Taking the Subway

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If we are not sure how to take the subway, we can ask the station staff for help.

職員 zik1 jyun4

乘客 sing4 haak3

唔好意思	。
m4 hou2 ji3 si1	.
excuse me

Excuse me.

你好	，	請問	有	咩	幫	到	你	嘅	？
nei5 hou2	,	cing2 man6	jau5	me1	bong1	dou2	nei5	ge2	?
hello		may I ask	have	what	help	VP	you	SP

Hello. May I ask if there is anything that I am able to help you with?

請問	點樣	坐	去	紅磡	呀	？
cing2 man6	dim2 joeng2	co5	heoi3	hung4 ham3	aa3	?
may I ask	how	take	go	Hung Hom	SP

May I know how I take it [the subway] to go to Hung Hom?

你	去	二	號	月台	，
nei5	heoi3	ji6	hou6	jyut6 toi4	,
you	go	2	number	platform

Go to Platform Number 2.

搭	去	堅尼地城	方向	嘅	車	，
daap3	heoi3	gin1 nei4 dei6 sing4	fong1 hoeng3	ge3	ce1	,
take	go	Kennedy Town	direction	Part	train

Take the train that goes toward the direction of Kennedy Town.

搭	三	個	站	去	金鐘	，
daap3	saam1	go3	zaam6	heoi3	gam1 zung1	,
take	3	CL	station	go	Admiralty

Take it for three stations to go to Admiralty.

去	到	金鐘	之後	轉	東鐵線	，
heoi3	dou3	gam1 zung1	zi1 hau6	zyun3	dung1 tit3 sin3	,
go	VP	Admiralty	after	change	East Rail Line

After you have gone to Admiralty, then change to the East Rail Line.

搭	兩	個	站	就	係	紅磡	。
daap3	loeng5	go3	zaam6	zau6	hai6	hung4 ham3	.
take	2	CL	station	then	be	Hung Hom

If you take it for two stations, then it is Hung Hom.

If the station we are currently at has more than one railway line, the staff will usually indicate which line we should take.

你	要	搭	東鐵線	，
nei5	jiu3	daap3	dung1 tit3 sin3	,
you	need to	take	East Rail Line

You need to take the East Rail Line.

你	去	七	號	月台	，
nei5	heoi3	cat1	hou6	jyut6 toi4	,
you	go	7	number	platform

Go to Platform Number 7.

搭	去	羅湖	或者	落馬洲	方向	嘅	車	，
daap3	heoi3	lo4 wu4	waak6 ze2	lok6 maa5 zau1	fong1 hoeng3	ge3	ce1	,
take	go	Lo Wu	or	Lok Ma Chau	direction	Part	train

Take the train that goes toward the direction of Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau.

搭	兩	個	站	就	係	紅磡	。
daap3	loeng5	go3	zaam6	zau6	hai6	hung4 ham3	.
take	2	CL	station	then	be	Hung Hom

If you take it for two stations, then it is Hung Hom.

你	可以	搭	前邊	嗰	條	扶手電梯	落去	。
nei5	ho2 ji5	daap3	cin4 bin6	go2	tiu4	fu4 sau2 din6 tai1	lok6 heoi3	.
you	can	take	front	that	CL	escalator	go down

You can take the escalator in front to go down.

好	，	唔該晒	。
hou2	,	m4 goi1 saai3	.
good		thank you so much

Good. [= Okay.] Thank you so much.

唔使客氣	。
m4 sai2 haak3 hei3	.
you are welcome

You are welcome.

During our subway journey, we will hear different kinds of announcements. Below are some common ones.

Before a train arrives at the platform, we will hear:

往	堅尼地城	列車	即將	到達	，
wong5	gin1 nei4 dei6 sing4	lit6 ce1	zik1 zoeng1	dou3 daat6	,
go toward	Kennedy Town	train	soon	arrive

請	先	讓	車	上	乘客	落車	。
cing2	sin1	joeng6	ce1	soeng6	sing4 haak3	lok6 ce1	.
please	first	give way	train	on	passenger	get off

The train that goes toward Kennedy Town is arriving soon.

Please give way to passengers on the train to get off first.

往堅尼地城 wong5 gin1 nei4 dei6 sing4 is supposed to be a relative clause that modifies the noun 列車 lit6 ce1, but 嘅 ge3 is not added to connect the relative clause and the noun here for some reason (🤔 maybe because omitting 嘅 ge3 makes the announcement shorter).

往	羅湖	嘅	列車	即將	到達	。
wong5	lo4 wu4	ge3	lit6 ce1	zik1 zoeng1	dou3 daat6	.
go toward	Lo Wu	Part	train	soon	arrive

The train that goes toward Lo Wu is arriving soon.

When the train is about to close the doors before leaving the platform, we will hear:

10.

請勿	靠近	車	門	。
cing2 mat6	kaau3 gan6	ce1	mun4	.
please do not	get near	train	door

Please do not get near the train doors.

When the train approaches the next station, we will hear:

11.

下	一	站	金鐘	。
haa6	jat1	zaam6	gam1 zung1	.
next	one	station	Admiralty

The next station is Admiralty.

If it is an interchange station, the announcement will indicate which lines we can change to.

12.

乘客	可以	轉乘	荃灣線	、
sing4 haak3	ho2 ji5	zyun2 sing4	cyun4 waan1 sin3	,
passenger	can	change	Tsuen Wan Line

南港島線	或	東鐵線	。
naam4 gong2 dou2 sin3	waak6	dung1 tit3 sin3	.
South Island Line	or	East Rail Line

Passengers can change to the Tsuen Wan Line,

the South Island Line or the East Rail Line.

13.

乘客	可以	轉乘	觀塘線
sing4 haak3	ho2 ji5	zyun2 sing4	gun1 tong4 sin3
passenger	can	change	Kwun Tong Line

往	調景嶺	沿途	各	站	。
wong5	tiu4 ging2 leng5	jyun4 tou4	gok3	zaam6	.
go	Tiu Keng Leng	along the way	each	station

Passengers can change to the Kwun Tong Line

and go to each station along the way to Tiu Keng Leng [the terminal of the line].

The announcement will sometimes indicate whether the doors will open on the left or right. 左邊 zo2 bin6 (‘left’) and 右邊 jau6 bin6 (‘right’) are usually pronounced as zo2 bin1 and jau6 bin1 (bin in Tone 1) in subway announcements.

14.

左邊	嘅	車	門	將會	打開	。
zo2 bin1	ge3	ce1	mun4	zoeng1 wui5	daa2 hoi1	.
left	Part	train	door	will	open

The train doors on the left will open.

15.

右邊	嘅	車	門	將會	打開	。
jau6 bin1	ge3	ce1	mun4	zoeng1 wui5	daa2 hoi1	.
right	Part	train	door	will	open

The train doors on the right will open.

The subway stations in Hong Kong usually have lots of exits that connect to different places. If we are not sure which exit we should go to, we can ask the station staff for help.

16.

請問	紅館	喺	邊	個	出口	呀	？
cing2 man6	hung4 gun2	hai2	bin1	go3	ceot1 hau2	aa3	?
may I ask	Hong Kong Coliseum	be at	which	CL	exit	SP

May I ask which exit the Hong Kong Coliseum is at?

17.

請問	如果	去	紅館	嘅話	，
cing2 man6	jyu4 gwo2	heoi3	hung4 gun2	ge3 waa2	,
may I ask	if	go	Hong Kong Coliseum	if

應該	喺	邊	個	出口	出	呀	？
jing1 goi1	hai2	bin1	go3	ceot1 hau2	ceot1	aa3	?
should	at	which	CL	exit	go out	SP

May I know if I go to Hong Kong Coliseum, which exit I should go out at?

18.

紅館	喺	D2	出口	。
hung4 gun2	hai2	D2 (di1 ji6)	ceot1 hau2	.
Hong Kong Coliseum	be at	D2	exit

Hong Kong Coliseum is at Exit D2.

19.

紅館	喺	D2	出口	出	。
hung4 gun2	hai2	D2 (di1 ji6)	ceot1 hau2	ceot1	.
Hong Kong Coliseum	at	D2	exit	go out

For Hong Kong Coliseum, go out at Exit D2.

Culture

The official Chinese name of Hong Kong Coliseum is 香港體育館 hoeng1 gong2 tai2 juk6 gun2. But Hong Kong Cantonese speaker usually refer it as 紅磡體育館 hung4 ham3 tai2 juk6 gun2 (‘Hung Hom Coliseum’) or by the contracted form 紅館 hung4 gun2, because it is located in 紅磡 hung4 ham3 (‘Hung Hom’). 紅館 hung4 gun2 is a famous venue for hosting singing concerts. Hosting a concert in 紅館 hung4 gun2 is often considered a milestone in a singer’s career.