Inviting Someone to a Gathering

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不如	(我哋)	下	個	星期	一齊	打波	吖	。
bat1 jyu4	(ngo5 dei6)	haa6	go3	sing1 kei4	jat1 cai4	daa2 bo1	aa1	.
why not	we	next	CL	week	together	play basketball	SP

Why don’t we play basketball together next week?

(你)	有	冇	興趣	今	個	星期六
(nei5)	jau5	mou5	hing3 ceoi3	gam1	go3	sing1 kei4 luk6
you	have	not have	interest	next	CL	Saturday

一齊	去	行山	呀	？
jat1 cai4	heoi3	haang4 saan1	aa3	?
together	go	hike	SP

Do you have an interest in going hiking together next Saturday?

[= Are you interested in going hiking together next Saturday?]

(你)	有	冇	時間
(nei5)	jau5	mou5	si4 gaan3
you	have	not have	time

今	個	星期	過嚟	食飯	呀	？
gam1	go3	sing1 kei4	gwo3 lai4	sik6 faan6	aa3	?
next	CL	week	come cover	have meal	SP

Do you have time to come over to have a meal this week?

[= Are you free to come over to have a meal this week?]

(你)	今	個	星期
(nei5)	gam1	go3	sing1 kei4
you	next	CL	week

有	冇	時間	過嚟	食飯	呀	？
jau5	mou5	si4 gaan3	gwo3 lai4	sik6 faan6	aa3	?
have	not have	time	come cover	have meal	SP

Do you have time this week to come over to have a meal?

[= Are you free this week to come over to have a meal?]

If we don’t want to specify the time, we can use the expression 揾日 wan2 jat6 (‘to find a day’).

不如	(我哋)	揾	日	一齊	打波	吖	。
bat1 jyu4	(ngo5 dei6)	wan2	jat6	jat1 cai4	daa2 bo1	aa1	.
why not	we	find	day	together	play basketball	SP

Why don’t we find a day to play basketball together?

(你)	有	冇	興趣
(nei5)	jau5	mou5	hing3 ceoi3
you	have	not have	interest

揾	日	一齊	去	行山	呀	？
wan2	jat6	jat1 cai4	heoi3	haang4 saan1	aa3	?
find	day	together	go	hike	SP

Do you have an interest in finding a day to go hiking together?

[= Are you interested in finding a day to go hiking together?]

(你)	有	冇	時間	揾	日	過嚟	食飯	呀	？
(nei5)	jau5	mou5	si4 gaan3	wan2	jat6	gwo3 lai4	sik6 faan6	aa3	?
you	have	not have	time	find	day	come cover	have meal	SP

Do you have time to find a day to come over to have a meal?

[= Are you free to find a day to come over to have a meal?]

Route A: Accepting an invitation

To accept an invitation, we can reply:

好	呀	。
hou2	aa3	.
good	SP

Good. [= Sure.]

OK	呀	。
ou1 kei1	aa3	.
okay	SP

Okay. [= Sure.]

If the invitation is formed with 有冇興趣 jau5 mou5 hing3 ceoi3 and 有冇時間 jau5 mou5 si4 gaan3, we can also reply with the verb 有 jau5 (‘to have’).

10.

有	呀	。
jau5	aa3	.
have	SP

Yes.

Route B: Rejecting an invitation

To reject an invitation, we can reply:

11.

唔	喇	。
m4	laa3	.
not	SP

No. [= I’ll pass on it.]

12.

唔	好	喇	。
m4	hou2	laa3	.
not	good	SP

Not good. [= I’ll pass on it.]

If the invitation is formed with 有冇興趣 jau5 mou5 hing3 ceoi3 and 有冇時間 jau5 mou5 si4 gaan3, we can also reply with the verb 冇 mou5 (‘to not have’), but the rejection may sound less friendly.

13.

冇	呀	。
mou5	aa3	.
not have	SP

No.

To reject an invitation more subtly, we can say that we are not free instead.

14.

我	呢排	唔	得閒	呀	。
ngo5	ni1 paai4	m4	dak1 haan4	aa3	.
I	recently	not	free	SP

I am not free recently.

15.

我	呢排	唔係好	得閒	呀	。
ngo5	ni1 paai4	m4 hai6 hou2	dak1 haan4	aa3	.
I	recently	not very	free	SP

I am not very free recently.

16.

我	呢排	好	忙	呀	。
ngo5	ni1 paai4	hou2	mong4	aa3	.
I	recently	very	busy	SP

I am very busy recently.

17.

我	呢排	有啲	忙	呀	。
ngo5	ni1 paai4	jau5 di1	mong4	aa3	.
I	recently	a bit	busy	SP

I am a bit busy recently.

If the invitation is for a specific week or day, we can say that we are not free in that week or on that day.

18.

我	下	個	星期	唔	得閒	呀	。
ngo5	haa6	go3	sing1 kei4	m4	dak1 haan4	aa3	.
I	next	CL	week	not	free	SP

I am not free next week.

19.

我	今	個	星期六	唔	得閒	呀	。
ngo5	gam1	go3	sing1 kei4 luk6	m4	dak1 haan4	aa3	.
I	this	CL	Saturday	not	free	SP

I am not free this Saturday.

20.

噉	下次	啦	。
gam2	haa6 ci3	laa1	.
then	next time	SP

Next time then.

The word 啦 laa1 is a sentence particle added to decisions. We will learn more about it in the next lesson.