Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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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 20.
Gimmy: Comparing in Cantonese.
David: Right. Our dialogue today takes place in a store and it’s between a customer and a sales person.
Gimmy: They’re trying to find out which one’s better, which one’s more expensive, cheaper.
David: Yes, or the customers, at least. The sales person has another agenda.
Gimmy: Yes.
David: So this is standard Cantonese, the way it’s spoken in Hong Kong. Let’s listen.

Lesson conversation

買呢個呀。(maai5 ni1 go3 aa3.)
我想要嗰個。(ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 go2 go3.)
呢個好過嗰個喎。(ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3 wo3.)
呢個都貴過嗰個。(ni1 go3 dou1 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: One more time, a bit slower.
買呢個呀。(maai5 ni1 go3 aa3.)
我想要嗰個。(ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 go2 go3.)
呢個好過嗰個喎。(ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3 wo3.)
呢個都貴過嗰個。(ni1 go3 dou1 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: And now, with the English translation.
買呢個呀。(maai5 ni1 go3 aa3.)
A: Buy this one.
我想要嗰個。(ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 go2 go3.)
B: I want that one.
呢個好過嗰個喎。(ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3 wo3.)
A: This one is better than that one.
呢個都貴過嗰個。(ni1 go3 dou1 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
B: This one is also more expensive (than that one).
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: And Gimmy, you are having trouble with that last line.
Gimmy: Yeah. It sounds more like those…
David: It’s like a tongue twister, huh?
Gimmy: It does.
David: Can we hear it again
Gimmy: Sure! 呢個都貴過嗰個. (ni1 go3 dou1 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: It’s the ending. Gimmy tripped up twice when we were recording this, so…
Gimmy: And same as the voice actors.
David: It’s not that tough but it is a bit tricky on the tongue.
Gimmy: Yup.
David: Anyway, our vocab section today is mainly review.
Gimmy: But all of the stuff is really useful.
David: Right. So let’s get to it.
VOCAB LIST
Gimmy: 呢個 (ni1 go3) [natural native speed].
David: This one.
Gimmy: 呢個 (ni1 go3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 呢個 (ni1 go3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 嗰個 (go2 go3) [natural native speed]
David: That one.
Gimmy: 嗰個 (go2 go3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 嗰個 (go2 go3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 買 (maai5) [natural native speed].
David: To buy.
Gimmy: 買 (maai5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 買 (maai5) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 賣 (maai6) [natural native speed].
David: To sell.
Gimmy: 賣 (maai6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 賣 (maai6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 貴 (gwai3) [natural native speed].
David: Expensive.
Gimmy: 貴 (gwai3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 貴 (gwai3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 平 (peng4) [natural native speed].
David: Cheap.
Gimmy: 平 (peng4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 平 (peng4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 過 (gwo3)
David: More than.
Gimmy: 過 (gwo3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 過 (gwo3) [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. As we said a bit earlier, today our vocab section is a review of some really common words.
Gimmy: Right.
David: Our first two words are…
Gimmy: 呢個. (ni1 go3.)
David: “This one.”
Gimmy: 呢個. (ni1 go3.)
David: And
Gimmy: 嗰個. (go2 go3.)
David: “That one.”
Gimmy: 嗰個. (go2 go3.)
David: And we see this used in comparisons. And in our dialogue, we see these used in comparisons for the first time.
Gimmy: Right. Imagine 我鍾意呢個, 我唔鍾意嗰個. (ngo5 zung1 ji3 ni1 go3 , ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3 go2 go3.)
David: Right. Imagine you’re choosing between the two.
Gimmy: Right.
David: And can you say that one more time, you like this one but you don’t like that one.
Gimmy: 我鍾意呢個, 我唔鍾意嗰個. (ngo5 zung1 ji3 ni1 go3 , ngo5 m4 zung1 ji3 go2 go3.)
David: Then you might say that this one is better than that one.
Gimmy: 呢個好過嗰個. (ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: What’s that word that means “more than”?
Gimmy: 過. (gwo3.)
David: As in “better than”.
Gimmy: 好過. (hou2 gwo3.)
David: “Better than”.
Gimmy: 好過. (hou2 gwo3.)
David: We also have two other adjectives in our vocab list today. The first is “expensive”.
Gimmy: 貴. (gwai3.)
David: “This one is more expensive than that one.”
Gimmy: 呢個貴過嗰個. (ni1 go3 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: “This one is more expensive than that one.”
Gimmy: 呢個貴過嗰個. (ni1 go3 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: And that’s why the customer didn’t want it. He wanted that one.
Gimmy: Yeah.
David: Right. We can turn that around with the adjective “cheap”.
Gimmy: 平. (peng4.)
David: And this is just cheap in terms of price.
Gimmy: Right.
David: In English, cheap might be in poor quality or low quality. There’s not the same association in Cantonese.
Gimmy: We’re just comparing the price here.
David: Right. “That one is cheaper than this one.”
Gimmy: 嗰個平過呢個. (go2 go3 peng4 gwo3 ni1 go3.)
David: “That one is cheaper than this one.”
Gimmy: 嗰個平過呢個. (go2 go3 peng4 gwo3 ni1 go3.)
David: So as you can tell, our focus in this lesson is comparing things. In our grammar section, we’re going to take a closer look at what’s happening here.
David: It’s grammar time!

Lesson focus

David: Gimmy, what are we focusing on today?
Gimmy: We’re teaching how to do comparisons in Cantonese.
David: Right. In our dialogue, we saw this in the following two sentences.
Gimmy: 呢個好過嗰個喎. (ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3 wo3.)
David: “This one is better than that one.” Also…
Gimmy: 呢個都貴過嗰個. (ni1 go3 dou1 gwai3 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: “This one is also more expensive than that one.” The grammar pattern we’re using to make comparisons is this…
Gimmy: It’s adjective plus 過. (gwo3.)
David: Right. So subject-adjective…
Gimmy: 過. (gwo3.)
David: “I’m taller than you.”
Gimmy: 我高過你. (ngo5 gou1 gwo3 nei5.)
David: “I’m taller than you.”
Gimmy: 我高過你. (ngo5 gou1 gwo3 nei5.)
David: “Peter is shorter than John.”
Gimmy: Peter 矮過 (aai2 gwo3) John.
David: “Peter is shorter than John.”
Gimmy: Peter 矮過 (aai2 gwo3) John.
David: So all we’re doing is adding a particle after the adjective.
Gimmy: Right.
David: And it’s the order of the things compared that tells us which one is better.
Gimmy: So literally 好過…(hou2 gwo3...)
David: …means “to be better than.”
Gimmy: 好過. (hou2 gwo3.)
David: And…
Gimmy: 貴過. (gwai3 gwo3.)
David: Means “to be more expensive than.” For another example, consider the sentence “oranges are cheaper than apples.”
Gimmy: 橙平過蘋果. (caang2 peng4 gwo3 ping4 gwo2.)
David: “Oranges are cheaper than apples.”
Gimmy: 橙平過蘋果. (caang2 peng4 gwo3 ping4 gwo2.)
David: Now here’s a neat trick: you don’t need to specify either of the two objects.
Gimmy: Yes. You can just say one is better.
David: Right. You can only do this if it’s clear in context. Let’s say you’re watching a movie and you really like it. You might just say….
Gimmy: 好睇過. (hou2 tai2 gwo3.)
David: “Better to see.”
Gimmy: 好睇過. (hou2 tai2 gwo3.)
David: So that’s our grammar point for today’s lesson, how to make simple comparisons.
Gimmy: 呢個好過嗰個. (ni1 go3 hou2 gwo3 go2 go3.)
David: Use an adjective and follow it by…
Gimmy: 過. (gwo3.)

Outro

David: And with that, we’re out of time for our lesson today. So thanks for listening to this lesson. I’m David.
Gimmy: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Gimmy.
David: And if you have any questions, just let us know on the website.
Gimmy: And we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. 下次見. (haa6 ci3 gin3.)

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