Cantonese Chinese · Cantonese Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 4
佢係我朋友。She's my friend.
Talking about other people: 佢 and 朋友; pointing people out with 呢個, 嗰個 and 邊個; and 都 for "too" and "all".
Dialogue
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嗰個係邊個呀？— Who's that?
- WongTaaiMike，嗰個係邊個呀？Mike, who's that?
- Mike嗰個？佢係家欣，我朋友。That one? That's Ka-yan, my friend.
- WongTaai佢係唔係學生？Is she a student?
- Mike係，佢都係學生。Yes, she's a student too.
- WongTaai呢個呢？And this one?
- Mike呢個係阿明，佢都係我朋友。This is Ah Ming. He's my friend too.
- WongTaai你好多朋友呀！You've got lots of friends!
Dialogue
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大家都係同學— They're all classmates
- Mike阿明，嗰個係邊個呀？Ah Ming, who's that?
- AhMing邊個？嗰個？佢係我同學。Who? That one? She's my classmate.
- Mike呢個呢？And this one?
- AhMing佢都係我同學。He's my classmate too.
- Mike嗰個呢？And that one?
- AhMing都係！大家都係我同學！Same! They're all my classmates!
- Mike我呢？And me?
- AhMing你係我朋友！You're my friend!
Vocabulary
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- 佢
pronounhe; she; it
- 朋友
nounfriend
- 呢
det.this (呢個 = this one)
- 嗰
det.that (嗰個 = that one)
- 個
m.the general measure word (呢個, 嗰個, 邊個)
- 邊個
pronounwho; which one
- 都
adverbalso, too; all (before the verb)
- 大家
pronouneverybody
- 好多
adjectivea lot of; many
- 呢？
particle"and…?" — follow-up question particle (呢個呢？ "and this one?")
New characters
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- 佢
he; she; it
- 朋
friend (in 朋友)
- 友
friend (in 朋友)
- 呢
this (ni1); also the "and…?" particle (ne1)
- 嗰
that
- 個
general measure word
- 邊
which; side (in 邊個)
- 都
also; all
- 大
big (in 大家)
- 家
home; family (in 大家; also in the name 家欣)
Grammar
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呢個, 嗰個, 邊個 — this one, that one, which one
Explanation
To point at a person or thing, Cantonese never says 呢 or 嗰 alone; a measure word follows. The most common one is 個. 呢個 is near (this one), 嗰個 is further away (that one), and 邊個 asks "which one?" — with people, "which person", in other words "who". So 嗰個係邊個呀? means "who is that (person)?". The measure word cannot be dropped: not 呢係我朋友, but 呢個係我朋友.
Examples
- 呢個係我朋友。This is my friend.
- 嗰個係何老師。That's Ms Ho.
- 邊個係家欣？Which one is Ka-yan?
- 嗰個係邊個呀？Who's that?
Grammar
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都: "too" and "all", always before the verb
Explanation
都 goes before the verb, never at the end of the sentence. With one person, 都 means "too": 佢都係學生 (she, like the others, is a student). With several people, 都 means "all": 大家都係我同學. It can also answer on its own: 嗰個呢? — 都係! "That one too!"
Examples
- 佢都係學生。She's a student too.
- 我都係新同學。I'm a new student too.
- 大家都係我同學。They're all my classmates.
- 嗰個呢？都係。And that one? — Same.
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