Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hello and welcome to the Lower Beginner series at CantoneseClass101.com. This is Season 1, Lesson 24, What Should You Take to a House Party in Hong Kong? I’m Eric.
Teddy: 哈囉!大家好! (haa1 lo3!daai6 gaa1 hou2 !) I’m Teddy!
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn more about classifiers, or measure words, in Cantonese.
Teddy: The conversation takes place at Wendy’s apartment.
Eric: It’s between two friends, Jane and Wendy.
Teddy: And as usual, the speakers will be speaking casual Cantonese.
Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Wendy: 帶咩去PARTY好呀?(daai3 me1 heoi3 PARTY hou2 aa3?)
Jane: 兩打啤酒啦!(loeng5 daa1 be1 zau2 laa1!)
Wendy: 不如買個蛋糕吖?(bat1 jyu4 maai5 go3 daan6 gou1 aa1?)
Jane: 好呀,一磅夠啦。(hou2 aa3, jat1 bong6 gau3 laa1.)
Eric: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Wendy 帶咩去PARTY好呀?(daai3 me1 heoi3 PARTY hou2 aa3?)
Jane 兩打啤酒啦!(loeng5 daa1 be1 zau2 laa1!)
Wendy 不如買個蛋糕吖?(bat1 jyu4 maai5 go3 daan6 gou1 aa1?)
Jane 好呀,一磅夠啦。(hou2 aa3, jat1 bong6 gau3 laa1.)
Eric: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Wendy 帶咩去PARTY好呀?(daai3 me1 heoi3 PARTY hou2 aa3?)
Eric: What should we bring to the party?
Jane 兩打啤酒啦!(loeng5 daa1 be1 zau2 laa1!)
Eric: Two dozen beers!
Wendy 不如買個蛋糕吖?(bat1 jyu4 maai5 go3 daan6 gou1 aa1?)
Eric: Should we buy a cake?
Jane 好呀,一磅夠啦。(hou2 aa3, jat1 bong6 gau3 laa1.)
Eric: Yes, one pound is enough.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: What do you like to bring to your friends’ parties?
Teddy: I usually bring a bottle of wine.
Eric: What if the parties are for children?
Teddy: Well, then I won’t join! (laughs) No, in that case I might bring some chocolate.
Eric: If you’re having a party, what do you like your guests to bring?
Teddy: For that, I also like wine. 紅酒 (hung4 zau2) or 白酒 (baak6 zau2), "red wine" or "white wine."
Eric: But you don’t want everyone to bring the same thing every time. You’ll have too much wine then! What do people in Hong Kong usually bring to parties?
Teddy: Well, people in Hong Kong like 紅酒 (hung4 zau2), or "red wine," a lot. Alternatively, people might bring a basket of fruit or expensive seafood to house parties.
Eric: Great! I look forward to going to a party at your house. Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
The first word we shall see is:
帶 (daai3) [natural native speed]
to bring
帶 (daai3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
帶 (daai3) [natural native speed]
Next:
打 (daa1) [natural native speed]
a dozen of
打 (daa1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
打 (daa1) [natural native speed]
Next:
啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
beer
啤酒 (be1 zau2) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
啤酒 (be1 zau2) [natural native speed]
Next:
不如 (bat1 jyu4) [natural native speed]
how about
不如 (bat1 jyu4) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
不如 (bat1 jyu4) [natural native speed]
Next:
買 (maai5) [natural native speed]
to buy
買 (maai5) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
買 (maai5) [natural native speed]
Next:
蛋糕 (daan6 gou1) [natural native speed]
cake
蛋糕 (daan6 gou1) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
蛋糕 (daan6 gou1) [natural native speed]
Next:
磅 (bong6) [natural native speed]
pound (lb.)
磅 (bong6) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
磅 (bong6) [natural native speed]
And Last:
夠 (gau3) [natural native speed]
enough
夠 (gau3) [slowly - broken down by syllable]
夠 (gau3) [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 we starting with?
Teddy: 夠. (gau3.)
Eric: What does this word mean?
Teddy: 夠 (gau3) means "enough" in Cantonese. In the dialogue, Jane said 一磅夠啦. (jat1 bong6 gau3 laa1.)
Eric: "One pound is enough."
Teddy: Right. Now can you guess what this phrase means? 夠唔夠? (gau3 m4 gau3 ?)
Eric: "Enough or not enough?"
Teddy: Correct! Okay, how about this one: 你夠唔夠錢? (nei5 gau3 m4 gau3 cin2 ?)
Eric: "Do you have enough money?"
Teddy: Excellent! How about 夠大? (gau3 daai6?)
Eric: "Big enough."
Teddy: 夠細. (gau3 sai3.)
Eric: "Small enough." So you can see that this word can be used with adjectives as well as with nouns.
Teddy: Right. 夠大, 夠細, 夠錢. (gau3 daai6 , gau3 sai3 , gau3 cin2 .)
Eric: Ok. What’s the other vocabulary word for this lesson?
Teddy: Remember how we talked about loanwords in our previous lessons? Here is another loanword for this lesson: 磅.(bong6.)
Eric: "Pound."
Teddy: Yes, 磅 (bong6) pound. 一磅 (jat1 bong6) is "one pound."
Eric: It’s a classifier. And we’ll talk more about classifiers in the grammar section later.
Teddy: 磅 (bong6) is a very useful classifier. We use 磅 when ordering cakes. 一磅蛋糕. (jat1 bong6 daan6 gou1.)
Eric: "One pound of cake."
Teddy: By the way, how much do you weigh? 你幾多磅? (nei5 gei2 do1 bong6 ?)
Eric: You’re asking me? (laughs) I’m sure our listeners are not interested. So let’s move onto the grammar!

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn about...classifiers, which are also known as measure words.
Teddy: In previous lessons, we’ve talked about the most common classifiers - 個(go3), 件(gin6) and 條 (tiu4).
Eric: Yes. Let’s review them a little bit.
Teddy: Ok. 一個蘋果. (jat1 go3 ping4 gwo2.)
Eric: "One apple."
Teddy: 兩個人. (loeng5 go3 jan4.)
Eric: "Two people."
Teddy: 三件褸. (saam1 gin6 lau1.)
Eric: "Three jackets."
Teddy: 四件衫. (sei3 gin6 saam1.)
Eric: "Four pieces of clothing."
Teddy: 五條裙. (ng5 tiu4 kwan4.)
Eric: "Five dresses."
Teddy: Yes. 六條金魚. (luk6 tiu4 gam1 jyu2 .)
Eric: Hmm... "six fish" of some kind.
Teddy: Yes, very smart. 金魚 (gam1 jyu2) is "goldfish!"
Eric: "Six goldfish!"
Teddy: Great! In this lesson, we’ll talk about other classifiers that are also useful in everyday conversation.
Eric: Like pound and kilogram?
Teddy: Yes. Pound and kilogram are both used for body weight. "Pound" is 磅 (bong6), and "kilogram" is 公斤. (gung1 gan1.)
Eric: Do you weigh fruit and meat by the pound or by the kilogram?
Teddy: We use both. But in produce or fresh meat markets, we mostly use a Chinese measurement called a "catty," or 斤. (gan1.) As more countries use the metric system, we differentiate the "kilogram," or 公斤 (gung1 gan1), from the "catty," or 斤.(gan1.)
Eric: How do you say "one catty of pork?"
Teddy: 一斤豬肉. (jat1 gan1 zyu1 juk6.)
Eric: Ok, is there another useful classifier? How about "a dozen?"
Teddy: "A dozen" is 一打 (jat1 daa1). For example, 一打雞蛋. (jat1 daa1 gai1 daan2.)
Eric: "A dozen eggs."
Teddy: Right. 兩打啤酒. (loeng5 daa1 be1 zau2.)
Eric: "Two dozen beers." That’s very useful! But how about if I only want to order one beer?
Teddy: Then we say 一杯啤酒. (jat1 bui1 be1 zau2.)
Eric: Is that "one glass" or "one cup?"
Teddy: Yes, in Cantonese, we use the classifier 杯 (bui1) for both cups and glasses.
Eric: Good! How about "one bottle?"
Teddy: 一支啤酒 (jat1 zi1 be1 zau2), or 一樽啤酒. (jat1 zeon1 be1 zau2.) We use the classifier 支 (zi1) or 樽 (zeon1) for bottles.
Eric: Ok, try me now.
Teddy: 一打啤酒. (jat1 daa1 be1 zau2.)
Eric: "One dozen beers."
Teddy: Right! 一支啤酒. (jat1 zi1 be1 zau2.)
Eric: "One bottle of beer."
Teddy: Correct. How about 一杯啤酒? (jat1 bui1 be1 zau2 ?)
Eric: "One glass of beer."
Teddy: Excellent. Here’s an extra hint for you guys, if you want to order a pitcher of beer, you say 一JAR啤酒. (jat1 JAR be1 zau2.)
Eric: Great! And of course you can use these classifiers for other beverages!

Outro

Eric: Listeners, that’s all the time we have for this lesson. Please check the lesson notes for more details.
Teddy: And we’ll see you in the next lesson. 下次見!(haa6 ci3 gin3!)

Grammar

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