13.7 The Question Word 幾耐 gei2 noi6 (‘how long’) I
The question word 幾耐 gei2 noi6 is similar to how long in English. We can use 幾耐 gei2 noi6 to form a question that elicits duration as the answer. We put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 after the whole verb phrase. If the verb phrase has an aspect particle or an object, we put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 after all of them. For separable verbs, we put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 after the whole separable verb.
| A: | 你哋結咗婚幾耐呀？ nei5 dei6 git3 zo2 fan1 gei2 noi6 aa3? How long have you gotten married? [= How long have you been married?] |
| B: | 我哋結咗婚五年喇。 ngo5 dei6 git3 zo2 fan1 ng5 nin4 laa3. We have already gotten married for 5 years. [= We have already been married for 5 years.] |
If the sentence has an object, we can also put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 before the object. For separable verbs, we can put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 before the second syllable (the object part). We usually only do so when the verb refers to an activity that can be continued over time (e.g., 拍拖 paak3 to1 ‘to date’). For example, it will sound less natural if we do so with verbs like 結婚 git3 fan1 (‘to get married’) because the action of getting married can be done once only.
| A: | 你哋拍咗幾耐拖呀？ nei5 dei6 paak3 zo2 gei2 noi6 to1 aa3? How long have you been dating? |
| B: | 我哋拍咗五年拖喇。 ngo5 dei6 paak3 zo2 ng5 nin4 to1 laa3. We have already been dating for 5 years. |
When we are not sure where we should put 幾耐 gei2 noi6, we can always think of the answer to the question. We put 幾耐 gei2 noi6 at the position where the duration appears in the answer.
| A: | 你哋結咗婚幾耐呀？ nei5 dei6 git3 zo2 fan1 gei2 noi6 aa3? How long have you gotten married? [= How long have you been married?] |
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| B: | 我哋結咗婚五年喇。 ngo5 dei6 git3 zo2 fan1 ng5 nin4 laa3. We have already gotten married for 5 years. [= We have already been married for 5 years.] |
| A: | 你哋拍咗幾耐拖呀？ nei5 dei6 paak3 zo2 gei2 noi6 to1 aa3? How long have you been dating? |
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| B: | 我哋拍咗五年拖喇。 ngo5 dei6 paak3 zo2 ng5 nin4 to1 laa3. We have already been dating for 5 years. |