In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• The Preposition 幫 bong1 (‘for’)
• The Sentence Particle 吖 aa1 II (Request)
• The X-one-X Construction (Delimitative)
• Introduction to Polite Language
• The Expression 唔該 m4 goi1 (‘please’)
• The Expression 麻煩 maa4 faan4 (‘please’)
• The Expression 請 cing2 / ceng2 (‘please’)
• The Expression 請問 cing2 man6 / ceng2 man6 (‘May I ask…’)
• The Expression 貴姓 gwai3 sing3 (‘someone’s noble surname is’)
• Titles
• Asking About Time with 邊 bin1
• The Question Expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 / 幾號 gei2 hou6 (‘what number’)
• Vocabulary List

The preposition 幫 bong1 means ‘for’ (as in I have booked for 6:30 for you). When an action is done to help someone, we can use 幫 bong1 to indicate the person who receives the help. We put the person after 幫 bong1 to form a prepositional phrase.

We put the prepositional phrase before the verb we want to modify.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 16.3, we learned to use the sentence particle 吖 aa1 to form suggestions.

We can also use the sentence particle 吖 aa1 to make requests.

We also often use 吖 aa1 when indicating our choice at a restaurant or a shop. We use 吖 aa1 because we are indirectly requesting the staff to take the follow-up action based on our choice.

We sometimes use the modal verb 想 soeng2 (‘to want to’) to make requests indirectly. We don’t usually use 吖 aa1 in a sentence with 想 soeng2 even if we are making a request.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 21.5, we learned to use the verb particle 下 / 吓 haa5 to indicate that we do an activity for a while or casually.

We can also use the X-one-X construction with a verb to indicate that we do an activity for a while or casually. The meaning of this structure is similar to ‘to … for a while’ (as in to rest for a while) or ‘to have a …’ (as in to have a look). In grammar, this aspect is called the delimitative aspect.

In the X-one-X construction, where X represents the verb, we say the verb the first time, then the number 一 jat1 (‘one’), and then the verb the second time.

If the verb has more than one syllable, we keep only the first syllable and omit the other syllables when we say the verb the first time.

We can use the X-one-X construction to indicate we will take a moment to do something.

We also use the X-one-X construction to make requests politely.

The X-one-X construction is similar to the aspect particle 下 haa5 in their meaning. However, in some situations, we use the X-one-X construction more often than the aspect particle 下 haa5.

We usually use the X-one-X construction for a task that is done once, especially when the task is clear and easy to complete (e.g., repeating some information, leaving a phone number).

The X-one-X construction usually sounds slightly more polite. Therefore, staff at a restaurant or a shop will often use the X-one-X construction when talking to customers.

In Units 1 to 3, we learned to introduce ourselves to people who we have recently met. In Units 4 to 5, we learned to arrange gatherings with people around us (e.g., friends and family members). These interactions are usually quite casual.

In daily life, we will also interact with people who we don’t know, such as staff at a restaurant or a shop. These interactions are often a bit more formal. We will say or hear some polite expressions. We will explore some common polite expressions in this lesson.

In Lesson 0, we learned to use 唔該 m4 goi1 (‘thank you’) to thank someone who has helped us to do something or offered us some service.

The expression 唔該 m4 goi1 can also mean ‘please’. We often use 唔該 m4 goi1 to make a request more polite. We put 唔該 m4 goi1 at the beginning of a sentence.

We can also use 唔該 m4 goi1 when we make requests indirectly.

We can optionally omit the subject of the sentence if it is obvious in the context.

We can also put 唔該 m4 goi1 at the end of a sentence, usually when the sentence has a sentence particle.

Note that we can also use 唔該 m4 goi1 when talking to people we know (e.g., friends, colleagues and family members). We should be polite to everyone!

The expression 麻煩 maa4 faan4 literally means ‘to trouble’. In this context, it means ‘please’. We can use 麻煩 maa4 faan4 to make a request extra polite. It is often used at restaurants or shops. We put 麻煩 maa4 faan4 at the beginning of the sentence. The subject of the sentence will usually be the listener.

We can optionally omit the subject because it will usually be the listener.

We don’t usually use 麻煩 maa4 faan4 if the subject is not the listener. This often happens when we are making a request indirectly. In such cases, we can use 唔該 m4 goi1 instead.

Note that 麻煩 maa4 faan4 makes a request extra polite. It may sound unusual if we use 麻煩 maa4 faan4 with someone we are close to. We will usually use 唔該 m4 goi1 with them instead.

The expression 請 cing2 / ceng2 means ‘please’. We use 請 cing2 to make a request extra polite. We put 請 cing2 at the beginning of a sentence.

Note that we usually only use 請 cing2 in specific expressions. The example above is one of them. We will encounter more examples in later lessons. Also, 請 cing2 makes a request extra polite. It may sound unusual if we use 請 cing2 with someone we are close to.

The expression 請問 cing2 man6 / ceng2 man6 means ‘May I ask…’. It is formed by combining 請 cing2 / ceng2 (‘please’) and 問 man6 (‘to ask’). We can add 請問 cing2 man6 at the beginning of a question to make the question extra polite. Compare:

Note that we usually only use 請問 cing2 man6 when talking to someone we don’t know. We rarely use it with someone we are close to. Also, while adding 請問 cing2 man6 to a question makes the question more polite, a question without 請問 cing2 man6 is still polite. If someone asks you a question without adding 請問 cing2 man6, it doesn’t mean that the person is disrespectful to you.

The expression 貴姓 gwai3 sing3 means ‘someone’s noble surname is’. We use 貴姓 gwai3 sing3 to ask for someone’s surname extra politely. The expression is formed by combining 貴 gwai3 (‘noble’) and 姓 sing3 (‘surname’).

Note that we only use 貴姓 gwai3 sing3 to ask for someone’s surname. We don’t use it to give our own surname.

If we don’t know someone’s name, we can use the following titles to address them politely.

If we know someone’s surname, we can address them politely using their surname followed by the titles below. Notice we put the title after the surname, unlike English where the title comes before the surname. In daily life, we usually contract 先生 sin1 saang1 to 生 saang1 and 太太 taai3 taai2 to 太 taai2 when putting a surname before these titles.

We can combine 邊 bin1 (‘which’) with the words 年 nin4 (‘year’), 月 jyut6 (‘month’) or 日 jat6 (‘day’) to mean ‘which year’, ‘which month’ or ‘which day’.

The words 年 nin4 (‘year’) and 日 jat6 (‘day’) are measurement unit classifiers. They are used alone without a noun. We simply put 邊 bin1 before them.

The word 月 jyut6 (‘month’) is a noun instead of a classifier. We add the classifier 個 go3 between 邊 bin1 and 月 jyut6.

We can optionally add the number 一 jat1 (‘one’) before the classifier.

Note that we only say 邊日 bin1 jat6 but not 邊號 bin1 hou6. Pay attention to these expressions:

In Grammar and Vocabulary 23.8, we learned that the question expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 means ‘what day’.

The question expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 can also mean ‘what number’. We use it to form a question that elicits a number (e.g., a phone number) as the answer. We form the expression by combining 幾多 gei2 do1 (‘how many’) and 號 hou6 (‘number’). We can put 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 before the type of number we want to ask for.

There are other ways to use 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 to ask for a number, but we won’t examine them here.

Since 號 hou6 is a classifier, we can contract 幾多 gei2 do1 to 幾 gei2 and say 幾號 gei2 hou6.

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Booking a Table