Dialogue

Vocabulary

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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 23.
Gimmy: Working Late in Hong Kong.
David: Right. So to set the scene, we’ve got an employee at 10:00 rushing to finish a report.
Gimmy: And the boss is right behind them…
David: Right, urging him to work faster.
Gimmy: But his girlfriend’s calling.
David: Right. So he wants to finish right away so he can go home.
Gimmy: Right.
David: This dialogue features casual Cantonese the way it’s really spoken in Hong Kong.

Lesson conversation

A: 仲有幾耐做完?(zung6 jau5 gei2 noi6 zou6 jyun4?)
B: 就嚟搞掂。(zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
A: 快啲啦!(faai3 di1 laa1!)
B: 就得啦。 (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
David: One more time, a bit slower.
A: 仲有幾耐做完?(zung6 jau5 gei2 noi6 zou6 jyun4?)
B: 就嚟搞掂。(zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
A: 快啲啦!(faai3 di1 laa1!)
B: 就得啦。 (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
David: And now, with the English translation.
A: 仲有幾耐做完?(zung6 jau5 gei2 noi6 zou6 jyun4?)
A: How long do you have left?
B: 就嚟搞掂。(zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
B: I'll be finished soon.
A: 快啲啦!(faai3 di1 laa1!)
A: Faster!
B: 就得啦。 (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
B: Almost done.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
David: The bad news, of course, is that it’s 10:00 A.M.
Gimmy: Oh, my god. He was supposed to start working at 9:00.
David: Right. So he doesn’t get to go home anyway.
Gimmy: Oh.
David: Because it’s the next day. Welcome to Hong Kong. Anyway, our vocab section today is mostly review. So see how much of this you remember.
VOCAB LIST
Gimmy: 仲有 (zung6 jau5) [natural native speed]
David: Still to have; also have.
Gimmy: 仲有 (zung6 jau5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 仲有 (zung6 jau5) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 幾耐 (gei2 noi6) [natural native speed]
David: How long.
Gimmy: 幾耐 (gei2 noi6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 幾耐 (gei2 noi6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 做完 (zou6 jyun4) [natural native speed].
David: To finish.
Gimmy: 做完 (zou6 jyun4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 做完 (zou6 jyun4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 搞掂 (gaau2 dim6) [natural native speed].
David: To resolve.
Gimmy: 搞掂 (gaau2 dim6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 搞掂 (gaau2 dim6) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 快 (faai3) [natural native speed]
David: Fast.
Gimmy: 快 (faai3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 快 (faai3) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 就嚟 (zau6 lai4) [natural native speed]
David: Almost.
Gimmy: 就嚟 (zau6 lai4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 就嚟 (zau6 lai4) [natural native speed].
Gimmy: 得 (dak1) [natural native speed].
David: Okay.
Gimmy: 得 (dak1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 得 (dak1) [natural native speed].
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. The first word we want to talk about is actually in the last line…
Gimmy: 就得啦. (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
David: Right. It’s the word…
Gimmy: 得. (dak1.)
David: And Gimmy, before the podcast, we were talking about how to translate this.
Gimmy: I know.
David: Right? It means “okay” or…
Gimmy: It means “done.”
David: …“done.”
Gimmy: It’s okay; it’s finished.
David: Right. So listen to the line again.
Gimmy: 就得啦. (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
David: What he’s really saying is “soon it’s done”, “soon it’s okay.”
Gimmy: Yes.
David: It’ll be done soon, it’ll be okay soon.
Gimmy: It’s very general line that could be used any time.
David: Yeah. I mean, it means done but he’s not saying “done”; it just means “okay.”
Gimmy: Yes, 就得啦. (zau6 dak1 laa3.)
David: Okay.
Gimmy: 得 (dak1)
David: Now, some of the words here are review for us such as the verb…
Gimmy: 仲有. (zung6 jau5.)
David: “Still to have.”
Gimmy: 仲有. (zung6 jau5.)
David: Or “also to have.” “I still have five minutes.”
Gimmy: 我仲有五分鐘. (ngo5 zung6 jau5 ng5 fan1 zung1.)
David: “I have a car; I also have a house.”
Gimmy: 我有車,我仲有樓. (ngo5 jau5 ce1, ngo5 zung6 jau5 lau4.)
David: Right. In previous lessons, we’ve also seen the question “how long?”
Gimmy: 幾耐? (gei2 noi6?)
David: “How long?”
Gimmy: 幾耐. (gei2 noi6.) For example you’re in a meeting; you want to know how long is the meeting, 仲有幾耐開完會? (zung6 jau5 gei2 noi6 hoi1 jyun4 wui5?)
David: “How long is the meeting?”
Gimmy: 仲有幾耐開完會? (zung6 jau5 gei2 noi6 hoi1 jyun4 wui5?)
David: Right. Now some of the more difficult words from this lesson. The most difficult is probably the verb we translated as “to resolve.”
Gimmy: 搞掂. (gaau2 dim6.)
David: “To resolve.”
Gimmy: 搞掂. (gaau2 dim6.)
David: And this really means to kind of “to take care of” or “to settle up” or “to finish.”
Gimmy: Yes. Again, this is very Cantonese.
David: Yeah. It’s sort of like in English when we say “to take care of something.”
Gimmy: Right.
David: Right? You need to understand contextually what they’re talking about.
Gimmy: Yeah. It’s hard to translate exactly.
David: Right. But you could say things like “I’ve taken care of the problem.”
Gimmy: 我搞掂咗個問題. (ngo5 gaau2 dim6 zo2 go3 man6 tai4.)
David: “I’ve taken care of the problem.”
Gimmy: 我搞掂咗個問題. (ngo5 gaau2 dim6 zo2 go3 man6 tai4.)
David: And the nice thing is that sentence works if you’ve got a real job and it works if you’re in the Triads, too. “Boss, I’ve taken care of the problem.”
Gimmy: 老細, 我搞掂咗個問題. (lou5 sai3, ngo5 gaau2 dim6 zo2 go3 man6 tai4.)
David: “Boss, relax, I’ve taken care of things.”
Gimmy: 老細,放心,我搞掂咗喇. (lou5 sai3, fong3 sam1, ngo5 gaau2 dim6 zo2 laa3.)
David: Right. Or maybe “Boss, relax. I’ve taken care of the report.”
Gimmy: 老細,放心,我搞掂咗個報告. (lou5 sai3, fong3 sam1, ngo5 gaau2 dim6 zo2 go3 bou3 gou3.)
David: Right. However, in our dialogue, the report has not been finished. It is almost going to be finished, and that’s what we’re going to cover in our grammar section.
Gimmy: Yes.

Lesson focus

David: Gimmy, what are we learning today?
David: It’s grammar time!
Gimmy: We’re learning how to say “almost” and “soon to be.”
David: Right. When something hasn’t happened yet but it’s going to happen soon…
Gimmy: Right.
David: …such as in our dialogue.
Gimmy: 就嚟搞掂. (zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
David: “It’ll be finished soon.”
Gimmy: 就嚟搞掂. (zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
David: “It’ll be taken care of quickly.” We already know the verb “to take care of.”
Gimmy: 搞掂. (gaau2 dim6.)
David: In this sentence, we’re putting it after the adverb…
Gimmy: 就嚟. (zau6 lai4.)
David: “Soon.”
Gimmy: 就嚟. (zau6 lai4.)
David: So literally we’re saying “soon taken care of.”
Gimmy: Right, 就嚟搞掂. (zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
David: Right. And we can replace this verb with any verb we want.
Gimmy: True.
David: For instance, “we’ll eat soon.”
Gimmy: 我哋就嚟食嘢. (ngo5 dei6 zau6 lai4 sik6 je5.)
David: “We’ll eat soon.”
Gimmy: 我哋就嚟食嘢. (ngo5 dei6 zau6 lai4 sik6 je5.)
David: If you have stuff of your own, you may want to promise them “we’ll get off work soon.”
Gimmy: 我哋就嚟放工 (ngo5 dei6 zau6 lai4 fong3 gung1), especially if it’s 10:00 PM.
David: Yeah. Or maybe “you’ll get off work soon.”
Gimmy: 你就嚟放工. (nei5 zau6 lai4 fong3 gung1.)
David: Which is nice because as with English, we’re being really vague about what constitutes soon.
Gimmy: Exactly.
David: Maybe it’s tomorrow, maybe two months. The report needs to be done.
Gimmy: Right, as long as it’s done.
David: Right. So this is a really simply grammar pattern. We simply put…
Gimmy: 就嚟 (zau6 lai4)
David: …in front of our verb.
Gimmy: Right, David. Let me give you some examples.
David: Okay.
Gimmy: First, 我就嚟搞掂. (ngo5 zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
David: “I’m almost done.”
Gimmy: 我就嚟搞掂。 (ngo5 zau6 lai4 gaau2 dim6.)
David: Right. If you remember our previous lesson, we talked about getting married.
Gimmy: 結婚 (git3 fan1)。 佢就嚟結婚 (keoi5 zau6 lai4 git3 fan1)。
David: “He’s getting married soon.”
Gimmy: 佢就嚟結婚. (keoi5 zau6 lai4 git3 fan1.)
David: We also recently had a lesson about traveling.
Gimmy: 飛. (fei1.)
David: So you might say, “The flight is taking off soon.”
Gimmy: 班機就嚟飛. (baan1 gei1 zau6 lai4 fei1.)
David: “The flight is taking off soon.”
Gimmy: 班機就嚟飛. (baan1 gei1 zau6 lai4 fei1.)
David: So a simple grammar point…
Gimmy: …but one we use all the time.
David: Right. Start using this and people are going to notice that your Cantonese is getting better. And with that, we’re out of time in today’s podcast.

Outro

Gimmy: We’ll see you next time.
David: I’m David…
Gimmy: 我係 (ngo5 hai6) Gimmy.
David: And we’ll see you next time.
Gimmy: 下次見. (haa6 ci3 gin3.)

Grammar

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