Learn the Cantonese past-tense suffix
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Intro |
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| Nicole: 大家好(daai6 gaa1 hou2). 我係(ngo5 hai6) Nicole. |
| Matt: And I'm Matt. Welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com, the fastest and easiest way to learn Cantonese. Today is Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson #19. |
| Nicole: That's right. So what are we looking at today? |
| Matt: Today, we'll be learning about humoring someone's non-existent language skills. |
| Nicole: And the conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| Matt: This conversation is between a very polite teacher and a diligent student. |
| Nicole: The speakers are speaking casual Cantonese. |
| Matt: All right, Nicole, let's dive right into today's dialogue. |
Lesson conversation |
| 你廣東話講得好好喎! (nei5 gwong2 dung1 waa2 gong2 dak1 hou2 hou2 wo3!) |
| 邊度係呀! (bin1 dou6 hai6 aa3!) |
| 你學咗幾耐? (nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 noi6?) |
| 兩個鐘頭。 (loeng5 go3 zung1 tau4.) |
| Matt: One more time, a bit slower. |
| 你廣東話講得好好喎! (nei5 gwong2 dung1 waa2 gong2 dak1 hou2 hou2 wo3!) |
| 邊度係呀! (bin1 dou6 hai6 aa3!) |
| 你學咗幾耐? (nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 noi6?) |
| 兩個鐘頭。 (loeng5 go3 zung1 tau4.) |
| Matt: And now with the English translation. |
| 你廣東話講得好好喎! (nei5 gwong2 dung1 waa2 gong2 dak1 hou2 hou2 wo3!) |
| Your Cantonese is really good. |
| 邊度係呀! (bin1 dou6 hai6 aa3!) |
| No, it’s not. |
| 你學咗幾耐? (nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 noi6?) |
| How long have you been learning? |
| 兩個鐘頭。 (loeng5 go3 zung1 tau4.) |
| Two hours. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: After two hours, his Cantonese is really good. |
| Nicole: Well, after listening to CantoneseClass101.com for two hours, your Cantonese will be just as good. |
| Matt: If it is this good after two hours, imagine what it would be like after two days. |
| Nicole: You will be a professional after two weeks. |
| Matt: Well, I hope that's your guarantee because I don't know if I can cover that one. But in this lesson we are going to cover some basic vocabulary. |
| Nicole: Vocabulary that is the foundation to any fluent speaker of Cantonese. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: So let's move right on to the vocabulary section. |
| Nicole: 廣東話(gwong2 dung1 waa2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Cantonese language. |
| Nicole: 廣東話(gwong2 dung1 waa2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 廣東話(gwong2 dung1 waa2) [natural native speed]. 咗(zo2) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Which literally is the -ed suffix, which means past tense. |
| Nicole: 咗(zo2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 咗(zo2) [natural native speed]. 邊度 (bin1 dou6)[natural native speed] |
| Matt: Where. |
| Nicole: 邊度(bin1 dou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 邊度(bin1 dou6) [natural native speed]. 呢度(ni1 dou6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Here. |
| Nicole: 呢度(ni1 dou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 呢度(ni1 dou6) [natural native speed]. 嗰度(go2 dou6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: There. |
| Nicole: 嗰度(go2 dou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 嗰度(go2 dou6) [natural native speed]. 幾耐(gei2 noi6) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: How long. |
| Nicole: 幾耐(gei2 noi6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 幾耐(gei2 noi6) [natural native speed]. 鐘頭(zung1 tau4) [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Hour. |
| Nicole: 鐘頭(zung1 tau4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 鐘頭(zung1 tau4) [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Matt: All right, Nicole, let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from today's lesson. So our first word is the word for Cantonese language itself. |
| Nicole: 廣東話 (gwong2 dung1 waa2). |
| Matt: Cantonese language. |
| Nicole: 廣東話 (gwong2 dung1 waa2). |
| Matt: And the name of the language actually is based off of the name for Canton or Guangdong. |
| Nicole: That's right. And our next word is the past tense marker 咗 (zo2). |
| Matt: Which is -ed. You can put this at the end of verbs to show that the action already took place. |
| Nicole: 咗 (zo2). |
| Matt: In our previous lesson we taught you the words “this” and “that”. |
| Nicole: 呢 (ni1), 嗰 (go2). |
| Matt: Now today, we are going to teach you the words “here” and “there”. |
| Nicole: 呢度 (ni1 dou6). |
| Matt: Here. |
| Nicole: 嗰度(go2 dou6) |
| Matt: There. |
| Nicole: 呢度 (ni1 dou6), 嗰度 (go2 dou6). |
| Matt: Here and there. And if you are totally lost you can ask somebody... |
| Nicole: 邊度(bin1 dou6) |
| Matt: Where. |
| Nicole: 邊度(bin1 dou6) |
| Matt: So when someone compliments you on your awesome Cantonese you can reply? |
| Nicole: 邊度係呀 (bin1 dou6 hai6 aa3) |
| Matt: Which means “where?” |
| Nicole: 邊度係呀 (bin1 dou6 hai6 aa3) |
| Matt: As in "Where is this person you are talking about, it can't possibly be me. |
| Nicole: Well, this is meant to be modest. |
| Matt: Moving on, one of the first questions someone may ask you is how long you have been studying Cantonese? |
| Nicole: 幾耐 (gei2 noi6). |
| Matt: “How long” or “how much time”. |
| Nicole: Like we heard in the dialogue 你學咗幾耐?(nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 loi6?) |
| Matt: Now, if you are a super learner, and just finished listening to this podcast you can reply... |
| Nicole: "One hour," 一個鐘頭 (jat1 go3 zung1 tau4). |
| Matt: And the word for hour is? |
| Nicole: 鐘頭(zung1 tau4) or shorter 鐘(zung1) and this literally means "clock". |
| Matt: And if you've been studying for two hours you can say? |
| Nicole: 兩個鐘頭 (loeng5 go3 zung1 tau4) or 兩個鐘 (loeng5 go3 zung1). |
| Matt: And we should point out the most common measure word in Cantonese is? |
| Nicole: 個 (go3). |
| Matt: So now that we've covered the basics, you are on your way to receiving plenty of flattering comments about your Cantonese speaking skill. |
| Nicole: That's right. |
| Matt: And the mark of a true professional is grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Nicole: Right so let's move to the grammar point right now. |
| Matt: We mentioned this word briefly in the vocabulary section. |
| Nicole: 咗(zo2) |
| Matt: This is the past tense marker in Cantonese. |
| Nicole: That's right. Unlike English you don't have to conjugate verbs in Cantonese. |
| Matt: All you need to do is add a... |
| Nicole: 咗(zo2) |
| Matt: ...to the end of the verb. |
| Nicole: When you add this to the end of the verb, people will know that you are talking about things happened in the past. |
| Matt: In the dialogue we heard this sample sentence. |
| Nicole: 你學咗幾耐？(nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 noi6?) |
| Matt: This means "How long have you been studying?" |
| Nicole: 你學咗幾耐？(nei5 hok6 zo2 gei2 noi6?) |
| Matt: Literally "You learned how long?" |
| Nicole: 學咗(hok6 zo2) |
| Matt: We have some more examples explaining… |
| Nicole: 咗(zo2) |
| Matt: Our first example is… |
| Nicole: 食咗(sik6 zo2) |
| Matt: Which means “to have eaten”. |
| Nicole: 食咗(sik6 zo2) |
| Matt: You can also place a subject before it. |
| Nicole: Like 我食咗 (ngo5 sik6 zo2). |
| Matt: Which is “I have eaten”. |
| Nicole: 我食咗 (ngo5 sik6 zo2). |
| Matt: Next we have. |
| Nicole: 飲咗 (jam2 zo2). |
| Matt: Which is “to have drank” or “drunk”. |
| Nicole: 我飲咗水 (ngo5 jam2 zo2 seoi2). |
| Matt: “I drank some water”. |
| Nicole: 我飲咗水 (ngo5 jam2 zo2 seoi2). |
| Matt: And notice the object of the sentence… |
| Nicole: 水(seoi2) |
| Matt: …goes directly after the verb. |
| Nicole: 飲咗 (jam2 zo2). So the whole phrase is 飲咗水 (jam2 zo2 seoi2). |
| Matt: When you finished doing something you can say? |
| Nicole: 做咗(zou6 zo2) |
| Matt: The verb here is "To do." |
| Nicole: 做(zou6). And the past tense is 做咗(zou6 zo2). |
| Matt: Now we have two final examples for you. |
| Nicole: 走咗 (zau2 zo2) |
| Matt: As in "He left." |
| Nicole: 佢走咗 (keoi5 zau2 zo2) |
| Matt: And finally "to have come." |
| Nicole: 嚟咗 (lei4 zo2). |
| Matt: As in "He came." |
| Nicole: 佢嚟咗 (keoi5 lei4 zo2). |
| Matt: So that is the past tense. |
| Nicole: Yup. In review all we do is add 咗(zo2) after a verb. |
| Matt: And this signifies that the action has already taken place or been completed. |
| Nicole: And don't forget you can place the object of the sentence right after the verb. |
| Matt: So the next time someone asks you how long you have been learning Cantonese you can say? |
| Nicole: 我學咗兩個鐘頭 (ngo5 hok6 zo2 loeng5 go3 zung1 tau4) |
| Matt: “I have been studying for two hours.” So to keep improving your Cantonese, make sure you come by CantoneseClass101.com. |
Outro |
| Nicole: Here you will find all the study tools you need to have someone comment 你廣東話講得好好喎! (nei5 gwong2 dung1 waa2 gong2 dak1 hou2 hou2 wo3!) |
| Matt: Well, that just about wraps it up for today. Thanks for tuning in. |
| Nicole: Thank you. |
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