Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I’m David.
Gimmy: 大家好, 我係 Gimmy。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Gimmy.)
David: And we’re here today with Beginner Season 1, Lesson 25.
Gimmy: My Cantonese Boss.
David: And you know, Gimmy, I like the dialogue but I hope I don’t work here.
Gimmy: Same here. I hope so.
David: Ever.
Gimmy: Yeah.
David: So our dialogue here, it takes place in an office between two co-workers…
Gimmy: …and they’re talking about the boss.
David: Right. Let’s listen.

Lesson conversation

A: 佢成日講大話,冇句真話。(keoi5 sing4 jat6 gong2 daai3 waa6, mou5 geoi6 zaan1 waa2.)
B: 你當佢講故仔囉。 (nei5 dong3 keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
A: 總之唔好信佢。 (zung2 zi1 m4 hou2 seon3 keoi5.)
B: 收到。(sau1 dou2.)
David: One more time, a bit slower.
A: 佢成日講大話,冇句真話。(keoi5 sing4 jat6 gong2 daai3 waa6, mou5 geoi6 zaan1 waa2.)
B: 你當佢講故仔囉。 (nei5 dong3 keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
A: 總之唔好信佢。 (zung2 zi1 m4 hou2 seon3 keoi5.)
B: 收到。(sau1 dou2.)
David: And now, with the English translation.
A: 佢成日講大話,冇句真話。(keoi5 sing4 jat6 gong2 daai3 waa6, mou5 geoi6 zaan1 waa2.)
A: He's always lying, and never tells the truth.
B: 你當佢講故仔囉。 (nei5 dong3 keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
B: Just take it as a joke.
A: 總之唔好信佢。 (zung2 zi1 m4 hou2 seon3 keoi5.)
A: At the end of the day, don't trust him.
B: 收到。(sau1 dou2.)
B: Got it.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Gimmy: It’s difficult when your boss always lies.
David: Right. But as long as he keeps firing you, you’re good. Anyway, our vocab today it’s about the truth, it’s about lies, and it’s about telling stories. Let’s get to it.
VOCAB LIST
Gimmy: 成日 (sing4 jat6) [natural native speed]
David: Always
Gimmy: 成日 (sing4 jat6) [slowly - broken down by syllable] 成日 (sing4 jat6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 講 (gong2) [natural native speed]
David: To speak.
Gimmy: 講 (gong2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 講 (gong2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 大話 (daai6 waa6) [natural native speed].
David: A lie.
Gimmy: 大話 (daai6 waa6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 大話 (daai6 waa6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 真話 (zan1 waa2) [natural native speed].
David: The truth.
Gimmy: 真話 (zan1 waa2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 真話 (zan1 waa2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 故仔 (gu2 zai2) [natural native speed].
David: Story.
Gimmy: 故仔 (gu2 zai2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 故仔 (gu2 zai2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 當 (dong3) [natural native speed].
David: To assume.
Gimmy: 當 (dong3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 當 (dong3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 總之 (zung2 zi1) [natural native speed]
David: All in all.
Gimmy: 總之 (zung2 zi1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 總之 (zung2 zi1) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 信 (seon3) [natural native speed]
David: To trust; to belief.
Gimmy: 信 (seon3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 信 (seon3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 收到 (sau1 dou3) [natural native speed]
David: Got it.
Gimmy: 收到 (sau1 dou3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 收到 (sau1 dou3) [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our vocab theme today is about telling the truth...
Gimmy: 講真話. (gong2 zan1 waa2.)
David: …versus lying.
Gimmy: 講大話. (gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: Telling the truth…
Gimmy: 講真話. (gong2 zan1 waa2.)
David: …with lying.
Gimmy: 講大話. (gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: In our dialogue, the boss was always lying.
Gimmy: 佢成日講大話. (keoi5 sing4 jat6 gong2 daai3 waa6.)
David: He is always lying.
Gimmy: 佢成日講大話. (keoi5 sing4 jat6 gong2 daai3 waa6.)
David: The word for “always”…
Gimmy: 成日. (sing4 jat6.)
David: …it means “all day.”
Gimmy: All the time.
David: So he never stops.
Gimmy: Right.
David: All the time.
Gimmy: 成日. (sing4 jat6.)
David: Also, take a look at that second line.
Gimmy: 你當佢講故仔囉. (nei5 dong3 keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
David: We translated this as “just treat it like a joke.”
Gimmy: Right.
David: But really what its saying is “you assume”.
Gimmy: 你當. (nei5 dong3.)
David: You assume.
Gimmy: 你當. (nei5 dong3.)
David: And the verb there is to assume or to pretend.
Gimmy: 當. (dong3.)
David: And what are we assuming?
Gimmy: 佢講故仔囉. (keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
David: He’s speaking stories.
Gimmy: 佢講故仔囉. (keoi5 gong2 gu2 zai2 lo1.)
David: “He’s telling stories.” So he’s not actually telling lies here; he’s telling…
Gimmy: 故仔. (gu2 zai2.)
David: “Stories.”
Gimmy: 故仔. (gu2 zai2.)
David: It means sort of the same thing, but…
Gimmy: 故仔. (gu2 zai2.)
David: …can also be a true story.
Gimmy: Right.
David: Right. It’s just implied here that he’s making the stuff up.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: “Why were you late?”
Gimmy: Well, he said he was stuck in traffic.
David: Right, when everyone knows he was sleeping. Now the reason people don’t trust their boss in this dialogue is because they don’t believe him.
Gimmy: 信. (seon3.)
David: “To believe.”
Gimmy: 信. (seon3.)
David: Very straight forward. If someone’s lying to you, you can tell them, “I don’t believe you.”
Gimmy: 我唔信你. (ngo5 m4 seon3 nei5.)
David: “I don’t believe you.”
Gimmy: 我唔信你. (ngo5 m4 seon3 nei5.)
David: Or maybe, “I don’t believe it.”
Gimmy: 我唔信. (ngo5 m4 seon3.)
David: “I don’t believe it.”
Gimmy: 我唔信. (ngo5 m4 seon3.)
David: “I don’t believe it; it’s just story.”
Gimmy: 我唔信, 只係故仔. (ngo5 m4 seon3, zi2 hai6 gu2 zai2.)
David: “I don’t believe it; it’s just a story.”
Gimmy: 我唔信, 只係故仔. (ngo5 m4 seon3, zi2 hai6 gu2 zai2.)
David: So regardless of whether you’re telling the truth….
Gimmy: 講真話. (gong2 zan1 waa2.)
David: …or telling a lie…
Gimmy: 講大話. (gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: …we hope this vocab comes in useful. Now though, we’ve got something great for you – our season one best of grammar recap.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: Let’s get to the grammar section.

Lesson focus

David: So, okay, Gimmy, we’re not going to give people more grammar points today because this is the last lesson. We’re going to have fun with our Absolute Best of Season 1.
Gimmy: Right. These are my favorites.
David: Right. And we’re going to start with “don’t.”
Gimmy: 唔好. (m4 hou2.)
David: “Don’t.”
Gimmy: 唔好. (m4 hou2.)
David: Remember, we put this at the start of a sentence, “Don’t tell a lie.”
Gimmy: 唔好講大話. (m4 hou2 gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: “Don’t lie.”
Gimmy: 唔好講大話. (m4 hou2 gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: And do you remember our second way of saying “don’t”?
Gimmy: 咪. (mai5.)
David: “Don’t tell a lie.”
Gimmy: 咪講大話. (mai5 gong2 daai6 waa6.)
David: We learned how to ask about how many of something there is.
Gimmy: 幾. (gei2.)
David: As in “how old are you?”
Gimmy: 幾歲? (gei2 seoi3?) 你幾歲? (nei5 gei2 seoi3?)
David: “How old are you?”
Gimmy: 你幾歲? (nei5 gei2 seoi3?)
David: Or “how tall are you?”
Gimmy: 你幾高? (nei5 gei2 gou1?)
David: Right. We also covered two different aspects in Cantonese. We learned how to put our verbs into the past aspect.
Gimmy: It’s the verb plus 咗. (zo2.)
David: For instance, bought.
Gimmy: 買咗. (maai5 zo2.)
David: Ate.
Gimmy: 食咗. (sik6 zo2.)
David: Watched.
Gimmy: 睇咗. (tai2 zo2.)
David: We also learned the continuous aspect if the action is ongoing.
Gimmy: It’s the verb plus 緊. (gan2.)
David: For instance, buying.
Gimmy: 買緊. (maai5 gan2.)
David: Eating.
Gimmy: 食緊. (sik6 gan2.)
David: Watching.
Gimmy: 睇緊. (tai2 gan2.)
David: “I watched a movie.”
Gimmy: 我睇咗套戲. (ngo5 tai2 zo2 tou3 hei3.)
David: “I am watching a movie.”
Gimmy: 我睇緊套戲. (ngo5 tai2 gan2 tou3 hei3.)
David: Later on, we tell you a really easy way to refer to everyone or everything.
Gimmy: Right. Just duplicate the word.
David: For instance…
Gimmy: 人人. (jan4 jan4.)
David: “Everyone.”
Gimmy: 日日. (jat6 jat6.)
David: “Every day” or…
Gimmy: 年年. (nin4 nin4.)
David: …every year. And finally, we also taught you a really versatile verb.
Gimmy: 仲有. (zung6 jau5.)
David: Which both means “also to have”…
Gimmy: 仲有. (zung6 jau5.)
David: …as well as “still to have.”
Gimmy: 仲有. (zung6 jau5.)
David: “I have a car; I also have a house.”
Gimmy: 我有車,我仲有樓. (ngo5 jau5 ce1, ngo5 zung6 jau5 lau2.)
David: “You still have 10 minutes.”
Gimmy: 你仲有十分鐘. (nei5 zung6 jau5 sap6 fan1 zung1.)

Outro

David: Right. So we’re at the end of season one, congratulations.
Gimmy: We started easy…
David: But we made it more difficult as we went on. For now though, that’s all the time we have. We hope you enjoyed this lesson series. I’m David.
Gimmy: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Gimmy.
David: Thanks a lot for listening and we’ll see you on CantoneseClass101.com.
Gimmy: 網上見. (mong5 soeng6 gin3.)

Grammar

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