Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Hello watchers, welcome to Cantonese Top Words! Today we’re going to talk about 15 Favorite Words Chosen by Fans, by you guys! So let’s start!
1. 冇問題! (mou5 man6 tai4!) "No problem!"
冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) is no problem, No problemo.
A: 你可唔可以幫我攞住個袋呀?(nei5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji3 bong1 ngo5 lo2 zyu6 go3 doi2 aa3?)
B: 冇問題! (mou5 man6 tai4!)
A: Can you hold this bag for me?
B: No problem!
2. 有問題? (jau5 man6 tai4?) "Is there any question/problem?"
冇問題 (mou5 man6 tai4) is ”no problem”, so 有問題 (jau5 man6 tai4) is “there is a problem”. But since it’s a problem, so it’s "is there any problem?"
A: 你check-in唔到喎。(nei5 check-in m4 dou2 wo3.)
B: 有問題? (jau5 man6 tai4?)
A: You cannot check-in now.
B: Is there any problem?
3. 係真㗎! (hai6 zan1 gaa3!) "It's true!"
係真㗎! (hai6 zan1 gaa3!) for example, if someone tells you a secret and you don’t believe it, and then you say “I don't believe it”, the other person would say 係真㗎 (hai6 zan1 gaa3) It's true!
A: 我唔信!(ngo5 m4 seon3!) I don't believe it!
B: 係真㗎!(hai6 zan1 gaa3!) It's true!
4. 唔係你估! (m4 hai6 nei5 gu2!) "Of course!"
It’s quite a causal phrase, probably from a Stephen Chow movie; Stephen Chow is a very famous director, a Hong Kong director, and there are a lot of funny movies and he’d say phrases that everyone catch on.
A: “Wow! You really became a policeman!” 你真係考到做警察呀?(nei5 zan1 hai6 haau2 dou2 zou6 ging2 caat3 aa4?)
B: 唔係你估! (m4 hai6 nei5 gu2!) “Of course!”
It’s full of confidence.
5. 有冇搞錯! (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3!) "It's ridiculous!"
If something’s not going smoothly, something is not going according to what they expected, they would say 有冇搞錯 (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3).
A: 唔好意思,我哋唔見咗你個行李。(m4 hou2 ji3 si1, ngo5 dei6 m4 gin3 zo2 nei5 go3 hang4 lei5.) “Sorry we lost your luggage.”
B: 有冇搞錯呀! (jau5 mou5 gaau2 co3 aa3!) ”It's ridiculous!”
6. 咩嚟㗎? (me1 lei4 gaa3?) "What is it?"
咩嚟㗎? (me1 lei4 gaa3?) Usually we say it with a very innocent voice.
咩嚟㗎? (me1 lei4 gaa3?) "What is it?"
If I see something like this, and I don’t know the Cantonese word for it, or I don’t know what it is, I’d say
A: 咩嚟㗎?(me1 lei4 gaa3?) "What is it?"
B: “It's a handkerchief.” 係手巾仔。 (hai6 sau2 gan1 zai2.)
7. 錢 (cin2) "money"
我冇錢。 (ngo5 mou5 cin2.) "I don't have any money."
8. 點解你咁嘅? (dim2 gaai2 nei5 gam2 ge2?) "Why are you like this?"
If someone suddenly changed their attitude towards you, you can say 點解你咁嘅? (dim2 gaai2 nei5 gam2 ge2?) to find out what’s wrong, why the change of attitude.
9. 靚 (leng3) "beautiful; pretty"
嗰個女人好靚。 (go2 go3 neoi5 jan2 hou2 leng3.) "That woman is beautiful."
10. 正呀! (zeng3 aa3!) "Awesome!"
For example, the airline decides to upgrade you to first class. So you say 正呀! (zeng3 aa3!) We’re getting upgraded to first class, awesome! 正呀! (zeng3 aa3!)
11. 咖啡 (gaa3 fe1) "coffee"
I guess a lot of you love coffee, right? That’s why you choose your favorite Cantonese word which is “coffee”.
我朝朝早都要飲咖啡。 (ngo5 ziu1 ziu1 zou2 dou1 jiu3 jam2 gaa3 fe1.) "I drink coffee every morning."
It’s actually not true, I love coffee but I’m intolerant to caffeine, so I can only have a little bit once in a while.
12. 你好。 (nei5 hou2) "Hello."
It’s a very friendly phrase, usually the first phrase people learn when they learn Cantonese.
13. 朋友 (pang4 jau5) "friend"
Hello friend, 你好朋友 (nei5 hou2 pang4 jau5), 朋友你好 (pang4 jau5 nei5 hou2), “Hello friend”.
我同朋友去旅行。 (ngo5 tung4 pang4 jau5 heoi3 leoi5 hang4.) "I'm traveling with a friend."
14. 頭暈 (tau4 wan4) "dizzy"
頭 (tau4) is “head”, and 暈 (wan4) is “dizzy”, so “having dizziness”.
我坐船會頭暈。 (ngo5 co5 syun4 wui5 tau4 wan4.) "I get dizzy when I'm on a ship."
Yeah, I would hate it if I get motion sickness that easily.
15. 健康 (gin6 hong1) "healthy"
身體健康 (san1 tai2 gin6 hong1) "good health"
We can wish people to have good health, say 祝你身體健康。 (zuk1 nei5 san1 tai2 gin6 hong1.) "I wish you good health."
我好健康。 (ngo5 hou2 gin6 hong1.) "I'm very healthy." Yeah!
So that’s it for today, we talked about 15 favorite words chosen by fans. And you can check out the word list on CantoneseClass101.com. Please subscribe to our channel, and I’ll see you next time in other Cantonese videos. I’m Olivia, bye!

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