Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Echo: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am Echo.
Oscar: 大家好, 我係Oscar。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, ngo5 hai6 Oscar.)
Echo: And we are here today with lower intermediate, season 1, Lesson 22. Chinese Construction Keeping You Awake.
Oscar: 俾施工攪到冇覺好瞓? (bei2 si1 gung1 gaau2 dou3 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3?)
Echo: I think a lot of people have had this experience. Our dialogue today is about a guy who can’t get to sleep because of construction noise.
Oscar: 發生喺兩個鄰居之間嘅事。(faat3 sang1 hai2 loeng5 go3 leon4 geoi1 zi1 gaan1 ge3 si6.)
Echo: And they are speaking casual Cantonese as always.
Oscar: 咁我哋去睇下佢哋有幾惨先。(gam2 ngo5 dei6 heoi3 tai2 haa5 keoi5 dei6 jau5 gei2 caam2 sin1.)
DIALOGUE
A: 樓下因乜事咁嘈? (A: lau4 haa6 jan1 mat1 si6 gam2 cou4?)
B: 施緊工啊。(B: si1 gan2 gong1 aa3.)
A: 夜媽媽施乜工? (A: je6 ma1 ma1 si1 mat3 gong1?)
B: 爆水渠,而家搶修緊。(B: baau3 seoi2 koi4, ji4 gaa1 ceong2 sau1 gan2.)
A: 今晚實冇覺好瞓。(A: gam1 maan5 sat6 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
David: One more time, a bit slower.
A: 樓下因乜事咁嘈? (A: lau4 haa6 jan1 mat1 si6 gam2 cou4?)
B: 施緊工啊。(B: si1 gan2 gong1 aa3.)
A: 夜媽媽施乜工? (A: je6 ma1 ma1 si1 mat3 gong1?)
B: 爆水渠,而家搶修緊。(B: baau3 seoi2 koi4, ji4 gaa1 ceong2 sau1 gan2.)
A: 今晚實冇覺好瞓。(A: gam1 maan5 sat6 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
David: And now with the English translation.
A: 樓下因乜事咁嘈? (A: lau4 haa6 jan1 mat1 si6 gam2 cou4?)
A: Why is it so noisy down there?
B: 施緊工呀。(B: si1 gan2 gong1 aa3.)
B: There's construction work.
A: 夜媽媽施乜工? (A: je6 ma1 ma1 si1 mat3 gong1?)
A: Why is there construction work at such a late hour?
B: 爆水渠,而家搶修緊。(B: baau3 seoi2 koi4, ji4 gaa1 ceong2 sau1 gan2.)
B: The water pipe burst and is under emergency repair.
A: 今晚實冇覺好瞓。(A: gam1 maan5 sat6 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
A: It will surely be a sleepless night tonight.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Echo: So we are talking about construction.
Oscar: 係呀! (hai6 aa3!)
Echo: If it is your upstairs neighbor, you can always tell them to be quiet.
Oscar: 冇錯, 不過如果係政府施工, 咁就冇乜辦法囉。(mou5 co3, bat1 gwo3 jyu4 gwo2 hai6 zing3 fu2 si1 gung1, gam2 zau6 mou5 mat1 baan6 faat3 lo3.)
Echo: Right. Anyway, let’s take a look at our vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Oscar: 因乜事.(jan1 mat1 si6.)
Echo: For what, why.
Oscar: 因 乜 事, 因乜事, 嘈。(jan1 mat1 si6, jan1 mat1 si6, cou4.)
Echo: Noisy.
Oscar: 嘈, 嘈, 施工. (cou4, cou4, si1 gung1.)
Echo: Construction.
Oscar: 施 工, 施工, 夜嘛嘛。(si1 gung1, si1 gung1, je6 maa3 maa3.)
Echo: Night hours.
Oscar: 夜 嘛 嘛, 夜嘛嘛, 爆。(je6 maa3 maa3, je6 maa3 maa3, baau3.)
Echo: To burst.
Oscar: 爆, 爆, 水渠。(baau3, baau3, seoi2 keoi4.)
Echo: Water pipe.
Oscar: 水 渠, 水渠, 搶修。(seoi2 keoi4, seoi2 keoi4, ceong2 saau1.)
Echo: Emergency repair.
Oscar: 搶 修, 搶修, 實。(ceong2 saau1, ceong2 saau1, sat6.)
Echo: Surely.
Oscar: 實, 實, 冇覺好瞓。(sat6, sat6, mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Sleepless.
Oscar: 冇 覺 好 瞓, 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3, mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Echo: Let’s have a closer look at some of the words from this lesson. The first word is
Oscar: 施工。(si1 gung1.)
Echo: Construction.
Oscar: 施工。(si1 gung1.)
Echo: This is usually used as a noun as in this sentence.
Oscar: 呢間公司缺乏施工同埋管理項目嘅經驗。(ne1 gaan1 gung1 si1 kyut3 fat6 si1 gung1 tung4 maai4 gun2 lei5 hong6 muk6 ge3 ging1 jim6.)
Echo: This Company lacks experience managing construction projects.
Oscar: 呢間公司缺乏施工同埋管理項目嘅經驗。(ne1 gaan1 gung1 si1 kyut3 fat6 si1 gung1 tung4 maai4 gun2 lei5 hong6 muk6 ge3 ging1 jim6.)
Echo: This Company lacks experience managing construction projects.
Oscar: 不過其實呢, 施工就通常喺早上進行嘅, 除非要搶修。(bat1 gwo3 kei4 sat6 ne1, si1 gung1 zau6 tung1 soeng4 hai2 zou2 soeng6 zeon3 hang4 ge3, ceoi4 fei1 jiu3 coeng2 sau1.)
Echo: Right and the last word is the word for emergency repairs.
Oscar: 搶修。(coeng2 sau1.)
Echo: Emergency repairs.
Oscar: 搶修。(coeng2 sau1.)
Echo: And there is a reason they are called emergency repairs because you need to do them quickly to avoid serious problems.
Oscar: 我哋而家就要搶修, 如果唔係後果會好嚴重。(ngo5 dei6 ji4 gaa1 zau6 jiu3 coeng2 sau1, jyu4 gwo2 m4 hai6 hau6 gwo2 wui2 hou2 jim4 zung6.)
Echo: We need emergency repairs now, or else, the consequences will be serious.
Oscar: 我哋而家就要搶修, 如果唔係後果會好嚴重。(ngo5 dei6 ji4 gaa1 zau6 jiu3 coeng2 sau1, jyu4 gwo2 m4 hai6 hau6 gwo2 wui2 hou2 jim4 zung6.)
Echo: In Hong Kong, the only two kinds of construction that happen at night are emergency repairs and roadwork. So noise is not usually a problem.
Oscar: 係呀! 不過如果你住喺路邊嘅話, 咁通常都會好嘈嘅。(hai6 aa3! bat1 gwo3 jyu4 gwo2 nei5 zyu6 hai2 lou6 bin1 ge3 waa2, gam2 tung1 soeng4 dou1 wui2 hou2 cou4 ge3.)
Echo: Right and that’s our next word. Noisy.
Oscar: 嘈。(cou4.)
Echo: Noisy.
Oscar: 嘈。(cou4.) 個施工項目 真係嘈足成晚 。(go3 si1 gung1 hong6 muk6 zan1 hai6 cou4 zuk1 sing4 maan5.)
Echo: The construction project was really noisy all night.
Oscar: 個施工項目 真係嘈足成晚 。(go3 si1 gung1 hong6 muk6 zan1 hai6 cou4 zuk1 sing4 maan5.)
Echo: The construction project was really noisy all night.
Oscar: 冇錯, 如果真係咁唔好彩遇到晚上施工嘅話, 咁就會好似我尋晚咁 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 co3, jyu4 gwo2 zan1 hai6 gam2 m4 hou2 coi2 jyu6 dou2 maan5 soeng6 si1 gung1 ge3 waa2, gam2 zau6 wui2 hou2 ci5 ngo5 cam4 maan5 gam2 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: That’s a word for sleepless.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Sleepless.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: With so much homework to do, we won’t sleep tonight.
Oscar: 仲有咁多作業未做, 睇嚟今晚又冇覺好瞓。(zung6 jau5 gam3 do1 zok3 jip6 mei6 zou6, tai2 lai4 gam1 maan5 jau6 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: One more time.
Oscar: 仲有咁多作業未做, 睇嚟今晚又冇覺好瞓。(zung6 jau5 gam3 do1 zok3 jip6 mei6 zou6, tai2 lai4 gam1 maan5 jau6 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Right. Actually that’s, with so much homework to do, we won’t sleep tonight again.
Oscar: 呢啲簡直係我生活嘅寫照呀, 大把嘢未做同埋冇覺好瞓. (ni1 di1 gaan2 zik6 hai6 ngo5 sang1 wut6 ge3 se2 ziu3 aa3, daai6 baa2 je5 mei6 zou6 tung4 maai4 mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Oh anyway, that’s our vocab for today. Let’s move on to our grammar section.

Lesson focus

Oscar: It’s grammar time.
Echo: In previous lessons, we’ve run into verbs that get reversed when they are put into the negative. An example is
Oscar: 做嘢。(zou6 je5.)
Echo: To work
Oscar: 做嘢。(zou6 je5.)
Echo: And in the negative, this becomes
Oscar: 冇嘢做。(mou5 je5 zou6.)
Echo: To have no work to do.
Oscar: 食嘢。(sik6 je5.)
Echo: To eat something.
Oscar: 冇嘢食。(mou5 je5 sik6.)
Echo: To have nothing to eat.
Oscar: 食嘢, 冇嘢食。(sik6 je5, mou5 je5 sik6.)
Echo: Right. Let’s look at this word from our lesson today.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Sleepless.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: So this is a four-character phrase that reverses the verb to sleep.
Oscar: 瞓覺。(fan3 gaau3.)
Echo: To sleep.
Oscar: 瞓覺。(fan3 gaau3.)
Echo: So what we are doing is making this negative by reversing the verb.
Oscar: 冇覺瞓。(mou5 gaau3 fan3.)
Echo: And then we add something to modify it.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Not to sleep well.
Oscar: 冇覺好瞓。(mou5 gaau3 hou2 fan3.)
Echo: Let’s look at some more examples.
Oscar: 冇歌好唱。(mou5 go1 hou2 coeng3.)
Echo: To have no good songs to sing.
Oscar: 冇嘢好睇。(mou5 je5 hou2 tai2.)
Echo: To have nothing good to watch.
Oscar: 冇嘢好玩。(mou5 je5 hou2 waan2.)
Echo: To have nothing to play.
Oscar: 冇歌好唱, 冇嘢好睇, 冇嘢好玩。(mou5 go1 hou2 coeng3, mou5 je5 hou2 tai2, mou5 je5 hou2 waan2.)
Echo: This is pretty easy when you know what is happening.
Oscar: 係嘞! 一開始呢 會令好多人都覺得好混亂, 因為我哋會掉轉個動詞, 同埋喺中間加一個好字。(hai6 laak3! jat1 hoi1 ci2 ne1 wui2 ling6 hou2 do1 jan4 dou1 gok3 dak1 hou2 wan6 lyun6, jan1 wai6 ngo5 dei6 wui2 diu6 zyun3 go3 dung6 ci4, tung4 maai4 hai2 zung1 gaan1 gaa1 jat1 go3 hou2 zi6.)
Echo: Right but now you know, you won’t make the mistake.
Oscar: 咁要記住啦。(gam2 jiu3 gei3 zyu6 laa3.)

Outro

Echo: Anyway, that’s our lesson for today.
Oscar: 喺呢一課我哋學咗好多關於施工嘅詞。(hai2 ni1 jat1 fo3 ngo5 dei6 hok6 zo2 hou2 do1 gwaan1 jyu1 si1 gung1 ge3 ci4.)
Echo: And then take a quick look at a way to make some verbs negative and we are looking forward to seeing you on the site.
Oscar: 咁我哋網上見啦! (gam2 ngo5 dei6 mong5 soeng6 gin3 laa1!)
Echo: Thanks for listening. Bye bye.
Oscar: 下次見。(haa6 ci3 gin3.)

Grammar

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