In the Grammar and Vocabulary section, you will learn:

• Classifiers for Food and Drinks III (Food and Drinks at the Table)
• The Adverb 太 taai3 (‘too; so’)
• The Suffix 得滯 dak1 zai6 (‘too’)
• The Adverb 夠 gau3 (‘enough’)
• The Adverb 有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 (‘a little bit’)
• The Sentence Particle 囉 lo1 (Dissatisfaction)
• The Verb 覺得 gok3 dak1 (‘to think’)
• The Question Word 點 dim2 / 點樣 dim2 joeng2 (‘how’) I (Opinion)
• Vocabulary List
• Vocabulary: Commenting on Food II

When we comment on the food and drinks served at the table, we can use these classifiers:

When you’re not sure, it is usually safe to use 個 go3 for a dish, or 啲 di1 for a type of food.

The adverb 太 taai3 means ‘too’ (as in too salty). We put 太 taai3 before an adjective to indicate that something is more than is suitable. In this lesson, we will use 太 taai3 as the degree word for a predicative adjective. When we use 太 taai3 as the degree word for a predicative adjective, we often use the sentence particle 喇 laa3 at the same time.

To soften the statement and make it sound less firm, we can add 好似 hou2 ci5 (‘seem’) before 太 taai3 and 噉 gam2 (‘seem’) after the adjective.

太 taai3 can also mean ‘so’ (as in so delicious). We can use 太 taai3 to emphasize how good something or someone is.

The suffix 得滯 dak1 zai6 means ‘too’ (as in too salty). We put 得滯 dak1 zai6 after an adjective to indicate that something is more than is suitable. In this lesson, we will use 得滯 dak1 zai6 with a predicative adjective. Since 得滯 dak1 zai6 already indicates a degree, we don’t need to add a degree word before the predicative adjective. When we use 得滯 dak1 zai6 with a predicative adjective, we often use the sentence particle 喇 laa3 at the same time.

To soften the statement and make it sound less firm, we can add 好似 hou2 ci5 (‘seem’) before the adjective and 噉 gam2 (‘seem’) after 得滯 dak1 zai6.

In Grammar and Vocabulary 27.9, we learned that the adjective 夠 gau3 means ‘enough’.

We can also use the word 夠 gau3 as an adverb. 夠 gau3 also means ‘enough’ as an adverb. We use it to indicate the degree of an adjective is enough (as in soft enough). We put 夠 gau3 before the adjective, like other degree words. In this lesson, we will use 夠 gau3 with a predicative adjective.

We add the adverb 唔 m4 (‘not’) before 夠 gau3 to mean ‘not … enough’.

We add the adverb 未 mei6 (‘not yet’) before 夠 gau3 to mean ‘not … enough yet’.

We use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions with 夠 gau3. Notice X will be 夠 gau3 instead of the adjective behind it.

To answer the question, we can give a long answer or a short answer. We give a short answer more often. We form a short answer by omitting the subject and the adjective after 夠 gau3 in the long answer.

The adverb 有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 means ‘a little bit’. We put 有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 before an adjective. In this lesson, we will use 有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 as the degree word for a predicative adjective.

有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 is similar to the adverb 有啲 jau5 di1 (‘a bit’), but 有少少 jau5 siu2 siu2 usually indicates a slightly smaller degree than 有啲 jau5 di1. Compare:

When making a negative comment, we can use the sentence particle 囉 lo1 to add a sense of dissatisfaction to the sentence.

In this lesson, we will also encounter 囉 lo1 in the expression 係囉 hai6 lo1. 係囉 hai6 lo1 means ‘yes’ and is used to show agreement with a comment made by other people. Note that it can be used to agree with both positive and negative comments. Unlike the use discussed above, 囉 lo1 doesn’t show dissatisfaction in this expression. This is another use of 囉 lo1, but we won’t examine it further here.

The verb 覺得 gok3 dak1 means ‘to think’ in the sense of ‘to have a particular opinion’. We use 覺得 gok3 dak1 to indicate that we are expressing an opinion. We put the opinion after 覺得 gok3 dak1.

We often add 我覺得 ngo5 gok3 dak1 (‘I think…’) before a negative opinion to show that we are simply expressing our personal view. This softens the negative opinion and makes it sound less firm.

The question word 點 dim2 / 點樣 dim2 joeng2 is similar to how in English (as in how is your fried rice?). We can use 點 dim2 / 點樣 dim2 joeng2 to form a question that elicits opinions about something or someone as the answer. We put 點 dim2 / 點樣 dim2 joeng2 after the thing or the person we ask about.

We can use the verb 覺得 gok3 dak1 (‘to think’) at the same time.

We sometimes omit the noun phrase before 點 dim2 / 點樣 dim2 joeng2 if it is obvious in the context.

We put a degree word before an adjective.

We usually use the adjectives below with the noun 味 mei6 (‘taste’).

We sometimes compare different experiences in life to different tastes in food. We can use the term 甜酸苦辣 tim4 syun1 fu2 laat6 (‘sweet + sour + bitter + spicy’) to refer to these different experiences in life.

In the Communication section, you will learn:

• Talking About Food
• Finishing a Meal