Talking about Work or Study
Starting from this lesson, when a question can end with either 㗎 gaa3 or 嘅 ge2, we will include only one of them to avoid repetition. You can replace 㗎 gaa3 with 嘅 ge2 or vice versa.
- AP = Aspect particle
- The second part of a separable verb is in square parentheses.
Route 1: Work
- We don’t add 一個 jat1 go3 after 做 zou6 when introducing our occupation.
For some occupations, instead of saying the job title, we often say either the industry, the type of organization, or the duty of the job.
Industry
- We often refer to some industries in English (e.g., IT).
Type of organization
- The word 返 faan1 means ‘to go to (office or school)’ in this context. It indicates that we go to the place to work or study, instead of simply visiting there.
- If the organization is well known (e.g., some chain stores), we can say their name directly.
Duty of job
Route 2: Study
- We don’t usually say 我做學生嘅 ngo5 zou6 hok6 saang1 ge3 in this context.
Hong Kong university students often use the English word major when talking about the subjects they study.
- Hong Kong Cantonese speakers often refer to some subjects in English.
If we are still looking for a job, we can say:
If we don’t work, we can say:
- The word 冇 mou5 means ‘do not’ here. We will learn more about it in later lessons.