Learn how to ask about someone's age
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| 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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