Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Nicole: Hi, everyone. I'm Nicole. Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com
Matt: Matt here! And welcome back to our Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 3.
Nicole: So what are we learning today?
Matt: So this is our third lesson, and we're going to learn how to be polite.
Nicole: Yes. Cantonese people are really polite, as you can see from me. So you should be too. In our dialogue for today we are in a cafe.
Matt: Right. We have an encounter between two strangers.
Nicole: So listen carefully to the dialogue because this is the Cantonese that you can start using right away.
Matt: All right, let's get started.

Lesson conversation

唔該,你係唔係偉仔? (m4 goi1, nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
唔係。(m4 hai6.)
唔好意思。(m4 hou2 ji3 si1.)
唔緊要。(m4 gan2 jiu3.)
English Host: One more time, a bit slower.
唔該,你係唔係偉仔? (m4 goi1, nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
唔係。(m4 hai6.)
唔好意思。(m4 hou2 ji3 si1.)
唔緊要。(m4 gan2 jiu3.)
English Host: And now with the English translation.
唔該,你係唔係偉仔? (m4 goi1, nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
Matt: Excuse me, are you Tony Leung?
唔係。(m4 hai6.)
Matt: No.
唔好意思。(m4 hou2 ji3 si1.)
Matt: Sorry.
唔緊要。(m4 gan2 jiu3.)
Matt: It doesn't matter.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Nicole: This is a true to life story.
Matt: Really, this is true to life?
Nicole: This happened between me and Tony Leung.
Matt: But the guy in the dialogue said, no, I'm not Tony Leung.
Nicole: I'm pretty sure it was Tony Leung.
Matt: It was just some guy on the street.
Nicole: He was just denying it. He looked a lot like Tony Leung.
Matt: You're making stuff up again, Nicole.
Nicole: Sexy.
Matt: Who me or Tony Leung, fake Tony Leung. Okay. We all know you'd like Tony Leung, but we have a lot of vocabulary today and it's really useful. So let's stop talking about your fantasies and move on to our vocabulary.
Nicole: Okay.
VOCAB LIST
Matt: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this first lesson. The first word is:
Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Excuse me, sorry.
Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔該 (m4 goi1) [natural native speed].
係 (hai6) [natural native speed]
Matt: To be.
Nicole: 係 (hai6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 係 (hai6) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next vocabulary we have is.
Nicole: 唔係 (m4 hai6) [natural native speed]
Matt: To not be or no.
Nicole: 唔係 (m4 hai6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔係 (m4 hai6) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next, we have.
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Sorry or excuse me.
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) [natural native speed]
Matt: Next vocabulary word we have is?
Nicole: 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3) [natural native speed]
Matt: It doesn't matter.
Nicole: 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3) [natural native speed]. 做 (zou6) [natural native speed]
Matt: To do.
Nicole: 做 (zou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 做 (zou6) [natural native speed]. 食 (sik6) [natural native speed]
Matt: To eat.
Nicole: 食 (sik6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 食 (sik6) [natural native speed]. 學 (hok6) [natural native speed]
Matt: To learn.
Nicole: 學 (hok6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 學 (hok6) [natural native speed]. 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]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Matt: All right, let's take a look at some of the usage for our vocabulary.
Nicole: Okay. The first phrase is 唔該 (m4 goi1).
Matt: Now, the first word here is pretty easy. We're using that in a lot of the words today. And this together means "excuse me."
Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1).
Matt: But most of the time people will say it more quickly and repetitively.
Nicole: 唔該唔該唔該唔該唔該! (m4 goi1 m4 goi1 m4 goi1 m4 goi1 m4 goi1!)
Matt: Excuse me, coming through, come through!
Nicole: Yup. Actually, 唔該 (m4 goi1) means a lot more than just "excuse me". It means "thank you" and "please".
Matt: That's right. It's a very useful word.
Nicole: Yup. Like 唔該 (m4 goi1) (help me do this); 唔該 (m4 goi1) (let me through); 唔該 (m4 goi1) (thanks for the help).
Matt: So this could pretty much mean everything.
Nicole: Yup. If you don't know what to say, say 唔該 (m4 goi1).
Matt: Kind of a magic word. Now, if we break this down this magic word, the first sound as I said earlier means "no."
Nicole: 唔 (m4).
Matt: And the second sound means "should."
Nicole: 該 (goi1).
Matt: So no should or not should.
Nicole: 唔該 (m4 goi1). 唔該 (m4 goi1).
Matt: So this literally means, "you shouldn't have".
Nicole: Yeah. But we use 唔該 (m4 goi1) to say "excuse me" or "thanks".
Matt: When else can we use this useful phrase?
Nicole: If you're looking for directions, you can ask 唔該,廁所喺邊? (m4 goi1, ci3 so2 hai2 bin1?)
Matt: That's "Excuse me, where is the toilet?"
Nicole: 唔該,廁所喺邊? (m4 goi1, ci3 so2 hai2 bin1?)
Matt: Now, that's a really useful and I use it quite frequently. So let's hear it again.
Nicole: 唔該,廁所喺邊? (m4 goi1, ci3 so2 hai2 bin1?)
Matt: There's another common way that we'll hear this question.
Nicole: Right, 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3).
Matt: Now, I love hearing this just from the way it sounds.
Nicole: 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3).
Matt: It means thank you very much.
Nicole: Right, 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3), thanks a million, thanks a lot, you simply add the 晒 (saai3) to the end, 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3).
Matt: But it's really still casual.
Nicole: 唔該晒! (m4 goi1 saai3!)
Matt: Friends often say this to each other.
Nicole: So you can say either 唔該 (m4 goi1) or 唔該晒 (m4 goi1 saai3)
Matt: There's a really formal way of saying this as well.
Nicole: Yup, its 多謝 (do1 ze6) -- but you won't hear this 多謝 (do1 ze6) too much. So I recommend you say 唔該 (m4 goi1) instead.
Matt: Okay, great. Now, moving on, next in the dialogue we hear an apology.
Nicole: I said this to Tony Leung!
Matt: Fake Tony Leung.
Nicole: Good looking Tony Leung, 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1).
Matt: Now, that's kind of a long word. Let's hear it again slowly for our listeners.
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) (slow) 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) (normal).
Matt: This means "I'm sorry."
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1).
Matt: We already know the first sound here, it means "no"
Nicole: 唔 (m4).
Matt: And we know the second sound as well.
Nicole: 唔好 (m4 hou2)
Matt: So put together, it means "not good."
Nicole: Right. Then we say 意思 (ji3 si1). 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1).
Matt: Which means “meaning”.
Nicole: Right. 意 (ji3) means "meaning". We're actually saying "bad meaning" 意思 (ji3 si1). 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1).
Matt: So if we want to say I'm sorry, I'm sorry?
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1)
Matt: Bad meaning, bad meaning....
Nicole: 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1)
Matt: Now, how formal is this phrase?
Nicole: It's pretty casual. It's like I step on your feet casual. There's a stronger word you can actually use for an apology 對唔住 (deoi3 m4 zyu6).
Matt: So will people hear this?
Nicole: 對唔住 (deoi3 m4 zyu6)? Not unless they do something really, really bad, like throw a cat out of the window or something.
Matt: Well don't do that, Nicole. Cantonese people love animals.
Nicole: Yeah, we eat them.
Matt: We also wanted to highlight this word for you.
Nicole: Yeah 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3).
Matt: Let's hear that again one more time slowly.
Nicole: 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3).
Matt: What does that mean, Nicole?
Nicole: It means, it doesn't matter, 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3). Literally, it's means it's not important. 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3).
Matt: And again, this also starts with the word "no".
Nicole: Followed by 唔緊要 (m4 gan2 jiu3).
Matt: And speaking of no, we've got a grammar point all about how to say no in Cantonese. Let's get to that now.

Lesson focus

Nicole: Okay. So today we're going to learn how to say no, and how to ask a simple question.
Matt: In the dialogue, we heard this line.
Nicole: 你係唔係偉仔?(nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
Matt: Aren't you Tony Leung?
Nicole: 你係唔係偉仔?(nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
Matt: Or literally are you or are you not Tony Leung?
Nicole: Sounds pretty serious 你係唔係偉仔? (nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 wai5 zai2?)
Matt: Yeah it sounds kind of like an accusation.
Nicole: Yeah.
Matt: The key part of this is?
Nicole: 係唔係 (hai6 m4 hai6).
Matt: "To be or not to be."
Nicole: sounds like Shakespeare
Matt: And this is how we ask a simple question.
Nicole: 係唔係 (hai6 m4 hai6).
Matt: By presenting both the positive and the negative, to be or not to be.
Nicole: 係唔係 (hai6 m4 hai6).
Matt: We're actually just asking "are you."
Nicole: Right. 係唔係 (hai6 m4 hai6).
Matt: The first and the last sound are the exact same characters.
Nicole: 係 (hai6).
Matt: Which again means 'to be' or it could also be 'is', 'am' or 'are.'
Nicole: Yup, because Cantonese doesn't conjugate verbs. How great is that.
Matt: Yeah. And the answer to this question is just as easy.
Nicole: Right. 係 (hai6). means 'yes', and 唔係 (m4 hai6) is 'no'.
Matt: So to answer a question, you just repeat the verb.
Nicole: Yup. You can say 係 (hai6). or 唔係 (m4 hai6), yes or no.
Nicole: 唔 (m4)
Matt: And stick it between two identical verbs.
Nicole: True. 做唔做 (zou6 m4 zou6).
Matt: to do or not to do or 'do you want to do it'?
Nicole: 做唔做 (zou6 m4 zou6).
Matt: Good.
Nicole: How about 食唔食 (sik6 m4 sik6).
Matt: That's to eat or not to eat.
Nicole: Right, 食唔食 (sik6 m4 sik6).
Matt: And the answer is always "yes". I would like some Dim-Sum.
Nicole: 食 (sik6) or 食點心 (sik6 dim2 sam1).
Matt: So, let's take a closer look at the word for "no". In the dialog we heard the guy say…
Nicole: 唔係 (m4 hai6).
Matt: 'No I'm not Tony Leung'.
Nicole: 唔係. 唔係偉仔 (m4 hai6. m4 hai6 wai5 zai2).
Matt: No, no, I'm not Tony Leung. So just like English, to make a verb a negative, we say?
Nicole: 唔 (m4)
Matt: Then the verb.
Nicole: 係 (hai6) / 唔係 (m4 hai6)
Matt: Just put 唔 (m4) in front of any verb.
Nicole: Right. Like 唔做 (m4 zou6).
Matt: Not to do.
Nicole: 唔食 (m4 sik6).
Matt: Not to eat.
Nicole: 唔學 (m4 hok6).
Matt: Not to learn. How about 'not to learn Cantonese'?
Nicole: 唔學廣東話 (m4 hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2).
Matt: Come on now, Nicole. That's some horrible advice.
Nicole: You said it.
Matt: You don't want to tell our listeners that.
Nicole: Well. So we can leave out the negative, the negation 唔 (m4). Just say 學廣東話 (hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2).
Matt: Which means learn Cantonese.
Nicole: 學廣東話 (hok6 gwong2 dung1 waa2) with CantoneseClass101.com.

Outro

Matt: All right, everybody, thanks for tuning in and we hope to see you next time.
Nicole: See you.

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