Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hi, guys! Welcome! My name is Olivia and this is Cantonese Top Words. Today, we are going to talk about 10 gift ideas you must know in Cantonese. So it’s a gift-giving season. See if you are going to receive any of the following gifts. I hope so. Here we go!
The first word is…
1. 手提電腦 (sau2 tai4 din6 nou5) “laptop”
手提 (sau2 tai4) means “carry on / carry” and 電腦 (din6 nou5) is “computer” so a computer that you can carry around, that’s a laptop.
In a sentence, 佢每次公幹都會帶手提電腦。 (keoi5 mui5 ci3 gung1 gon3 dou1 wui5 daai3 sau2 tai4 din6 nou5.) “He brings the laptop every time he goes on a business trip.”
Of course! It’s a business trip, you need your computer so a computer that you can bring around, a laptop, it’s perfect.
呢部手提電腦送俾你嘅。 (ni1 bou6 sau2 tai4 din6 nou5 sung6 bei2 nei5 ge3.) “This laptop is for you!” 生日快樂! (saang1 jat6 faai3 lok6!) “Happy Birthday!”
I wish I got a laptop computer as a gift. Hint!
And the next word is…
2. 香水 (hoeng1 seoi2) “perfume”
香 (hoeng1) means “good smell / fragrance” and 水 (seoi2) is “water” so water that smells good is perfume of course.
In a sentence, 佢送咗枝香水畀佢太太做生日禮物。 (keoi5 sung3 zo2 zi1 hoeng1 seoi2 bei2 keoi5 taai3 taai2 zou6 saang1 jat6 lai5 mat6.) “He gave his wife a bottle of perfume for her birthday.”
生日禮物 (saang1 jat6 lai5 mat6) is “birthday gift”.
3. 書 (syu1) “book”
我好鍾意睇書。 (ngo5 hou2 zung1 ji3 tai2 syu1.) “I like reading books.”
你而家睇緊乜書呀? (nei5 ji4 gaa1 tai2 gan2 me1 syu1 aa3?) What book are you reading now?
4. 相機 (soeng2 gei1) “camera”
Tick, tick…
去旅行記得帶相機。 (heoi3 leoi5 hang4 gei3 dak1 daai3 soeng2 gei1.) “Remember to bring your camera when you go travel.”
5. 智能電話 (zi3 nang4 din6 waa2) “smartphone”
智能 (zi3 nang4) means “ intelligence”, 電話 (din6 waa2) means “phone” so intelligent phone, a smartphone or now since everybody has a smartphone, we just say 手機 (sau2 gei1) like “cellphone”.
智能電話唔單只可以影相,仲可以用嚟上網。 (zi3 nang4 din6 waa2 m4 daan1 zi2 ho2 ji3 jing2 soeng2, zung6 ho2 ji3 jung6 lei4 soeng5 mong5.) “You not only can use a smartphone to take pictures, you can also use it to browse the internet.”
How handy!
6. 字典 (zi6 din2) “dictionary”
中英字典 (zung1 jing1 zi6 din2) “Chinese-English dictionary”. So they translate from Chinese to English and sometimes, you can find, 中中字典 (zung1 zung1 zi6 din2). It translates from Chinese to Chinese. It means, it just break down the words, the characters.
呢本英文字典有好多例句。 (ni1 bun2 jing1 man2 zi6 din2 jau5 hou2 do1 lai6 geoi3.) “There are lots of sample sentences in this English dictionary.”
That’s a very good dictionary. I like dictionaries that have a lot of sample sentence, but in most dictionaries, they only have one or two. I wish there are more and on our site, you can also find a dictionary like online dictionary that you can use. Make use of it!
And the next gift is...I think you’ll like it.
7. 去香港嘅機票 (heoi3 hoeng1 gong2 ge3 gei1 piu3) “a flight ticket to Hong Kong”
Yay! Let’s fly!
得獎者會得到一張去香港嘅機票。 (dak1 zoeng2 ze2 wui5 dak1 dou3 jat1 zoeng1 heoi3 hoeng1 gong2 ge3 gei1 piu3.) “The winner receives a flight ticket to Hong Kong.”
So like for example, it might be a lucky draw, a lottery and you join it and you won it and the gift is a flight ticket to Hong Kong. That’s pretty nice. Yeah? So go to Hong Kong.
8. 鑽石戒指 (zyun3 sek6 gaai3 zi2) “diamond ring”
鑽石 (zyun3 sek6) is “diamond”, 戒指 (gaai3 zi2) is “ring”.
我唔鍾意鑽石戒指。 (ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3 zyun3 sek6 gaai3 zi2.) “I don’t like diamond rings.” But most of my friends do.
佢女朋友好鍾意呢隻鑽石戒指。 (keoi5 neoi5 pang4 jau5 hou2 zung1 ji3 ni1 zek3 zyun3 sek6 gaai3 zi2.) “His girlfriend really likes this diamond ring.”
9. 名牌手袋 (ming4 paai4 sau2 doi2) “brand-name bags”
名牌 (ming4 paai4) is “brand name” like a famous brand, 手袋 (sau2 doi2) is a “bag”. Again, I don’t like 名牌手袋 (ming4 paai4 sau2 doi2).
我唔鍾意名牌手袋。 (ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3 ming4 paai4 sau2 doi2.) “I don't like brand-name bags.”
You can see it everywhere, so boring.
10. 手錶 (sau2 biu1) “watch”
Or you can just say, 錶 (biu1).
你隻錶好靚。 (nei5 zek3 biu1 hou2 leng3.) “Your watch is pretty.”
They’re both okay.
In a sentence, 我喺父親節送咗隻手錶畀爸爸。 (ngo5 hai2 fu6 can1 zit3 sung3 zo2 zek3 sau2 biu1 bei2 baa4 baa1.) “I gave my father a watch on Father's Day.”
That’s a good gift idea right?
呢隻手錶邊個送嘅呢? (ni1 zek3 sau2 biu1 bin1 go3 sung3 ge3 ne1?) “Who gave me this watch?”
I don’t remember.
Anyways, so that’s it for today. Today, we talked about 10 gift ideas you must know in Cantonese. Are you going to buy any of those for your loved ones? Let us know in the comment section. I hope you like this video. Thank you so much for watching. Please subscribe to our channel if you enjoyed it so you can watch more videos like this and I will see you in other videos. My name is Olivia. See you next time. 下次見! (haa6 ci3 gin3!)

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