Listen and complete the words of the clothing sizes below.

Listen to a conversation. A customer wants to try on a top in a clothing store. Write down the size the customer wears.

Listen to the conversation again. Read the script while listening. Check your answers.

Listen and repeat.

Replace the highlighted words in the script with the other clothing sizes to make your conversations.

In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• Clothing Sizes
• The Aspect Particle 開 hoi1 (Habitual)
• The Aspect Particle 咗 zo2 with Predicative Adjectives II
• Modifying Nouns with Nouns
• Indicating Attributes of Items
• Vocabulary List
• Vocabulary: Commenting on Clothing Size
• Vocabulary: Colors

To refer to clothing sizes like ‘large size’ and ‘medium size’, we first say the adjective (e.g., 大 daai6 ‘large’, 中 zung1 ‘medium’), and then the word 碼 maa5 (‘size’).

To refer to clothing sizes like ‘extra large size’ and ‘extra small size’, we add the word 加 gaa1 (‘extra’, literally ‘to add’) before the adjective.

We can use more than one 加 gaa1 to refer to larger sizes.

Below is a list of clothing sizes. Hong Kong Cantonese speakers also often indicate clothing sizes in English.

To ask for someone’s size, we can use these questions:

For pants sizes, we sometimes use the waist circumference. We first say the number and then the measurement unit classifier 吋 cyun3 (‘inch’).

We sometimes add the word 腰 jiu1 (‘waist’) after the measurement to indicate that we are talking about a waist circumference.

We can use the following sentence structures to indicate our waist circumference. Notice we put the person and the measurement next to each other, without adding any verbs in between. These sentence structures have a predicate without a verb (see Grammar and Vocabulary 12.4).

To ask for someone’s waist circumference, we can combine 幾多 gei2 do1 / 幾 gei2 (‘how many, how much’) with 吋 cyun3 to form the question expression 幾多吋 gei2 do1 cyun3 / 幾吋 gei2 cyun3 (‘how many inches’).

For shoe sizes, we first say the number and then the classifier 號 hou6 (‘number’).

To indicate a half size, we put the word 半 bun3 (‘half’) after 號 hou6.

We sometimes add the word 鞋 haai4 (‘shoe’) after the size to indicate that we are talking about a shoe size.

To ask for someone’s shoes size, we can combine 幾多 gei2 do1 / 幾 gei2 (‘how many, how much’) with 號 hou6 to form the question expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 / 幾號 gei2 hou6 (‘what number’).

We can use the aspect particle 開 hoi1 to indicate that we do an action habitually. The aspect particle 開 hoi1 often adds the meaning of ‘usually’ to a sentence. In grammar, this aspect is called the habitual aspect.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 41.3, we learned the adverb of frequency 通常 tung1 soeng4 (‘usually’). 開 hoi1 and 通常 tung1 soeng4 add similar meaning to a sentence. We can often use them interchangeably.

Note that, however, there is a subtle difference between 開 hoi1 and 通常 tung1 soeng4. We usually use 開 hoi1 for habits that have developed over time, while we usually use 通常 tung1 soeng4 when we are simply indicating how frequently something is done.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 51.2, we learned that we can use the aspect particle 咗 zo2 with a predicative adjective to add the meaning of ‘to have become’ or ‘to have become more’ to a sentence. We also learned that we can add an adverb after 咗 zo2 to indicate the degree of the quality.

We sometimes use the aspect particle 咗 zo2 with a predicative adjective and an adverb to indicate how much something is different from what is suitable (e.g., medium size is a bit larger than suitable).

To soften the statement and make it sound less firm, we can add 好似 hou2 ci5 (‘seem’) before the adjective and 噉 gam2 (‘seem’) after the adverb.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 21.2, we learned that we can put an attributive adjective before a noun to modify the noun. We also learned that we use the particle 嘅 ge3 to link the attributive adjective and the noun.

Instead of using an adjective, we can also put a noun before 嘅 ge3 to modify the noun after it. When 嘅 ge3 is added after the first noun, the first noun functions like an adjective and can be used to modify the second noun. The first noun often indicates an attribute of the second noun (e.g., the color or size).

We can put a question expression (e.g., 乜嘢色 mat1 je5 sik1 / 咩色 me1 sik1 ‘what color’) at the position of the first noun to ask about an attribute (e.g., the color).

In Grammar and Vocabulary 21.2, we learned to use an attributive adjective to modify a noun.

We can say only the attributive adjective with 嘅 ge3 to mean ‘a … one’ or ‘… ones’.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 52.4, we also learned to use a noun to modify another noun.

We can also say only the first noun with 嘅 ge3 to mean ‘a … one’ or ‘… ones’.

To mean ‘this one is a … one’ or ‘these … are … ones’, we can use the following two sentence structures. We often use these sentence structures to indicate the attribute of the items we have in our hands, such as their color, size or whether they’re new or a display item.

The first sentence structure is a sentence with the verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’). The subject complement will be the adjective or the noun with 嘅 ge3. If the number is 一 jat1 (‘one’), we can optionally omit the number.

The second sentence structure is a sentence that has a predicate without verbs (See Grammar and Vocabulary 12.4). The adjective or the noun with 嘅 ge3 will be the predicate on its own. If the number is 一 jat1 (‘one’), we can optionally omit the number.

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Trying on Clothes