Learn how to say that something is happening when an action is taking place
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
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.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2 ，ngo5 hai6 Melody 。) |
| David: And we are here today with intermediate, season 1, Lesson 21. Getting Dirty in Hong Kong. |
| Melody: 唔，咁呢個對話呢應該係個媽咪同個仔之間嘅對話。(m4 ，gam3 ni1 go3 deoi3 waa6 ne1 jing1 goi1 hai6 go3 maa1 mi6 tung4 go3 zai2 zi1 gaan1 ge3 deoi3 waa6 。) |
| David: Right. So it’s between a mom and a child and the child is not the cleanest child in Hong Kong. |
| Melody: 咁呢度入面呢有好多香港人嘅地道用語啦！(gam2 ni1 dou6 jap6 min6 ne1 jau5 hou2 do1 hoeng1 gong2 jan4 ge3 dei6 dou6 jung6 jyu5 laa1 ！) |
| David: Right. So the dialogue itself is a bit shorter and maybe a bit simpler than some others we’ve got at this level but we’ve also got a really lovely and really colloquial point here to talk about. Let’s get to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 你件衫好污糟！(A: nei5 gin6 saam1 hou2 wu1 zou1 !) |
| B: 頭先同班兄弟踢波⋯⋯(B: tau4 sin1 tung4 baan1 hing1 dai6 tek3 bo1...) |
| A: 你成身都好邋遢！(A: nei5 seng4 san1 dou1 hou2 laat6 taat3 !) |
| B: 踢踢下落雨，我仲跌親！(B: tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5, ngo5 zung6 dit3 can1 !) |
| A: 唔好講咁多，除件衫俾我先。(A: m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1, ceoi4 gin6 saam1 bei2 ngo5 sin1.) |
| B: 嗱！攞去啦。(B: naa4 ! lo2 heoi3 laa1.) |
| A: 你快啲去沖乾淨個身！(A: nei5 faai3 di1 heoi3 cung1 gon1 zeng6 go3 san1 !) |
| David: Once more, a bit slower. |
| A: 你件衫好污糟！(A: nei5 gin6 saam1 hou2 wu1 zou1 !) |
| B: 頭先同班兄弟踢波⋯⋯(B: tau4 sin1 tung4 baan1 hing1 dai6 tek3 bo1...) |
| A: 你成身都好邋遢！(A: nei5 seng4 san1 dou1 hou2 laat6 taat3 !) |
| B: 踢踢下落雨，我仲跌親！(B: tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5, ngo5 zung6 dit3 can1 !) |
| A: 唔好講咁多，除件衫俾我先。(A: m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1, ceoi4 gin6 saam1 bei2 ngo5 sin1.) |
| B: 嗱！攞去啦。(B: naa4 ! lo2 heoi3 laa1.) |
| A: 你快啲去沖乾淨個身！(A: nei5 faai3 di1 heoi3 cung1 gon1 zeng6 go3 san1 !) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A: 你件衫好污糟！(A: nei5 gin6 saam1 hou2 wu1 zou1 !) |
| A: Your shirt is really dirty! |
| B: 頭先同班兄弟踢波⋯⋯(B: tau4 sin1 tung4 baan1 hing1 dai6 tek3 bo1...) |
| B: I was playing soccer with my friends just now. |
| A: 你成身都好邋遢！(A: nei5 seng4 san1 dou1 hou2 laat6 taat3 !) |
| A: You're filthy from head to toe! |
| B: 踢踢下落雨，我仲跌親！(B: tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5, ngo5 zung6 dit3 can1 !) |
| B: It rained while we were playing, and I fell. |
| A: 唔好講咁多，除件衫俾我先。(A: m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1, ceoi4 gin6 saam1 bei2 ngo5 sin1.) |
| A: Stop talking. Take off your shirt and give it to me. |
| B: 嗱！攞去啦。(B: naa4 ! lo2 heoi3 laa1.) |
| B: Here your are. |
| A: 你快啲去沖乾淨個身！(A: nei5 faai3 di1 heoi3 cung1 gon1 zeng6 go3 san1 !) |
| A: Go wash up and clean up your body! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Melody: 唔，其實喺香港呢咁細嘅地方, 想踢波都幾難㗎！(m4 ，kei4 sat6 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 ne1 gam3 sai3 ge3 dei6 fong1 , soeng2 tek3 bo1 dou1 gei2 naan4 gaa3 ！) |
| David: Well you know, on the island, if you go out to Lantau island or other places, there is actually a lot of space. So… |
| Melody: 唔，可能。(m4 ，ho2 nang4 。) |
| David: It’s not impossible but anyway our vocab today is about cleanliness and dirtiness and some special words for wearing and taking off clothing. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 污糟。(wu1 zou1。) |
| David: Dirty. |
| Melody: 污 糟, 污糟, 邋遢。(wu1 zou1, wu1 zou1, laat6 taat3。) |
| David: Filthy. |
| Melody: 邋 遢, 邋遢, 乾淨。(laat6 taat3, laat6 taat3, gon1 zeng6。) |
| David: Clean. |
| Melody: 乾 淨, 乾淨, 頭先。(gon1 zeng6, gon1 zeng6, tau4 sin1。) |
| David: Just now. |
| Melody: 頭 先, 頭先, 踢波。(tau4 sin1 , tau4 sin1 , tek3 bo1。) |
| David: To play soccer. |
| Melody: 踢 波, 踢波, 唔好講咁多。(tek3 bo1, tek3 bo1, m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1。) |
| David: Stop talking. |
| Melody: 唔 好 講 咁 多, 唔好講咁多, 除衫。(m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1, m4 hou2 gong2 gam3 do1, ceoi4 saam1。) |
| David: To take off a shirt. |
| Melody: 除 衫, 除衫, 沖涼。(ceoi4 saam1, ceoi4 saam1, cung1 loeng4。) |
| David: To take a shower. |
| Melody: 沖 涼, 沖涼, 成身。(cung1 loeng4, cung1 loeng4, seng4 san1。) |
| David: The whole body. |
| Melody: 成 身, 成身。(seng4 san1, seng4 san1。) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Okay. Let’s take a closer look at some of these words and phrases. Our first word is |
| Melody: 污糟。(wu1 zou1 。) |
| David: Dirty. |
| Melody: 污糟。(wu1 zou1 。) |
| David: Dirty. |
| Melody: 另外一個詞可以話 邋遢。(ling6 ngoi6 jat1 go3 ci4 ho2 ji5 waa6 laat6 taat3 。) |
| David: Filthy. |
| Melody: 邋遢。(laat6 taat3 。) |
| David: Filthy. And they are actually more or less the same. |
| Melody: 唔，但係..... (m4 ，daan6 hai6 .....) |
| David: And in English, dirty is a bit less dirty than filthy but in Cantonese, it is roughly the same. |
| Melody: 唔，其實差別唔大, 但係污糟多數係形容一啲嘢或者一個地方, 邋遢可能形容人。(m4 ，kei4 sat6 caa1 bit6 m4 daai6 , daan6 hai6 wu1 zou1 do1 sou3 hai6 jing4 jung4 jat1 di1 je5 waak6 ze2 jat1 go3 dei6 fong1 , laat6 taat3 ho2 nang4 jing4 jung4 jan4 。) |
| David: So the latter we use more to describe people. |
| Melody: 係，冇錯。(hai6 ，mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right like a child who’s been playing in the mud. |
| Melody: 唔，冇錯，你好邋遢呀！多數話個人好邋遢。(m4 ，mou5 co3 ，nei5 hou2 laat6 taat3 aa3 ！do1 sou3 waa6 go3 jan4 hou2 laat6 taat3 。) |
| David: Yeah. Okay and let’s try putting these in a sample sentence. |
| Melody: 譬如話 佢仲未沖涼，成身都好污糟。(pei3 jyu4 waa6 keoi5 zung6 mei6 cung1 loeng4 ，seng4 san1 dou1 hou2 wu1 zou1 。) |
| David: He hasn’t washed off and is totally dirty. |
| Melody: 或者話 佢仲未沖涼，成身都好邋遢。(waak6 ze2 waa6 keoi5 zung6 mei6 cung1 loeng4 ，seng4 san1 dou1 hou2 laat6 taat3 。) |
| David: Right. So these two words are interchangeable. |
| Melody: 污糟, 邋遢。(wu1 zou1 , laat6 taat3 。) |
| David: Our next word is the opposite. |
| Melody: 乾淨。(gon1 zeng6 。) |
| David: Clean. |
| Melody: 乾淨。(gon1 zeng6 。) |
| David: Clean. |
| Melody: 佢係污糟同埋邋遢嘅相反詞， 乾淨。(keoi5 hai6 wu1 zou1 tung4 maai4 laat6 taat3 ge3 soeng1 faan2 ci4 ， gon1 zeng6 。) |
| David: Clean. Now in our dialogue, the child gets dirty doing what? |
| Melody: 踢波。(tek3 bo1 。) |
| David: To play ball. |
| Melody: 踢波。(tek3 bo1 。) |
| David: Or literally to play soccer. |
| Melody: 唔，咁除咗踢波之外呢, 我哋仲會成日話 打波。(m4 ，gam2 ceoi4 zo2 tek3 bo1 zi1 ngoi6 ne1 , ngo5 dei6 zung6 wui2 sing4 jat6 waa6 daa2 bo1 。) |
| David: This is a more generic word that means to play ball. |
| Melody: 冇錯，打波，譬如話 打羽毛球。(mou5 co3 ，daa2 bo1 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 daa2 jyu5 mou4 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. So it could be badminton. |
| Melody: 打璧球。(daa2 bik1 kau4 。) |
| David: It could be squash. |
| Melody:打籃球。(daa2 laam4 kau4 。) |
| David: It could be basketball. It’s just to hit the ball. |
| Melody: 唔，所以打波有可能係 打羽毛球, 打璧球, 打籃球。(m4 ，so2 ji5 daa2 bo1 jau5 ho2 nang4 hai6 daa2 jyu5 mou4 kau4 , daa2 bik1 kau4 , daa2 laam4 kau4 。) |
| David: Yeah. You are using your hands whereas with soccer, you are using your feet. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: So it’s |
| Melody: 踢波。(tek3 bo1 。) |
| David: So if you go to the gym, you might hear someone say, on Monday we play soccer. On Tuesday, we play squash. |
| Melody: 星期一我哋去踢波，星期二我哋去打壁球。(sing1 kei4 jat1 ngo5 dei6 heoi3 tek3 bo1 ，sing1 kei4 ji6 ngo5 dei6 heoi3 daa2 bik1 kau4 。) |
| David: Right. On Monday, we play soccer. On Tuesday, we play ball. |
| Melody: 星期一我哋去踢波，星期二我哋去打波。(sing1 kei4 jat1 ngo5 dei6 heoi3 tek3 bo1 ，sing1 kei4 ji6 ngo5 dei6 heoi3 daa2 bo1 。) |
| David: Right. |
| Melody: 我哋下一個詞係 除衫。(ngo5 dei6 haa6 jat1 go3 ci4 hai6 ceoi4 saam1 。) |
| David: To take off a shirt. |
| Melody: 除衫, 其實 除 係一個動詞。(ceoi4 saam1 , kei4 sat6 ceoi4 hai6 jat1 go3 dung6 ci4 。) |
| David: Right. It’s a verb, it means to remove. |
| Melody: 唔，除。(m4 ，ceoi4 。) |
| David: And in this case, we are removing what? |
| Melody: 衫。(saam1 。) |
| David: To take off a shirt. |
| Melody: 除衫。(ceoi4 saam1 。) |
| David: And this is a pattern. We can also take off pants. |
| Melody: 除褲。(ceoi4 fu3 。) |
| David: Or take off shoes. |
| Melody: 除鞋。(ceoi4 haai4 。) |
| David: So if you go to the doctor’s office, you might hear, take off your shirt. I need to give you an injection. |
| Melody: 除衫吖唔該，我需要幫你打針。(ceoi4 saam1 aa1 m4 goi1 ，ngo5 seoi1 jiu3 bong1 nei5 daa2 zam1 。) |
| David: Take off your shirt. I need to give you an injection. |
| Melody: 除衫吖唔該，我需要幫你打針。(ceoi4 saam1 aa1 m4 goi1 ，ngo5 seoi1 jiu3 bong1 nei5 daa2 zam1 。) |
| David: So relatively simple vocab in this lesson. Melody, what are the key words again? |
| Melody: 污糟, 邋遢, 乾淨, 踢波, 打波, 除衫。(wu1 zou1 , laat6 taat3 , gon1 zeng6 , tek3 bo1 , daa2 bo1 , ceoi4 saam1 。) |
| David: And now our grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: As we said, our dialogue this lesson is a bit simple but we are making up for it with the grammar point that’s really, really great. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: And really, really native. |
| Melody: 好有用嘅一個句子。(hou2 jau5 jung6 ge3 jat1 go3 geoi3 zi2 。) |
| David: Yes. Okay now, as we said, our dialogue this lesson, it’s a bit simple however we are making up for it with a grammar point that is absolutely intermediate and so useful. |
| Melody: 冇錯，真係好有用，所以一定要記住。(mou5 co3 ，zan1 hai6 hou2 jau5 jung6 ，so2 ji5 jat1 ding6 jiu3 gei3 zyu6 。) |
| David: Yeah and this is also, it’s a really native Cantonese expression. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Now we hear it in this line in the dialogue. |
| Melody: 踢踢下落雨。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: Now that’s what the child says when he is explaining how he got dirty. He says, |
| Melody: 踢踢下落雨。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: We were playing soccer and then it started to rain. |
| Melody: 踢踢 下落雨。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: We were playing soccer and it started to rain. Now that’s a complex translation. What’s really happening in Cantonese is we are saying, kick and kick for a bit and then another action happens. |
| Melody: 踢踢下, 跟住出現一個情況。(tek3 tek3 haa5 , gan1 zyu6 ceot1 jin6 jat1 go3 cing4 fong3 。) |
| David: Right. So kick, kick a bit and then it started to rain. |
| Melody: 踢踢下落雨。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: Right. Now structurally, what we’ve got is we’ve got a two character verb that consists of an action plus an object. In this case, the verb is to play soccer. |
| Melody: 踢波。 (tek3 bo1 。) |
| David: It could be to play ball. |
| Melody: 打波。(daa2 bo1 。) |
| David: In which case, we’d say |
| Melody: 打打下 落雨。(daa2 daa2 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: We were playing ball and it started to rain. |
| Melody: 打打下 落雨。(daa2 daa2 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: What about eating? |
| Melody: 食食下。(sik6 sik6 haa5 。) |
| David: I was eating and my stomach started to hurt. |
| Melody: 食食下 肚痛。(sik6 sik6 haa5 tou5 tung3 。) |
| David: I was eating and my stomach started to hurt. |
| Melody: 食食下 肚痛。(sik6 sik6 haa5 tou5 tung3 。) |
| David: Right. So the verb, verb happens and then right in the middle, you are not done yet something else happens. |
| Melody: 冇錯，你做緊一樣嘢，跟住突然間出現一個情況。(mou5 co3 ，nei5 zou6 gan2 jat1 joeng6 je5 ，gan1 zyu6 dat6 jin4 gaan1 ceot1 jin6 jat1 go3 cing4 fong3 。) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got two more examples for you. Melody, what’s next? |
| Melody: 唔，譬如話 跑跑下跌親。(m4 ，pei3 jyu4 waa6 paau2 paau2 haa5 dit3 can1 。) |
| David: Right. So he was running, he was in the middle of running and he fell down. |
| Melody: 唔，當佢跑緊嗰陣時跌親, 跑跑下跌親。(m4 ，dong1 keoi5 paau2 gan2 go2 zan6 si4 dit3 can1 , paau2 paau2 haa5 dit3 can1 。) |
| David: He was running and he fell down. |
| Melody: 或者我哋有陣時會話 講講下比人打斷咗。(waak6 ze2 ngo5 dei6 jau5 zan6 si4 wui2 waa6 gong2 gong2 haa5 bei2 jan4 daa2 tyun5 zo2 。) |
| David: Right. So the verb there is, |
| Melody: 講嘢。(gong2 je5 。) |
| David: To speak words. |
| Melody: 講嘢。(gong2 je5 。) |
| David: So we are repeating the verb part of that. |
| Melody: 講講下。(gong2 gong2 haa5 。) |
| David: And then we add the action that’s interrupting half way through. |
| Melody: 講講下比人打斷咗。(gong2 gong2 haa5 bei2 jan4 daa2 tyun5 zo2 。) |
| David: Right. He was in the middle of talking and someone interrupted. |
| Melody: 講講下比人打斷咗。(gong2 gong2 haa5 bei2 jan4 daa2 tyun5 zo2 。) |
| David: So this is a general pattern you can use with any two character verb that consists of a verb and then a built-in object. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3 。) |
| David: Right. It can be playing soccer |
| Melody: 踢波, 踢踢下。(tek3 bo1 , tek3 tek3 haa5 。) |
| David: Eating food. |
| Melody: 食嘢，食食下。(sik6 je5 ，sik6 sik6 haa5 。) |
| David: Talking. |
| Melody: 講嘢, 講講下。(gong2 je5 , gong2 gong2 haa5 。) |
| David: Or any other verb of its class. |
| Melody: 冇錯，你講得啱。(mou5 co3 ，nei5 gong2 dak1 ngaam1 。) |
| David: And what a useful thing to know how to say it Melody. I mean, in Cantonese, this is so simple. We were doing it and then something else happened. |
| Melody: 冇錯，所以成日都會用到呢個詞。(mou5 co3 ，so2 ji5 sing4 jat6 dou1 wui2 jung6 dou3 ni1 go3 ci4 。) |
| David: Yeah. We were playing soccer and it started to rain. |
| Melody: 踢踢下落雨。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 。) |
| David: Or as in the case in our dialogue, it rained while we were playing and I fell. |
| Melody: 踢踢下落雨, 我仲跌親。 踢踢下落雨, 仲跌親。(tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 , ngo5 zung6 dit3 can1。 tek3 tek3 haa5 lok6 jyu5 , zung6 dit3 can1 。) |
| David: Right. So once more, a simple grammar point that’s relatively high level. |
| Melody: 冇錯，而且係好有用嘅。(mou5 co3 ，ji4 ce2 hai6 hou2 jau5 jung6 ge3 。) |
| David: Yeah and you are going to want to use this anytime something happens in the middle of something else. |
| Melody: 係呀！冇錯。(hai6 aa3 ！mou5 co3 。) |
Outro |
| David: Okay. So that’s our lesson for today. It’s all the time we have. Thanks for listening and we will see you at cantoneseclass101.com |
| Melody: 好希望下次再見。 (hou2 hei1 mong6 haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3 。 ) Bye bye. |
Comments
Hide