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
Eric: Hello and welcome to the Lower Beginner series at CantoneseClass101.com. This is Season 1, Lesson 19, Has Your Boss Gone MIA in Hong Kong? I’m Eric.
Teddy: 哈囉!(haa1 lo3!) And I’m Teddy!
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn some other uses for the verb "to hit"...
Teddy: ...which is 打 (daa2) in Cantonese.
Eric: The conversation takes place in an office between two colleagues, Olivia and Leslie.
Teddy: And as usual, the speakers will use casual Cantonese.
Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Olivia: 波士未嚟嘅?(bo1 si2 mei6 lei4 ge2?)
Leslie: 打電話俾佢啦。(daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 keoi5 laa1).
Olivia 幾多號冧巴?(gei2 do1 hou6 lam1 baa2?)
Leslie: 唔知喎。(m4 zi1 wo3).
Eric: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Olivia: 波士未嚟嘅?(bo1 si2 mei6 lei4 ge2?)
Leslie 打電話俾佢啦。(daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 keoi5 laa1).
Olivia: 幾多號冧巴?(gei2 do1 hou6 lam1 baa2?)
Leslie 唔知喎。(m4 zi1 wo3).
Eric: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Olivia: 波士未嚟嘅?(bo1 si2 mei6 lei4 ge2?)
Eric: Is the boss still not here?
Leslie 打電話俾佢啦。(daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 keoi5 laa1).
Eric: Call him.
Olivia: 幾多號冧巴?(gei2 do1 hou6 lam1 baa2?)
Eric: What's his number?
Leslie: 唔知喎。(m4 zi1 wo3).
Eric: I don't know.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Nowadays, it seems that people hold meetings for everything. We used to work on our own and just hand in reports when they were completed, instead of having a lot of meetings.
Teddy: Well, I think meetings can serve a useful purpose. For example, brainstorming before writing a proposal is important. Also, sometimes we need to let everyone know about our progress on a project or remind other staff members about the company’s mission!
Eric: I think meetings are time consuming.
Teddy: Well, meetings should be efficient. Economists have suggested that meetings should be limited to one hour to be the most efficient.
Eric: I wouldn’t mind an hour meeting to conclude the week’s work quickly instead of writing a report.
Teddy: (laughs) Yes, but of course, a successful meeting all depends on the boss!
Eric: That’s true. Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
The first word we shall see is:
波士 (bo1 si2) [natural native speed]
boss
波士 (bo1 si2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
波士 (bo1 si2) [natural native speed]
Next:
未 (mei6) [natural native speed]
yet, never
未 (mei6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
未 (mei6) [natural native speed]
Next:
打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2) [natural native speed]
to make a phone call
打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2) [natural native speed]
Next:
嚟 (lei4 / lai4) [natural native speed]
to come
嚟 (lei4 / lai4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
嚟 (lei4 / lai4) [natural native speed]
Next:
俾 (bei2) [natural native speed]
to give
俾 (bei2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
俾 (bei2) [natural native speed]
Next:
佢 (keoi5) [natural native speed]
he, she, it
佢 (keoi5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
佢 (keoi5) [natural native speed]
Next:
幾多號 (gei2 do1 hou6) [natural native speed]
which number, what number
幾多號 (gei2 do1 hou6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
幾多號 (gei2 do1 hou6) [natural native speed]
And Last:
冧巴 (lam1 baa2) [natural native speed]
number
冧巴 (lam1 baa2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
冧巴 (lam1 baa2) [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What are the first words?
Teddy: We’re going to look at two loanwords.
Eric: Right, in our last lesson, we talked about how Cantonese uses some words borrowed from English. These words sound similar to English and have the same meaning.
Teddy: Right, the first one in our dialogue was 波士 (bo1 si2).
Eric: Easy, "boss!" Just in case our listeners are curious, what does each character mean if you say them separately?
Teddy: The first character 波 (bo1) is actually a loanword as well, and it means "ball." And the second character 士 (si2) by itself means "scholar," but we usually see it in loanwords, as a transliteration of the "s" sound. For instance, 的士 (dik1 si2) for "taxi," and 貼士 (tip1 si2) for "tips."
Eric: Interesting.
Teddy: The next one is 冧巴 (lam1 baa2).
Eric: Obviously it means "number." Am I right?
Teddy: Yep, for example 電話冧巴 (din6 waa2 lam1 baa2).
Eric: "Telephone number."
Teddy: Or you can ask someone, 你幾多號冧巴? (nei5 gei2 do1 hou6 lam1 baa2?)
Eric: "What’s your number?"
Teddy: Isn’t it great that there are loanwords in Cantonese? That way it’s easier for English speakers to learn it!
Eric: Exactly! Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verb "to hit" in different ways in Cantonese.
Teddy: Yes. "To hit" in Cantonese is 打 (daa2). When we want to say, "He hits me," we say, 佢打我 (keoi5 daa2 ngo5). When I am hit by someone, we say, 我俾人打 (ngo5 bei2 jan4 daa2).
Eric: Right, we learned about passive sentences like that in Lesson 11.
Teddy: Well, in this lesson, we’re going to focus on the verb 打 (daa2), "to hit."
Eric: It turns out this verb has a lot of different meanings when combined with different nouns.
Teddy: Yes, let’s start with something we heard from this lesson’s dialogue 打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2). Literally "to hit the telephone." Of course, we’re not really hitting the telephone; this term in English is actually translated as "to make a phone call," or "to call someone on the telephone."
Eric: Can you repeat the phrase please?
Teddy: 打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2). [pause]
Eric: Okay, what’s next?
Teddy: Well, 打 (daa2) literally means "to hit" or "to strike." But when it’s combined with ball games or some sort of recreation, it means "to play."
Eric: Can you give some examples?
Teddy: Sure! See, 籃球 (laam4 kau4) means "basketball," so 打籃球 (daa2 laam4 kau4) means "to play basketball." 棒球 (paang5 kau4) means "baseball," so 打棒球 (daa2 paang5 kau4) is...
Eric: "To play baseball."
Teddy: Right. Other than ball games, there’s a very common term that my cousin loves, 打機 (daa2 gei1).
Eric: What does the second word here mean?
Teddy: 機 (gei1) normally means "machine," or "electronic appliances." But in this case, it means "video games."
Eric: Oh, so it means "to play video games."
Teddy: Yes. You are so smart!
Eric: Are there any more combinations that use the verb "to hit?"
Teddy: There’s one common phrase that a lot of Hong Kong people love to hear – 打麻雀 (daa2 maa4 zoek3 ), or "to play mahjong." Have you ever heard of this game?
Eric: Yes. And I really want to learn how to play!
Teddy: Seriously?
Eric: Yes. Can you teach me later?
Teddy: Of course! So let’s wrap up this lesson and go 打麻雀 (daa2 maa4 zoek3).
Eric: Okay! But before we go, please repeat the phrases we talked about in this lesson’s grammar point. Listeners, please repeat after Teddy.
Teddy: 打電話 (daa2 din6 waa2). [pause]
Eric: "To make a phone call."
Teddy: 打籃球 (daa2 laam4 kau4). [pause]
Eric: "To play basketball."
Teddy: 打棒球 (daa2 paang5 kau4). [pause]
Eric: "To play baseball.”
Teddy: 打機 (daa2 gei1). [pause]
Eric: "To play video games."
Teddy: 打麻雀 (daa2 maa4 zoek3). [pause]
Eric: "To play mahjong."
Teddy: Listeners, remember to check out the lesson notes for more examples.

Outro

Eric: Well, that’s it for this lesson. Thank you for listening! Goodbye!
Teddy: 拜拜!(baai1 baai3!)

Comments

Hide