34.6 The Verb 找 zaau2 (‘to give change’)

Audio is not available for this page yet.

The verb 找 zaau2 means ‘to give change’. We can put two objects after 找 zaau2. The first one is an indirect object (the recipient, i.e. the person who receives the change). The second one is a direct object (the amount of change). We often use 找 zaau2 with the verb particle 返 faan1 because the change is returned to someone.

找 zaau2 ‘to give change’	返 faan1 ‘back’	Indirect Object (Recipient)	Direct Object (Amount of change)	SP
找	返	你	二十蚊	嘅	。
zaau2	faan1	nei5	ji6 sap6 man1	ge3	.
give change	VP	you	$20	SP
We give change of $20 back to you.

We can optionally omit the indirect object (the recipient).

找 zaau2 ‘to give change’	返 faan1 ‘back’	Direct Object (Amount of change)	SP
找	返	二十蚊	嘅	。
zaau2	faan1	ji6 sap6 man1	ge3	.
give change	VP	$20	SP
We give change of $20 back to you.

找 zaau2 is a verb with the sense of giving something. We can add 俾 bei2 to indicate the recipient using the sentence structure below (See Grammar and Vocabulary 32.2).

找 zaau2 ‘to give change’	返 faan1 ‘back’	Direct Object (Amount of change)	俾 bei2 ‘to give’	Indirect Object (Recipient)	SP
找	返	二十蚊	俾	你	嘅	。
zaau2	faan1	ji6 sap6 man1	bei2	nei5	ge3	.
give change	back	$20	give	you	SP
We give change of $20 back to you.