In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• The Modal Verb 想 soeng2 (‘to want to’)
• Serial Verb Constructions III (Object)
• Yes-No Questions with the X-not-X Construction II (Action Verbs)
• Asking for Suggestions or Preferences with 好 hou2 (‘good’)
• Asking for Opinions on Suggestions with 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2 (‘Is … good?’)
• The Noun 嘢 je5 (‘thing’) I
• Vocabulary List
• Vocabulary: Types of Cuisine

The modal verb 想 soeng2 means ‘to want to’. We use it to indicate we want to do an activity. We put the verb for the activity after 想 soeng2.

We put 唔 m4 (‘not’) before 想 soeng2 to negate 想 soeng2.

We can add a degree word (e.g., 好 hou2 ‘very’ and 唔係好 m4 hai6 hou2 ‘not very’) before 想 soeng2 to indicate how much we want or don’t want to do something.

We use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions with 想 soeng2. Notice X will be 想 soeng2 instead of the verb behind it.

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

We sometimes use yes-no questions with 想 soeng2 to make suggestions. In that case, we can respond to the questions by accepting or rejecting the suggestions. The expressions for accepting or rejecting suggestions are similar to those for accepting or rejecting invitations, which we have learned in Lesson 16.

We can also use 想 soeng2 with a question word (e.g., 乜嘢 mat1 je5 / 咩 me1 ‘what’, 邊度 bin1 dou6 ‘where’) to ask about someone’s preferences.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 16.4, we learned this type of serial verb construction: the first verb phrase is formed by 有 jau5, 冇 mou5 or 有冇 jau5 mou5 and a noun, and the second verb phrase provides details about the noun.

For this type of serial verb construction, the noun in the first verb phrase is sometimes the object of the activity in the second verb phrase. We will see a few examples like this in this lesson.

The noun in the first verb phrase can also be a question word (e.g., 乜嘢 mat1 je5 / 咩 me1 ‘what’). The two examples below are similar to the two examples above in meaning. The only difference is that 嘢 je5 (‘thing’) is replaced by 咩 me1 (‘what’).

In Grammar and Vocabulary 4.4, we learned to use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions. So far, we have seen examples with stative verbs (e.g., 鍾意 zung1 ji3 ‘to like’), modal verbs (e.g., 識 sik1 ‘to know how to’) and the verb 係 hai6 (‘to be’).

In this lesson, we will see examples with action verbs. When we use the X-not-X construction to form a yes-no question with an action verb, the question can perform different functions, depending on the context. We will look at the first function below.

For the first function, the question asks whether someone usually does an activity or not (i.e., whether the person has the habit of doing the activity). It is like questions beginning with do you in English (e.g., Do you eat spicy food?). For this function, we usually end the question with the sentence particle 嘅 ge2 or 㗎 gaa3.

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

In Grammar and Vocabulary 4.3, we learned that 好 hou2 means ‘very’ as an adverb. 好 hou2 can also be an adjective. It means ‘good’ as an adjective.

We can use the adjective 好 hou2 with a question word (e.g., 乜嘢 mat1 je5 / 咩 me1 ‘what’, 邊度 bin1 dou6 ‘where’) to form a question that asks for suggestions or preferences. A question with 好 hou2 asks what will be a good choice or what we should choose. 好 hou2 adds the meaning of ‘should’ to a question (as in What should we eat? or Where should we go?). We put 好 hou2 at the end of the question and usually add the sentence particle 呀 aa3 (for questions) after it.

When we are not sure how to form the question with 好 hou2, we can first think of the question without 好 hou2 and then put 好 hou2 before the sentence particle.

We can combine the positive and negative forms of the adjective 好 hou2 (‘good’) to form the expression 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2.

The expression 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2 means ‘Is … good?’. We can add it after an option to suggest the option and ask for opinions on the option at the same time. It functions like what do you think about … ? in English (as in What do you think about having hotpot?). We usually add the sentence particle 呀 aa3 (for questions) after 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2.

We can contract 好唔好 hou2 m4 hou2 as 好冇 hou2 mou2.

We can respond to the question this way:

The word 嘢 je5 is translated as ‘thing’ in English. However, in Cantonese, 嘢 je5 can sometimes refer to things that are not usually referred as thing in English.

For example, if we put 嘢 je5 after a place name, 嘢 je5 can refer to the type of cuisine or food from that place.

We will see other examples in the later lessons.

We can add the word 菜 coi3 (‘cuisine’) or 嘢 je5 (‘thing’) after a place name (e.g., 法國 faat3 gwok3 ‘France’ and 日本 jat6 bun2 ‘Japan’) to refer to the type of cuisine or food from that place. The word 嘢 je5 literally means ‘thing’ and is more colloquial than 菜 coi3.

We can also put 嘢 je5 after 素食 sou3 sik6 (‘vegetarian food’).

We use the verb 食 sik6 (‘to eat’) with these words.

We can also use other ways to refer to different types of cuisine or food:

We can also put a restaurant name after the verb 食 sik6 to mean ‘to eat at’.

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Deciding on the Type of Cuisine for a Meal