Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Cantonese Season 1, Lesson 8 - Talking About Your Age. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone's age and to say yours in Cantonese.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'How old are you?' in Cantonese.
Olivia: [Normal] 你幾多歲呀?(nei5 gei2 do1 seoi3 aa3)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'You'
Olivia: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nei5)
Eric: Next is the phrase meaning 'how many'
Olivia: [Normal] 幾多 [Slow] 幾多( gei2 do1)
Eric: Next is the noun meaning 'years old'
Olivia: [Normal] 歲 [Slow] 歲(seoi3)
Eric: Last is the final particle for questions.
Olivia: [Normal] 呀 [Slow] 呀(aa3)
Eric: Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Olivia: [Slow] 你幾多歲呀? [Normal] 你幾多歲呀? (nei5 gei2 do1 seoi3 aa3)
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger, who is elderly. Here's the formal way to ask, 'How old are you?'
Olivia: [Normal] 你貴庚呀?(nei5 gwai3 gang1 aa3)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'You'
Olivia: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nei5)
Eric: Next is the adjective meaning 'honorable’ or ‘respectful'
Olivia: [Normal] 貴 [Slow] 貴(gwai3)
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'age’
Olivia: [Normal] 庚 [Slow] 庚(gang1)
Eric: Last is the final particle.
Olivia: [Normal] 呀 [Slow] 呀(aa3)
Eric: Listen again to the formal question meaning 'How old are you?'
Olivia: [Slow] 你貴庚呀? [Normal] 你貴庚呀? (nei5 gwai3 gang1 aa3)
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I’m 17.'
Olivia: [Normal] 我十七歲。(ngo5 sap6 cat1 seoi3)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I'
Olivia: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(ngo5)
Eric: Next is the number 'ten'
Olivia: [Normal] 十 [Slow] 十(sap6)
Eric: Next is the number 'seven'
Olivia: [Normal] 七 [Slow] 七(cat1)
Eric: Last is the noun for ’years old’
Olivia: [Normal] 歲 [Slow] 歲(seoi3)
Eric: Listen again to the response, 'I am 17.'
Olivia: [Slow] 我十七歲。 [Normal] 我十七歲。(ngo5 sap6 cat1 seoi3)
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I prefer not to say.'
Olivia: [Normal] 我唔想講。(ngo5 m4 soeng2 gong2)
Eric: First is a pronoun meaning 'I'
Olivia: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我(ngo5)
Eric: Next is the adverb meaning 'not'
Olivia: [Normal] 唔 [Slow] 唔(m4)
Eric: Next is the verb meaning 'to want'
Olivia: [Normal] 想 [Slow] 想(soeng2)
Eric: Last is the verb meaning 'to say’ or ‘to speak'
Olivia: [Normal] 講 [Slow] 講(gong2)
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I prefer not to say.'
Olivia: [Slow] 我唔想講。 [Normal] 我唔想講。(ngo5 m4 soeng2 gong2)
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Olivia: For numbers between 21 and 29, you might hear people using 廿 (jaa6) to mean 20 something, instead of 二十 (ji6 sap6). Both can be used in spoken Cantonese.
For example, 21 in Cantonese can be either 廿一 (jaa6 jat1) or 二十一 (ji6 sap6 jat1). Similarly, 27 could be either 廿七 (jaa6 cat1) or 二十七 (ji6 sap6 cat1).

Outro

Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!
Olivia: 拜拜! (baai1 baai3)

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