Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
David: Welcome to CantoneseClass101.com. I’m David.
Gimmy: 大家好, 我係 Gimmy。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Gimmy.)
David: And we’re here today with Beginner Season 1, Lesson 11.
Gimmy: Getting News in Hong Kong.
David: Right. So we’re going to talk about newspapers, in the internet, and television.
Gimmy: Many different ways to get news.
David: Yes. First though, we’ve got a dialogue for you. It features two people in a office talking about something that’s just happened or maybe hasn’t happened.
Gimmy: Let’s listen to it.

Lesson conversation

喂,今日上咗網未呀?(wai3, gam1 jat6 soeng5 zo2 mong5 mei6 aa3?)
未喎,有咩新聞?(mei6 wo3, jau5 me1 san1 man4?)
冇呀,都係咁啦,你自己睇囉。(mou5 aa3, dou1 hai6 gam2 laa1, nei5 zi6 gei2 tai2 lo1.)
David: Once again, a bit slower.
喂,今日上咗網未呀?(wai3, gam1 jat6 soeng5 zo2 mong5 mei6 aa3?)
未喎,有咩新聞?(mei6 wo3, jau5 me1 san1 man4?)
冇呀,都係咁啦,你自己睇囉。(mou5 aa3, dou1 hai6 gam2 laa1, nei5 zi6 gei2 tai2 lo1.)
David: And now, with the English translation.
喂,今日上咗網未呀?(wai3, gam1 jat6 soeng5 zo2 mong5 mei6 aa3?)
A: Hey, have you been online today yet?
未喎,有咩新聞?(mei6 wo3, jau5 me1 san1 man4?)
B: Not yet, any news?
冇呀,都係咁啦,你自己睇囉。(mou5 aa3, dou1 hai6 gam2 laa1, nei5 zi6 gei2 tai2 lo1.)
A: None, nothing's changed. Take a look yourself.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: So this is a short dialogue.
Gimmy: But the lines are a bit longer.
David: Right. The vocab we want to talk about today includes more the words just in the dialogue though.
Gimmy: Right.
David: We want to talk about news in general.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: So let’s get to our vocab list.
VOCAB LIST
Gimmy: 今日(gam1 jat6) [natural native speed]
David: Today
Gimmy: 今日(gam1 jat6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 今日 (gam1 jat6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 上網 (soeng5 mong5) [natural native speed]
David: To go online.
Gimmy: 上網 (soeng5 mong5) [slowly - broken down by syllable].上網 (soeng5 mong5) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 自己 (zi6 gei2) [natural native speed].
David: Oneself
Gimmy: 自己 (zi6 gei2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 自己 (zi6 gei2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 新聞 (san1 man4) [natural native speed]
David: News
Gimmy: 新聞 (san1 man4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 新聞 (san1 man4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 報紙 (bou3 zi2) [natural native speed]
David: Newspaper
Gimmy: 報紙 (bou3 zi2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 報紙 (bou3 zi2) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 電視 (din6si6) [natural native speed]
David: Television
Gimmy: 電視 (din6si6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 電視 (din6si6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 網絡 (mong5 lok6) [natural native speed]
David: Internet
Gimmy: 網絡 (mong5 lok6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 網絡 (mong5 lok6) [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
David: So our focus is obviously on places where you can get news.
Gimmy: Or the ways you can get news.
David: Yeah. And in Hong Kong, you’ve got everything, of course. The first word is obviously news.
Gimmy: 新聞. (san1 man4.)
David: News.
Gimmy: 新聞. (san1 man4.)
David: And this means something new that has been heard literally.
Gimmy: Yes. So the most common way to get news is, of course, to buy newspaper.
David: Right. And the word for newspaper is…
Gimmy: 報紙. (bou3 zi2.)
David: Newspaper.
Gimmy: 報紙. (bou3 zi2.)
David: So throughout Hong Kong, they’ve got a lot of little newspaper stores.
Gimmy: 報紙檔. (bou3 zi2 dong3.)
David: Which is kind of like a news stand of some kind.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: Yeah. And that’s literally what it means, a newspaper stand.
Gimmy: Right, 報紙檔. (bou3 zi2 dong3)
David: So if you’re looking for a newspaper, you can ask people “Where is a newspaper stand?”
Gimmy: 報紙檔喺邊?(bou3 zi2 dong3 hai2 bin1?)
David: “I want to buy a newspaper.”
Gimmy: 我想買報紙. (ngo5 soeng2 maai5 bou3 zi2.)
David: And Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, so it got both Chinese newspapers as well as international papers.
Gimmy: Right.
David: You shouldn’t have a problem finding the news. In addition to newspapers, though, there’s also television news.
Gimmy: Yes, 電視新聞. (din6 si6 san1 man4.)
David: That’s two words combined into one. The first is television.
Gimmy: 電視. (din6 si6.)
David: Television.
Gimmy: 電視. (din6 si6.)
David: So that’s television.
Gimmy: 電視. (din6 si6.)
David: Followed by “news.”
Gimmy: 新聞. (san1 man4.)
David: “Television news.”
Gimmy: 電視新聞. (din6 si6 san1 man4.)
David: “Television news.”
Gimmy: 電視新聞. (din6 si6 san1 man4.)
David: Right. So if something’s happened and you want to watch the news on televisions, you can always ask…
Gimmy: 開電視,我要睇新聞. (hoi1 din6 si6, ngo5 jiu3 tai2 san1 man4.)
David: “Turn on the television.”
Gimmy: 開電視. (hoi1 din6 si6.)
David: I want to watch the news.
Gimmy: 我要睇新聞. (ngo5 jiu3 tai2 san1 man4.)
David: Turn on the T.V, I want to watch the news.
Gimmy: 開電視,我要睇新聞. (hoi1 din6 si6, ngo5 jiu3 tai2 san1 man4.)
David: Right. Now in our dialogue, we also had the verb “to go online.”
Gimmy: 上網. (soeng5 mong5.)
David: A lot of people will go online to watch the news.
Gimmy: 上網睇新聞. (soeng5 mong5 tai2 san1 man4.)
David: But the verb “going online” is different than the noun for “the internet.”
Gimmy: 網絡. (mong5 lok6.)
David: Right. That’s “the internet.”
Gimmy: 網絡. (mong5 lok6.)
David: Or literally “network.”
Gimmy: 網絡. (mong5 lok6.)
David: So in Hong Kong, you’ve got a choice between three ways of getting a news.
Gimmy: Right. We have 報紙. (bou3 zi2.)
David: “Newspapers.”
Gimmy: 電視. (din6 si6.)
David: “Television.”
Gimmy: And 網絡. (mong5 lok6.)
David: “The internet.”

Lesson focus

David: Our grammar point today is focusing on talking in the past tense. If you remember from earlier lessons there’s a very simple way to put verbs in the past tense.
Gimmy: Yes. We just put 咗 after a verb.
David: Right. So for simple verbs like “buy.”
Gimmy: 買. (maai5.)
David: In the past tense, that becomes 買咗. (maai5 zo2.)
Gimmy: 買咗. (maai5 zo2.)
David: “I bought it. “
Gimmy: 我買咗. (ngo5 maai5 zo2.)
David: “He bought it.”
Gimmy: 佢買咗. (keoi5 maai5 zo2.)
David: For another example, consider the verb “to watch…”
Gimmy: 睇. (tai2.)
David: …as in the phrase “To watch television.”
Gimmy: 睇電視. (tai2 din6 si6.)
David: In the past tense, that would be…
Gimmy: 睇咗電視. (tai2 zo2 din6 si6.)
David: “I watched the news.”
Gimmy: 我睇咗新聞. (ngo5 tai2 zo2 san1 man4.)
David: “I watched television.”
Gimmy: 我睇咗電視. (ngo5 tai2 zo2 din6 si6.)
David: “Did you see the news?”
Gimmy: 你睇咗新聞? (nei5 tai2 zo2 san1 man4?)
David: Right. In our dialogue, we have a bit more of an advanced case. Listen to the first line.
Gimmy: 今日上咗網未?(gam1 jat6 soeng5 zo2 mong5 mei6?)
David: The verb here is “go online.”
Gimmy: 上網. (soeng5 mong5.)
David: “To go online.”
Gimmy: 上網. (soeng5 mong5.)
David: Listen to what happens when you put this in the past tense.
Gimmy: 上咗網. (soeng5 zo2 mong5.)
David: Again.
Gimmy: 上咗網. (soeng5 zo2 mong5.)
David: We see the same thing. With most two character verbs, they consist of a verb and an object, for instance “to eat food.”
Gimmy: 食飯. (sik6 faan6.)
David: In the past tense, that becomes….
Gimmy: 食咗飯. (sik6 zo2 faan6.)
David: Right. So the thing to be careful with is that with two character verbs, if the second character is an object, we’re going to put…
Gimmy: 咗. (zo2.)
David: …in the middle of the word.
Gimmy: Right.
David: “I went online.”
Gimmy: 我上咗網. (ngo5 soeng5 zo2 mong5.)
David: “Did you go online?”
Gimmy: 你上咗網? (nei5 soeng5 zo2 mong5?)
David: “Have you eaten?”
Gimmy: 你食咗飯? (nei5 sik6 zo2 faan6?)
David: So remember, conjugating verbs is really easy in Cantonese. To put them in the past tense, just add…
Gimmy: 咗. (zo2.)
David: …after the verb.
Gimmy: Right. Okay, right. And we’re out of time.
David: For today then, I’m David.

Outro

Gimmy: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Gimmy.
David: Thanks a lot of listening and we’ll see you on the site.
Gimmy: 下次見. (haa6 ci3 gin3.)

Grammar

Cantonese Grammar Made Easy - Unlock This Lesson’s Grammar Guide

Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Comments

Hide