In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• Time Expressions II (Month)
• Time Expressions III (Day)
• Parts of the Day
• Order of Time Expressions
• Yes-No Questions with Predicative Adjectives
• Predicative Adjectives without Adverbs
• The Adjective 得 dak1 (‘okay’)
• The Conjunction 或者 waak6 ze2 (‘or’)
• Comparison Between 定 ding6 / 定係 ding6 hai6 (‘or’) and 或者 waak6 ze2 (‘or’)
• Omission in Time Expressions
• The Adverb 就 zau6 I (Determination) and the Sentence Particle 啦 laa1 II (Decision)
• Vocabulary List

We use the following structure to mean ‘last month, this month, next month, etc.’. This structure is similar to the one we learned in Grammar and Vocabulary 16.1.

Below are the possible combinations.

If we want to indicate the day, we put the day after the month.

We put a time expression before the verb we want to modify.

We use the following words to mean ‘yesterday, today, tomorrow, etc.’.

We put a time expression before the verb we want to modify.

Fill in the blanks with time expressions. Then, check your answers and repeat after the recordings.

Example

今個月係十月，________係十一月。
gam1 go3 jyut6 hai6 sap6 jyut6, ________ hai6 sap6 jat1 jyut6.

1.

今個月係十一月，________係十月。
gam1 go3 jyut6 hai6 sap6 jat1 jyut6, ________ hai6 sap6 jyut6.

2.

今日係四月五號，________係四月四號。
gam1 jat6 hai6 sei3 jyut6 ng5 hou6, ________ hai6 sei3 jyut6 sei3 hou6.

3.

今個月係五月，________係七月。
gam1 go3 jyut6 hai6 ng5 jyut6, ________ hai6 cat1 jyut6.

4.

今日係九月一號，________係九月二號。
gam1 jat6 hai6 gau2 jyut6 jat1 hou6, ________ hai6 gau2 jyut6 ji6 hou6.

5.

今個月係四月，________係二月。
gam1 go3 jyut6 hai6 sei3 jyut6, ________ hai6 ji6 jyut6.

6.

聽日係六月廿八號，________係六月廿七號。
ting1 jat6 hai6 luk6 jyut6 jaa6 baat3 hou6, ________ hai6 luk6 jyut6 jaa6 cat1 hou6.

7.

今個月係三月，________係四月。
gam1 go3 jyut6 hai6 saam1 jyut6, ________ hai6 sei3 jyut6.

8.

今日係十一月十七號，________係十一月十九號。
gam1 jat6 hai6 sap6 jat1 jyut6 sap6 cat1 hou6, ________ hai6 sap6 jat1 jyut6 sap6 gau2 hou6.

9.

上個月係七月，________係八月。
soeng6 go3 jyut6 hai6 cat1 jyut6, ________ hai6 baat3 jyut6.

10.

今日係三月二十二號，________係三月二十號。
gam1 jat6 hai6 saam1 jyut6 ji6 sap6 ji6 hou6, ________ hai6 saam1 jyut6 ji6 sap6 hou6.

We use the following words to refer to different parts of the day.

We can combine an expression for the day (e.g., 琴日 kam4 jat6 ‘yesterday’) and a part of the day (e.g., 朝早 ziu1 zou2 ‘morning’) to mean ‘yesterday morning, tomorrow afternoon, etc.’. We first say the expression for the day and then the part of the day.

When combining an expression for the day with 朝早 ziu1 zou2 (‘morning’) or 夜晚 je6 maan5 (‘evening, night’), we can use the following contracted expressions. Notice we contract 朝早 ziu1 zou2 to 朝 ziu1, but 夜晚 je6 maan5 / je6 maan1 to 晚 maan5 / maan1. Also, we don’t contract some of the combinations.

We can also combine a day of the week (e.g., 星期六 sing1 kei4 luk6 ‘Saturday’) with a part of the day to mean ‘Saturday morning, Sunday night, etc.’. We first say the day of the week and then the part of the day.

When we say a day of the week with 朝早 ziu1 zou2 (‘morning’) or 夜晚 je6 maan5 (‘evening, night’), we can contract 朝早 ziu1 zou2 to 朝 ziu1 and 夜晚 je6 maan5 to 晚 maan5. Notice we usually don’t contract 夜晚 je6 maan1 to 晚 maan1 in this case.

We put a time expression before the verb we want to modify.

Say the part of the day for the time in each question.

Example: 🕖 7:00 pm

1. 🕒 3:00 pm

2. 🕘 9:00 am

3. 🕒 3:00 am

4. 🕛 12:00 noon

5. 🕠 5:30 am

6. 🕗 8:00 pm

We arrange time expressions from the largest unit to the smallest unit. The order is: year → month → week → day → part of the day → specific time.

We can use the X-not-X construction to form a yes-no question with a predicative adjective. In the X-not-X construction, where X represents the predicative adjective, we combine the positive form (X) and the negative form (not X) of the predicative adjective. To make the negative form, we simply add 唔 m4 (‘not’) before the predicative adjective.

If the predicative adjective has more than one syllable, we keep only the first syllable and omit the other syllables in the positive form.

We don’t need to add an adverb (the default adverb 好 hou2 or other degree words) in this type of question.

To answer the question, we can give a short answer or a long answer. We give a short answer more often.

We don’t need to add an adverb (the default adverb 好 hou2 or other degree words) in the answers. However, we can do so if we want to specify the intensity of the adjective.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 16.8, we learned that we put an adverb (the default adverb 好 hou2 or other degree words) between the subject and the predicative adjective.

There are some situations where we don’t need to add the adverb. In this lesson, we will see the following two situations. Both occur when we ask and answer questions.

We usually don’t need to add an adverb when asking and answering yes-no questions formed with the X-not-X construction of a predicative adjective.

We also usually don’t need to add an adverb when asking and answering questions formed with a question word (e.g., 幾時 gei2 si4 ‘when’, 邊度 bin1 dou6 ‘where’).

The adjective 得 dak1 can mean ‘okay’ (as in I am okay on Friday). We can use it to indicate that something works for us (e.g., the time or the location). When 得 dak1 means ‘okay’, we usually don’t add the default adverb 好 hou2 or adverbs that increase intensity (e.g., 勁 ging6 ‘strongly’, 超 ciu1 ‘super’). Note that 得 dak1 has other meanings. We may need to add an adverb in other situations.

To mean ‘not okay’, we can add the adverbs 唔 m4 (‘not’), 唔係好 m4 hai6 hou2 (‘not very’) or 唔係幾 m4 hai6 gei2 (‘not quite’) before 得 dak1.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 6.7, we learned that the conjunction 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 means ‘or’. We use it to indicate two or more options in a question.

The conjunction 或者 waak6 ze2 also means ‘or’. We use it to indicate two or more options in a statement, instead of a question.

When there are more than two options, we add 或者 waak6 ze2 before the last option.

We sometimes add 或者 waak6 ze2 between every option, especially when we are coming up with the options immediately so we are not sure which is the last option.

If the options appear before the verb or predicative adjective in a sentence, we can add the adverb 都 dou1 before the verb or predicative adjective to add the meaning of ‘all’. When there are only two options, we can understand 都 dou1 as ‘both’.

We generally use 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 to mean ‘or’ in questions, and 或者 waak6 ze2 to mean ‘or’ in statements.

However, there are situations where we use 或者 waak6 ze2 instead of 定 ding6 or 定係 ding6 hai6 in a question. One situation is when there are multiple options mentioned in the question, but the question doesn’t literally ask for one of the options as the answer.

We may choose to indicate one of the options in the answer, but the key point is that the question doesn’t directly ask for it.

As a rule of thumb, this type of question often has a X-not-X construction.

Also, note that we usually use 或者 waak6 ze2 to indicate options in a suggestion. A suggestion may look like a question as we often expect a response when making a suggestion. However, a suggestion doesn’t directly ask for one of the options as the answer so we will still use 或者 waak6 ze2.

When we say more than one time expression, we can omit the repeated parts.

Notice we don’t omit parts in an expression for the day (e.g., 今日 gam1 jat6 ‘today’, 聽日 ting1 jat6 ‘tomorrow’) and the contracted expressions like 今晚 gam1 maan5 (‘tonight’) and 聽晚 ting1 maan5 (‘tomorrow night’).

We can also omit the conjunction 同 tung4 (‘and’) or 同埋 tung4 maai4 (‘and’).

We usually only omit both 同 tung4 or 同埋 tung4 maai4 and 月 jyut6, 號 hou6, 日 jat6 or 星期 sing1 kei4 / 禮拜 lai5 baai3 together if the expressions have consecutive numbers (e.g. 一月 jat1 jyut6 and 二月 ji6 jyut6, and 四號 sei3 hou6 and 五號 ng5 hou6, 星期一 sing1 kei4 jat1 and 星期二 sing1 kei4 ji6).

There are some exceptions, such as certain combinations of days of the week.

Omit the repeated parts of the time expressions in each question. Then, check your answers and repeat after the recordings.

Example

今個星期日同下個星期日
gam1 go3 sing1 kei4 jat6 tung4 haa6 go3 sing1 kei4 jat6

1.

下個月一號同下個月二號
haa6 go3 jyut6 jat1 hou6 tung4 haa6 go3 jyut6 ji6 hou6

2.

上個禮拜六同上個禮拜日
soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3 luk6 tung4 soeng6 go3 lai5 baai3 jat6

3.

星期三夜晚同星期四夜晚
sing1 kei4 saam1 je6 maan5 tung4 sing1 kei4 sei3 je6 maan5

4.

今個月二十號同今個月二十一號
gam1 go3 jyut6 ji6 sap6 hou6 tung4 gam1 go3 jyut6 ji6 sap6 jat1 hou6

5.

上個星期五同今個星期五
soeng6 go3 sing1 kei4 ng5 tung4 gam1 go3 sing1 kei4 ng5

6.

禮拜一朝早同禮拜二朝早
lai5 baai3 jat1 ziu1 zou2 tung4 lai5 baai3 ji6 ziu1 zou2

We can use the adverb 就 zau6 to show determination. We often add 就 zau6 when indicating a decision. Where we put 就 zau6 in a sentence depends on the meaning and the structure of the sentence. We will see different examples below and in later lessons.

We can also use the sentence particle 啦 laa1 to indicate a decision.

We often use both the adverb 就 and the sentence particle 啦 at the same time when indicating a decision.

We can use 就 zau6 and 啦 laa1 with the adverb 不如 bat1 jyu4 (‘why not’) to suggest a final decision.

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Deciding on the Date for a Gathering