Learn how to use the Cantonese question word "when"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| David: Welcome to cantoneseclass101.com. I am David. |
| Melody: 大家好，又見面，我係Melody。(daai6 gaa1 hou2, jau6 gin3 min6, ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: And we are here today with upper beginner, season 1, lesson 11. When Can You Pay Me Back? |
| Melody: 係關於討債嘅。(hai6 gwaan1 jyu1 tou2 zaai3 ge3.) |
| David: Right. So we’ve got a dialogue in casual Cantonese as always between two friends and it’s about money. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Let’s listen to the dialogue. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A:你幾時可以還錢俾我？(nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 bei2 ngo5? ) |
| B:月底出咗糧就還俾你。 (jyut6 dai2 ceot1 zo2 loeng4 zau6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| A:你上個月都係咁講！ (nei5 soeng6 go3 jyut6 dou1 hai6 gam2 gong2. ) |
| B:今個月連本帶利還俾你。(gam1 go3 jyut6 lin4 bun2 daai3 lei6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| A:係你至好講呀。 (hai6 nei5 zi3 hou2 gong2 aa3. ) |
| B:放心啦。(fong3 sam1 laa1.) |
| David: Once more, a bit more slowly. |
| A:你幾時可以還錢俾我？ (nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 bei2 ngo5? ) |
| B:月底出咗糧就還俾你。 (jyut6 dai2 ceot1 zo2 loeng4 zau6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| A:你上個月都係咁講！ (nei5 soeng6 go3 jyut6 dou1 hai6 gam2 gong2. ) |
| B:今個月連本帶利還俾你。 (gam1 go3 jyut6 lin4 bun2 daai3 lei6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| A:係你至好講呀。 (hai6 nei5 zi3 hou2 gong2 aa3. ) |
| B:放心啦。(fong3 sam1 laa1.) |
| David: And now, with the English translation. |
| A:你幾時可以還錢俾我？ (nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 bei2 ngo5? ) |
| A: When can you pay me back? |
| B:月底出咗糧就還俾你。 (jyut6 dai2 ceot1 zo2 loeng4 zau6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| B: As soon as I get paid at the end of the month. |
| A:你上個月都係咁講！ (nei5 soeng6 go3 jyut6 dou1 hai6 gam2 gong2. ) |
| A: That's what you said last month. |
| B:今個月連本帶利還俾你。(gam1 go3 jyut6 lin4 bun2 daai3 lei6 waan4 bei2 nei5. ) |
| B: I'll pay it back with the interest this time. |
| A:係你至好講呀。 (hai6 nei5 zi3 hou2 gong2 aa3. ) |
| A: You'd better be serious. |
| B:放心啦。(fong3 sam1 laa1.) |
| B: You have my word. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| David: Right, so we have one friend who has lent money and I think he is starting to regret. |
| Melody: 冇錯，一定後悔咗。(mou5 co3, jat1 ding6 hau6 fui3 zo2.) |
| David: Right. So our vocab today, it’s about borrowing money, it’s about paying it back. Let’s get to our vocab section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Melody: 借錢 (ze3 cin2) |
| David: To borrow money. |
| Melody: 借錢 (ze3 cin2) [slow] 借錢 (ze3 cin2) [normal speed]。還錢 (waan4 cin2) |
| David: To pay back money. |
| Melody: 還錢 (waan4 cin2) [slow] 還錢 (waan4 cin2) [normal speed]。 月初 (jyut6 co1) |
| David: The beginning of the month. |
| Melody: 月初 (jyut6 co1) [slow] 月初 (jyut6 co1) [normal speed]。月底 (jyut6 dai2) |
| David: The end of the month. |
| Melody: 月底 (jyut6 dai2) [slow] 月底 (jyut6 dai2) [normal speed]。工資 (gung1 zi1) |
| David: Salary. |
| Melody: 工資 (gung1 zi1) [slow] 工資 (gung1 zi1) [normal speed]。出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) |
| David: To get paid. |
| Melody: 出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) [slow] 出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) [normal speed]。利息 (lei6 sik1) |
| David: Interest. |
| Melody: 利息 (lei6 sik1) [slow] 利息 (lei6 sik1)[normal speed]。幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| David: At what time. |
| Melody: 幾時 (gei2 si4) [slow] 幾時 (gei2 si4) [normal speed]。 |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| David: Let’s take a closer look at some of these words. Our first word is |
| Melody: 借錢 (ze3 cin2) |
| David: To borrow money. |
| Melody: 借錢 (ze3 cin2) |
| David: And you can use this to ask to borrow money. For instance, can you lend me some money? |
| Melody: 你可唔可以借錢俾我？ (nei5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji3 ze3 cin2 bei2 ngo5?) |
| David: Can you lend me some money? |
| Melody: 你可唔可以借錢俾我？ (nei5 ho2 m4 ho2 ji3 ze3 cin2 bei2 ngo5?) |
| David: Right, now if you borrow money, you are going to be asked to return money. |
| Melody: 還錢 (waan4 cin2) |
| David: To payback money. |
| Melody: 還錢 (waan4 cin2) |
| David: Your friend might ask you, when can you pay me back. |
| Melody: 你幾時可以還錢呀？ (nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 aa3?) |
| David: When can you pay back the money? |
| Melody: 你幾時可以還錢呀？ (nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 aa3?) |
| David: In our dialogue, we heard a phrase the end of the month. |
| Melody: 月底 ( jyut6 dai2) |
| David: The end of the month. |
| Melody: 月底 ( jyut6 dai2) |
| David: You might also want to say, the beginning of the month. |
| Melody: 我哋就會話「月初」。(ngo5 dei6 zau6 wui5 waa6 「 jyut6 co1 」.) |
| David: The beginning of the month. |
| Melody: 月初 (jyut6 co1) |
| David: I can pay you back at the end of the month. |
| Melody: 我月底就還錢俾你。(ngo5 jyut6 dai2 zau6 waan4 cin2 bei2 nei5.) |
| David: I can pay you back at the beginning of the month. |
| Melody: 我月初就還錢俾你。 (ngo5 jyut6 co1 zau6 waan4 cin2 bei2 nei5.) |
| David: Or if you are paid bi-monthly, you might say, I can pay you back in the middle of the month. |
| Melody: 我月中可以還錢。(ngo5 jyut6 zung1 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2.) |
| David: I can pay you back in the middle of the month. |
| Melody: 我月中可以還錢。(ngo5 jyut6 zung1 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2.) |
| David: And that’s the word for the middle of the month. |
| Melody: 月中 (jyut6 zung1) |
| David: The middle of the month. |
| Melody: 月中 (jyut6 zung1) |
| David: So we have three words here for different times in the month. |
| Melody: 月初，月中，月底。(jyut6 co1, jyut6 zung1, jyut6 dai2.) |
| David: Next up, in our dialogue, we have a verb to get paid. |
| Melody: 出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) |
| David: To get paid. |
| Melody: 出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) |
| David: I get paid at the end of the month. |
| Melody: 我月底就出糧喇。(ngo5 jyut6 dai2 zau6 ceot1 loeng4 laa3.) |
| David: I get paid at the end of the month. |
| Melody: 我月底就出糧喇。(ngo5 jyut6 dai2 zau6 ceot1 loeng4 laa3.) |
| David: Right and this is a really colloquial, a really native Hong Kong way of describing this. |
| Melody: 冇錯，地道嘅講法。(mou5 co3, dei6 dou6 ge3 gong2 faat3.) |
| David: Yeah. There is a more formal word that’s the same and that’s |
| Melody: 工資 (gung1 zi1) |
| David: For salary. |
| Melody: 工資 (gung1 zi1) |
| David: Right and getting paid salary is |
| Melody: 出工資 (ceot1 gung1 zi1) |
| David: So you can say either |
| Melody: 出糧 (ceot1 loeng4) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 出工資 (ceot1 gung1 zi1) |
| David: And they mean the same thing. |
| Melody: 冇錯，兩個都可以講。(mou5 co3, loeng5 go3 dou1 ho2 ji3 gong2.) |
| David: Perfect and with that, let’s get on to our grammar section today. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| David: In our grammar section today, we want to talk about specific question word. |
| Melody: 冇錯，係教你問問題嘅。(mou5 co3, hai6 gaau3 nei5 man6 man6 tai4 ge3.) |
| David: Right. Now in previous lessons, we’ve taught you other question words that go at the end of sentences in Cantonese. For instance, the question word what |
| Melody: 咩 (me1) |
| David: What |
| Melody: 咩 (me1) |
| David: You’ve already learned that this goes at the end of the sentence. For instance |
| Melody: 佢問你借咗咩？ (keoi5 man6 nei5 ze3 zo2 me1?) |
| David: What did he want to borrow from you? |
| Melody: 佢問你借咗咩？ (keoi5 man6 nei5 ze3 zo2 me1?) |
| David: What did he want to borrow from you? We also have the question word how much. |
| Melody: 幾多 (gei2 do1) |
| David: How much. |
| Melody: 幾多 (gei2 do1) |
| David: As in the sentence |
| Melody: 你俾咗佢幾多？(nei5 bei2 zo2 keoi5 gei2 do1?) |
| David: How much did you give him? |
| Melody: 你俾咗佢幾多？(nei5 bei2 zo2 keoi5 gei2 do1?) |
| David: How much did you give him or think of the question word who. |
| Melody: 邊個 (bin1 go3 ) |
| David: Who. |
| Melody: 邊個 (bin1 go3 ) |
| David: This also comes at the end of sentences in Cantonese. |
| Melody: 係呀，譬如話:還錢俾你嘅係邊個？ (hai6 aa3, pei3 jyu4 waa6: waan4 cin2 bei2 nei5 ge3 hai6 bin1 go3?) |
| David: Who was it who paid you back? |
| Melody: 還錢俾你嘅係邊個？(waan4 cin2 bei2 nei5 ge3 hai6 bin1 go3?) |
| David: In our lesson today though, we run into a new question word. |
| Melody: 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| David: When |
| Melody: 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| David: Or literally at what time. |
| Melody: 幾時 (gei2 si4) |
| David: And the important thing to note here is that this word comes at the beginning of sentences. |
| Melody: 冇錯，譬如喺對話入面我哋聽到:你幾時可以還錢俾我？ (mou5 co3, pei3 jyu4 hai2 deoi3 waa6 jap6 min6 ngo5 dei6 teng1 dou2: nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 bei2 ngo5?) |
| David: When can you pay me back? and it’s actually not right at the beginning. It’s right after the subject. |
| Melody: 你幾時可以還錢俾我？(nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 waan4 cin2 bei2 ngo5?) |
| David: You at what time to pay me back. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Right. So the placement of this question word is different in Cantonese than with other question words. We’ve got a couple more example sentences just to help this stick. |
| Melody: 譬如話:你幾時可以放工？ (pei3 jyu4 waa6 :nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 fong3 gung1?) |
| David: When do you get off work? |
| Melody: 你幾時可以放工？ (nei5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 fong3 gung1?) |
| David: When do you get off work or |
| Melody: 佢幾時可以做完功課？ (keoi5 gei2 si4 ho2 ji3 zou6 jyun4 gung1 fo3?) |
| David: When will he be done his homework? |
| Melody: 我哋將「幾時」提前。(ngo5 dei6 zoeng1 「 gei2 si4 」 tai4 cin4.) |
| David: Right and the important thing again is that this is coming at the beginning of the sentence after the subject. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
| David: Now one final point which is that in colloquial Cantonese, we can actually drop the subject if we know what we are talking about. |
| Melody: 係呀。(hai6 aa3.) |
| David: So sometimes you are going to see this right at the start of the sentence. |
| Melody: 譬如話:幾時過嚟？(pei3 jyu4 waa6 :gei2 si4 gwo3 lai4?) |
| David: When will you come over? |
| Melody: 幾時過嚟？(gei2 si4 gwo3 lai4?) |
| David: Or |
| Melody: 幾時還錢呀？(gei2 si4 waan4 cin2 aa3?) |
| David: When will you pay me back? |
| Melody: 幾時還錢呀？(gei2 si4 waan4 cin2 aa3?) |
| David: This is more colloquial Cantonese as you are more likely to hear it out on the streets. |
| Melody: 係呀，冇錯，將前面嗰個人物省略咗。(hai6 aa3, mou5 co3, zoeng1 cin4 min6 go2 go3 jan4 mat6 saang2 loek6 zo2.) |
| David: Yeah and the key again is that we know what the subject is. So we don’t need to say it. |
| Melody: 冇錯。(mou5 co3.) |
Outro |
| David: For now, that’s all the time we have in this lesson. Before we go Melody, something you wanted to remind people. |
| Melody: 如果你哋有任何困難，或者聽唔明嘅話，登陸我哋嘅網站，我哋嘅網站係... (jyu4 gwo2 nei5 dei6 jau5 jam6 ho4 kwan3 naan4, waak6 ze2 teng1 m4 ming4 ge3 waa2, dang1 luk6 ngo5 dei6 ge3 mong5 zaam6, ngo5 dei6 ge3 mong5 zaam6 hai6 ...) |
| David: Cantoneseclass101.com, for every lesson, we’ve got something that’s called premium learning center. If you go in there, you will be able to listen to the dialogues line by line as many times as you want. |
| Melody: 一定會幫到你哋。(jat1 ding6 wui5 bong1 dou3 nei5 dei6.) |
| David: Yeah it’s really useful especially if you are picking up these lines that are kind of tricky where they are a bit long. |
| Melody: 絕對有用。(zyut6 deoi3 jau5 jung6.) |
| David: Really useful. For now though, that is all the time we have. So thank you for listening and be sure to visit us at the website. We are looking forward to seeing you. |
| Melody: 我係Melody。(ngo5 hai6 Melody.) |
| David: And I am David. |
| Melody: 我哋下次再見 (ngo5 dei6 haa6 ci3 zoi3 gin3)，Bye bye. |
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