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你哋有冇仔女㗎？
nei5 dei6 jau5 mou5 zai2 neoi2 gaa3?
nei5 dei6 jau5 mou5 zai2 neoi2 gaa3?
Grammar and Vocabulary
In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:
- Children’s Age
- The Adverb 都 dou1 II (‘all’)
- Referring to Members in a Group (‘one of them, two of them, etc.’)
- The Conjunction 就 zau6 I (Contrast)
- Vocabulary List
- Vocabulary: Children in a Family
- Vocabulary: Schools
- Vocabulary: Pets
14.1 Children’s Age
When we indicate children’s age, we can optionally add the adjective 大 daai6 (‘old’) after the age. We usually only add 大 daai6 if the age is from 0 to 10.
We can add 半 bun3 (‘half’) after 歲 seoi3 to mean ‘… and a half years old’.
We can add 幾 gei2 (‘and slightly more’) after 歲 seoi3 to mean ‘… year old and slightly more’.
For half a year old, we put 半 bun3 before 歲 seoi3.
For infants less than 1 year old, we can indicate their age in months, like how we indicate duration in months. Notes that we always add 大 daai6 after the age if it is in months.
We can add the adverbs 就快 zau6 faai3 (‘soon’) or 差唔多 caa1 m4 do1 (‘almost’) before an age.
我個女就快兩歲。
ngo5 go3 neoi2 zau6 faai3 loeng5 seoi3.
My daughter will be two years old soon.
我個女差唔多兩歲。
ngo5 go3 neoi2 caa1 m4 do1 loeng5 seoi3.
My daughter is almost two years old.
14.2 The Adverb 都 dou1 II (‘all’)
In Grammar and Vocabulary 3.2, we learned that the adverb 都 dou1 means ‘too, also’.
The adverb 都 dou1 can also mean ‘all’. When the subject in a sentence represents a group of people or things, we can put 都 dou1 after the subject to emphasize that all of the people or things do the same activity or share the same attribute.
我三個仔女仲讀緊書。
ngo5 saam1 go3 zai2 neoi2 zung6 duk6 gan2 syu1.
My three children are still studying.
我三個仔女都仲讀緊書。
ngo5 saam1 go3 zai2 neoi2 dou1 zung6 duk6 gan2 syu1.
All three of my children are still studying.
When the number of people or things is two, we can understand 都 dou1 as ‘both’.
我兩個女仲讀緊書。
ngo5 loeng5 go3 neoi2 zung6 duk6 gan2 syu1.
My two daughters are still studying.
我兩個女都仲讀緊書。
ngo5 loeng5 go3 neoi2 dou1 zung6 duk6 gan2 syu1.
Both of my two daughters are still studying.
14.3 Referring to Members in a Group (‘one of them, two of them, etc.’)
If we want to refer to one of the members in a group of people or things, we can say 一 jat1 (‘one’) and then the classifier to mean ‘one of them’. The classifier is determined by what we are referring to. For example, we use 個 go3 if we are referring to people.
| A: | 你兩個仔女今年幾大呀？ nei5 loeng5 go3 zai2 neoi2 gam1 nin4 gei2 daai6 aa3? How old are your two children this year? |
| B: | 一個三歲，一個五歲。 jat1 go3 saam1 seoi3, jat1 go3 ng5 seoi3. One of them is 3 years old. One of them is 5 years old. |
We can also use numbers above one to mean ‘two of them, three of them, etc.’.
| A: | 你三個仔女做緊嘢定讀緊書㗎？ nei5 saam1 go3 zai2 neoi2 zou6 gan2 je5 ding6 duk6 gan2 syu1 gaa3? Are your three children working or studying? |
| B: | 兩個做緊嘢，一個讀緊書。 loeng5 go3 zou6 gan2 je5, jat1 go3 duk6 gan2 syu1. Two of them are working. One of them is studying. |
We can add 都 dou1 (‘all’) after the classifier to mean ‘all two of them, all three of them, etc.’.
| A: | 你三個仔女做緊嘢定讀緊書㗎？ nei5 saam1 go3 zai2 neoi2 zou6 gan2 je5 ding6 duk6 gan2 syu1 gaa3? Are your three children working or studying? |
| B: | 三個都做緊嘢喇。 saam1 go3 dou1 zou6 gan2 je5 laa3. All three of them are already working. |
14.4 The Conjunction 就 zau6 I (Contrast)
When we describe people or things in a group one by one, we can add the conjunction 就 zau6 to show contrast between the people or things. We put 就 zau6 after the subject in each sentence.
| A: | 你兩個仔女做緊嘢定讀緊書㗎？ nei5 loeng5 go3 zai2 neoi2 zou6 gan2 je5 ding6 duk6 gan2 syu1 gaa3? Are your two children working or studying? |
| B: | 一個就做緊嘢，一個就讀緊書。 jat1 go3 zau6 zou6 gan2 je5, jat1 go3 zau6 duk6 gan2 syu1. One of them is working. One of them is studying. |
14.5 Vocabulary List
14.6 Vocabulary: Children in a Family
If a family has two sons or daughters, we can use 大 daai6 (‘big’) and 細 sai3 (‘small’) to distinguish between them. If a family has more than two sons or daughters, we can use numbers in addition.
Sometimes numbers are also used for the youngest son or daughter (e.g., 二仔 ji6 zai2 for the second and youngest son).
😈 Sensitive Content
三仔 saam1 zai2 (literally ‘three + son’) and 四仔 sei3 zai2 (literally ‘four + son’) can mean ‘pornographic videos’.
14.7 Vocabulary: Schools
It is common for parents in Hong Kong to use school grades to indicate their children’s age. They may indicate the grade in Cantonese or English.
Kindergarten
幼稚園
jau3 zi6 jyun2
kindergarten
(4 grades; for children aged 2 to 6 years old)
Primary School
小學
siu2 hok6
primary school
(6 grades; for children aged 6 to 12 years old; similar to elementary school)
Secondary School
中學
zung1 hok6
secondary school
(6 grades; for those aged 12 to 17 years old; similar to middle school, junior high school and high school)
Notice the grades for secondary schools start from 1 again.
University
大學
daai6 hok6
university
(usually 4 years, more years for degrees in subjects like medicine, nursing and education)
14.8 Vocabulary: Pets
Common Pets in Hong Kong
Common Dog Breeds
Common Cat Breeds
Communication
In the Communication section, you will learn:
- Talking About Children
- Talking About Pets
Talking About Children
- We usually use 小朋友 only when talking to someone whose children are likely to be young.
If we are talking to someone younger, we can also ask this way:
- 生仔 saang1 zai2 literally means ‘to give birth to + son’, but 生仔 saang1 zai2 in this context means to give birth to children who can be of any gender. If we want to be gender neutral, we can say 生仔女 saang1 zai2 neoi2 or 生小朋友 saang1 siu2 pang4 jau5.
If the person doesn’t have children, we can ask if he or she plans to have any:
If the person has children, we can ask about his or her children:
If the person is older, we can ask whether his or her children are working or studying.