 haan4 hau6 min6 gaa1 jap6 jat1 go3 dung6 zok3.) |
| David: Right. The important thing is that we are following |
| Melody: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| David: With a verb. |
| Melody: 再打俾我。(zoi3 daa2 bei2 ngo5.) |
| David: Right. In our dialogue, we’ve actually got an adverb and then the verb phrase. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Again do give me a call. We don’t need that adverb. We can just go straight to the verb. |
| Melody: 譬如話，「得閒打俾我。」(pei3 jyu4 waa6, 「 dak1 haan4 daa2 bei2 ngo5.」 ) |
| David: Right. And we can actually use any verb that we want with this pattern. |
| Melody: 係呀，冇錯，譬如話「飲茶」。(hai6 aa3, mou5 co3, pei3 jyu4 waa6 「 jam2 caa4 」 ) |
| David: To go out and eat. |
| Melody: 得閒飲茶。(dak1 haan4 jam2 caa4.) |
| David: This is the way of inviting someone out to eat. |
| Melody: 得閒飲茶吖。(dak1 haan4 jam2 caa4 aa1.) |
| David: When you are free, why don’t we catch a bite? |
| Melody: 或者話「幾時得閒飲茶吖。」(waak6 ze2 waa6 「 gei2 si4 dak1 haan4 jam2 caa4 aa1.」 ) |
| David: When you have time, let’s go grab a bite. |
| Melody: 邀請人哋嘅時候用。(jiu1 cing2 jan4 dei6 ge3 si4 hau6 jung6.) |
| David: Yeah technically you are telling them when they are free to go and eat but in Hong Kong of course, it means let’s do it together. |
| Melody: 冇錯，係邀請。(mou5 co3, hai6 jiu1 cing2.) |
| David: Yeah. We’ve got two more examples for you. Melody |
| Melody: 得閒再講。(dak1 haan4 zoi3 gong2.) |
| David: Let’s talk about this when you are free. |
| Melody: 得閒再講。(dak1 haan4 zoi3 gong2.) |
| David: Let’s talk about this when you got time. |
| Melody: 或者我哋可以話「得閒再嚟過。」(waak6 ze2 ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji3 waa6 「 dak1 haan4 zoi3 lei4 gwo3.」 ) |
| David: Let’s come again when you are free. |
| Melody: 得閒再嚟過。(dak1 haan4 zoi3 lei4 gwo3.) |
| David: Let’s come again when you are free. So a couple of things to remember with this pattern. First we follow. |
| Melody: 得閒 (dak1 haan4) |
| David: With any verb. Normally two character verbs though. Secondly, you are suggesting that someone does something when they have time but most of the time, you are suggesting that you do it together. |
| Melody: 冇錯，係邀請一齊咗。(mou5 co3, hai6 jiu1 cing2 jat1 cai4 zo2.) |
| David: Doing it with you, not just doing it themselves. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
Outro |
| David: So that’s our grammar point for today. Before we go, as always, we want to remind you, if you don’t have an account on cantoneseclass101.com, it is super easy to get one. |
| Melody: 你只需要五秒鐘，用任何郵件都可以。(nei5 zi2 seoi1 jiu3 ng5 miu5 zung1, jung6 jam6 ho4 jau4 gin2 dou1 ho2 ji3.) |
| David: Right. All we need is a place to send you a password. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: So be sure to do that. It is going to help you get your Cantonese up to speed and with that, that’s all the time we have today. I am David. |
| Melody: I am Melody. |
| David: Thanks for listening and we will see you on the site. |
| Melody: 我哋下次再見 (ngo5 dei6 haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3)，Bye bye. |
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