Listen to a conversation. The speakers will talk about their work or study. There are five mistakes in the script below. Correct the mistakes. One has been done for you. Then, check your answers.

Listen to the conversation again. Read the script while listening. Complete the table.

Listen and repeat the conversation.

Replace the highlighted words in the script with the occupations or subjects below to make your conversations.

In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• Indefinite Noun Phrases I
• Introduction to Aspect Particles
• Separable Verbs
• Verb-Object Compounds
• The Aspect Particle 緊 gan2 (Progressive)
• The Conjunction 定 ding6 / 定係 ding6 hai6 (‘or’)
• The Expression 咁 gam2 (‘then’)
• The Adverb 仲 zung6 II (‘still’)
• Vocabulary List
• Vocabulary: Occupations
• Vocabulary: Subjects

We can use base noun phrases to refer to a type of person or thing in general. To form a bare noun phrase, we simply say a noun without adding a number and a classifier.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 2.6, we learned to form sentences with the sentence particle 嚟 lai4 and the verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’). We can use a base noun phrase as the subject complement.

Besides bare noun phrases, we can also use indefinite noun phrases to refer to a type of person or thing in general. To form an indefinite noun phrase, we add the number 一 jat1 (‘one’) and a classifier before a noun. This is similar to noun phrases with the indefinite article a or an in English (e.g., a teacher).

In Grammar and Vocabulary 2.6, we learned to form sentences with the sentence particle 嚟 lai4 and the verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’). We can use an indefinite noun phrase as the subject complement.

We can omit the number 一 jat1 if the indefinite noun phrase appears after a verb (as an object or a subject complement).

Notice when the verb 係 hai6 is not added to the sentence, we usually don’t use an indefinite noun phrase as the subject complement. We can use a bare noun phrase instead.

Aspect is about the status of an activity (e.g., whether the activity is ongoing or completed). In Cantonese, we use aspect particles to indicate aspect.

We put an aspect particle after the verb and before the object if there is one. In this book, we will use AP to indicate an aspect particle in English translations.

When we add an aspect particle to a group of verbs, we don’t add the aspect particle after the verb. Instead, we separate the syllables of the verb and insert the aspect particle between the first syllable and the second syllable. We call this group of verbs separable verbs.

Note that not all the verbs with more than one syllable are separable verbs. For example, the verb 鍾意 zung1 ji3 has two syllables, but it is not a separable verb. We add the aspect particle after the whole verb 鍾意 zung1 ji3, but not between the syllable 鍾 zung1 and the syllable 意 ji3.

Besides aspect particles, we can also insert other types of words in a separable verb. We will cover them in later units.

Most separable verbs are verb-object compounds. In a verb-object compound, the first syllable is the verb part, which usually represents an action, and the second syllable is the object part. A verb-object compound conveys a specific meaning as a whole. The meaning can sometimes differ from the literal meanings of the individual parts.

We don’t add another object after a verb-object compound because a verb-object compound already has an object part. If we need to add another object, we can use a related verb that is not a verb-object compound. The related verb is usually the same as the verb part of the verb-object compound (e.g., 讀 duk6 for 讀書 duk6 syu1).

When we add an aspect particle to a verb-object compound, we insert the aspect particle between the verb part and the noun part.

Since most separable verbs are verb-object compounds, when we use the term separable verb in this book, we are generally referring to verb-object compounds.

The aspect particle 緊 gan2 functions like the -ing ending in English verbs (e.g., I am eating). We use 緊 gan2 to indicate an activity is ongoing. The activity can be happening right at the time of speaking or happening currently. In grammar, this aspect is called the progressive aspect.

Add the aspect particle 緊 gan2 to each sentence. Then, check your answers and repeat after the recordings.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The conjunction 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 means ‘or’. We use it to indicate two or more options in a question.

When there are more than two options, we add 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 before the last option.

We sometimes add 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 between every option, especially when we are coming up with the options immediately so we are not sure which is the last option.

The expression 噉 (also written as 咁) gam2 means ‘then (in that case)’. We use 噉 gam2 to show that what we say is based on what we have talked about. We put 噉 gam2 at the beginning of the sentence.

We also often use 噉 gam2 only to introduce a new topic.

If the sentence ends with a sentence particle, we can move 噉 gam2 to the end of the sentence.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 4.7, we learned that the adverb 仲 (as written as 重) zung6 means ‘in addition’.

The adverb 仲 zung6 can also mean ‘still’. We use 仲 zung6 to indicate that an activity is still happening. We put 仲 zung6 before the verb we want to modify.

Both 做嘢 zou6 je5 and 返工 faan1 gung1 can mean ‘to work’ idiomatically, but their literal meaning is slightly different:

To indicate we are a student in this context, we usually say:

But not:

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Talking about Work or Study

Are the following descriptions true or false? Correct the description if it is false.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

You will hear four words in each question. Which word is the most different from the other three words?

1.

 –    –    –  

2.

 –    –    –  

3.

 –    –    –  

4.

 –    –    –  

Add the words in brackets to each sentence. Then, listen to the recordings to check your answers. Finally, repeat after the recordings.

Conversation 1

Conversation 2

Follow the example to complete the conversations. Then, listen to the recordings to check your answers. Finally, repeat after the recordings.

Examples

Billy老婆
Billy lou5 po4

阿東 aa3 dung1	你老婆做咩㗎？ nei5 lou5 po4 zou6 me1 gaa3? What does your wife do?
Billy	我老婆做記者嘅。 ngo5 lou5 po4 zou6 gei3 ze2 ge3. My wife works as a journalist.

1.

阿彤老公
aa3 tung4 lou5 gung1

阿東 aa3 dung1	________
阿彤 aa3 tung4	________

2.

阿詩女朋友
aa3 si1 neoi5 pang4 jau5

阿東 aa3 dung1	________
阿詩 aa3 si1	________

3.

Karen先生
Karen sin1 saang1

阿東 aa3 dung1	________
Karen	________

4.

阿欣男朋友
aa3 jan1 naam4 pang4 jau5

阿東 aa3 dung1	________
阿欣 aa3 jan1	________

5.

Jacob太太
Jacob taai3 taai2

阿東 aa3 dung1	________
Jacob	________