Talking About Cooking Dinner

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When we buy groceries at the wet market, we may sometimes bump into someone.

喂	！	陳	生	！
wai3	!	can4	saang1	!
hey		Chan	Mr.

Hey! Mr. Chan!

黃	太	！	乜咁啱嘅	？	嚟	買餸	呀	？
wong4	taai2	!	mat1 gam3 ngaam1 ge2	?	lai4	maai5 sung3	aa4	?
Wong	Mrs.		what a coincidence		come	buy groceries	SP

Mrs. Wong! What a coincidence! You come to buy groceries?

係	呀	，	一齊	行	吖	。
hai6	aa3	,	jat1 cai4	haang4	aa1	.
be	SP		together	walk	SP

Yes. Let’s walk together.

好	呀	。
hou2	aa3	.
good	SP

Good. [= Sure.]

To ask what the person plans to cook for the evening, we say:

你	今晚	諗住	煮	啲	咩	呀	？
nei5	gam1 maan5	nam2 zyu6	zyu2	di1	me1	aa3	?
you	tonight	plan to	cook	CL	what	SP

What do you plan to cook tonight?

我	今晚	諗住
ngo5	gam1 maan5	nam2 zyu6
I	tonight	plan to

煲	魚	湯	同	整	茄汁蝦	，
bou1	jyu4	tong1	tung4	zing2	ke2 zap1 haa1	,
boil	fish	soup	and	make	Ketchup Shrimp

所以	要	買	條	魚	同	買	啲	蝦	呀	。
so2 ji5	jiu3	maai5	tiu4	jyu2	tung4	maai5	di1	haa1	aa3	.
so	need to	buy	CL	fish	and	buy	CL	shrimp	SP

I plan to boil fish soup and make Ketchup Shrimp,

so I need to buy a fish and some shrimp.

To ask what the person plans to buy, we say:

你	諗住	買	啲	咩	呀	？
nei5	nam2 zyu6	maai5	di1	me1	aa3	?
you	plan to	buy	CL	what	SP

What do you plan to buy?

你	想	買	啲	咩	呀	？
nei5	soeng2	maai5	di1	me1	aa3	?
you	want to	buy	CL	what	SP

What do you want to buy?

你	要	買	啲	咩	呀	？
nei5	jiu3	maai5	di1	me1	aa3	?
you	need to	buy	CL	what	SP

What do you need to buy?

10.

我	諗住	買	條	魚	嚟	煲	湯	呀	。
ngo5	nam2 zyu6	maai5	tiu4	jyu2	lai4	bou1	tong1	aa3	.
I	plan to	buy	CL	fish	come	boil	soup	SP

I plan to buy a fish to boil soup.

11.

我	想	買	隻	雞	嚟	蒸	呀	。
ngo5	soeng2	maai5	zek3	gai1	lai4	zing1	aa3	.
I	want to	buy	CL	chicken	come	steam	SP

I want to buy a chicken to steam.

12.

我	要	買	啲	蝦	嚟	整	茄汁蝦	呀	。
ngo5	jiu3	maai5	di1	haa1	lai4	zing2	ke2 zap1 haa1	aa3	.
I	need to	buy	CL	shrimp	come	make	Ketchup Shrimp	SP

I need to buy some shrimp to make Ketchup Shrimp.

To ask how the person plans to cook something, we say:

13.

隻	雞	你	諗住	點 / 點樣	煮	呀	？
zek3	gai1	nei5	nam2 zyu6	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	zyu2	aa3	?
CL	chicken	you	plan to	how	cook	SP

For the chicken, how do you plan to cook it?

14.

隻	雞	你	會	點 / 點樣	煮	呀	？
zek3	gai1	nei5	wui5	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	zyu2	aa3	?
CL	chicken	you	will	how	cook	SP

For the chicken, how will you cook it?

15.

我	諗住	蒸	嚟	食	呀	。
ngo5	nam2 zyu6	zing1	lai4	sik6	aa3	.
I	plan to	steam	come	eat	SP

I plan to steam it to eat.

16.

我	會	拎	嚟	整	豉油雞	呀	。
ngo5	wui5	ling1	lai4	zing2	si6 jau4 gai1	aa3	.
I	will	take	come	make	Soy Sauce Chicken	SP

I will take it to make Soy Sauce Chicken.

To ask whether the person will normally cook something, we say:

17.

你哋	平時	會	唔	會	煮	蝦	㗎	？
nei5 dei6	ping4 si4	wui5	m4	wui5	zyu2	haa1	gaa3	?
you	normally	will	not	will	cook	shrimp	SP

Will you normally cook shrimp?

18.

會	呀	，	我哋	成日	都	會	煮	蝦	嘅	。
wui5	aa3	,	ngo5 dei6	seng4 jat6	dou1	wui5	zyu2	haa1	ge3	.
will	SP		we	very often	[emphasis]	will	cook	shrimp	SP

Yes, we will cook shrimp very often.

19.

我哋	好少	會	煮	蝦	嘅	，
ngo5 dei6	hou2 siu2	wui5	zyu2	haa1	ge3	,
we	rarely	will	cook	shrimp	SP

因為	我	個	女	唔	食	蝦	嘅	。
jan1 wai6	ngo5	go3	neoi2	m4	sik6	haa1	ge3	.
because	my	CL	daughter	not	eat	shrimp	SP

We will rarely cook shrimp

because my daughter doesn’t eat shrimp.

To ask what the person will usually buy for a type of food (e.g., fish, vegetables), we say:

20.

你哋	通常	會	買	咩	魚	㗎	？
nei5 dei6	tung1 soeng4	wui5	maai5	me1	jyu2	gaa3	?
you	usually	will	buy	what	fish	SP

What fish will you usually buy?

21.

你哋	平時	鍾意	食	咩	魚	㗎	？
nei5 dei6	ping4 si4	zung1 ji3	sik6	me1	jyu2	gaa3	?
you	normally	like	eat	what	fish	SP

What fish do you normally like eating?

22.

我哋	通常	都	會	買	紅衫魚	嘅	。
ngo5 dei6	tung1 soeng4	dou1	wui5	maai5	hung4 saam1 jyu2	ge3	.
we	usually	[emphasis]	will	buy	golden thread fish	SP

We will usually buy golden thread fish.

23.

我哋	最	鍾意	食	紅衫魚	嘅	。
ngo5 dei6	zeoi3	zung1 ji3	sik6	hung4 saam1 jyu2	ge3	.
we	most	like	eat	golden thread fish	SP

We like eating golden thread fish most.

24.

我哋	有時	會	食	紅衫魚	，
ngo5 dei6	jau5 si4	wui5	sik6	hung4 saam1 jyu2	,
we	sometimes	will	eat	golden thread fish

有時	會	食	䱽魚	嘅	。
jau5 si4	wui5	sik6	cong1 jyu2	ge3	.
sometimes	will	eat	pomfret	SP

We will sometimes eat golden thread fish

and will sometimes eat pomfret.

25.

我哋	都	成日	會	買	紅衫魚	㗎	。
ngo5 dei6	dou1	seng4 jat6	wui5	maai5	hung4 saam1 jyu2	gaa3	.
we	too	very often	will	buy	golden thread fish	SP

We will buy golden thread fish very often too.

To ask how the person will usually cook something, we say:

26.

雞	你哋	通常	會	點 / 點樣	煮	㗎	？
gai1	nei5 dei6	tung1 soeng4	wui5	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	zyu2	gaa3	?
chicken	you	usually	will	how	cook	SP

For chicken, how will you usually cook it?

27.

雞	你哋	平時	鍾意	點 / 點樣	煮	㗎	？
gai1	nei5 dei6	ping4 si4	zung1 ji3	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	zyu2	gaa3	?
chicken	you	normally	like	how	cook	SP

For chicken, how do you normally like to cook it?

28.

我哋	通常	都	會	整	豉油雞	嘅	。
ngo5 dei6	tung1 soeng4	dou1	wui5	zing2	si6 jau4 gai1	ge3	.
we	usually	[emphasis]	will	make	Soy Sauce Chicken	SP

We will usually make Soy Sauce Chicken.

29.

我哋	最	鍾意	整	豉油雞	嘅	。
ngo5 dei6	zeoi3	zung1 ji3	zing2	si6 jau4 gai1	ge3	.
we	most	like	make	Soy Sauce Chicken	SP

We like making Soy Sauce Chicken most.

30.

我哋	通常	都	會	蒸	嚟	食	，
ngo5 dei6	tung1 soeng4	dou1	wui5	zing1	lai4	sik6	,
we	usually	[emphasis]	will	steam	come	eat

不過	間唔中	都	會	焗	嚟	食	嘅	。
bat1 gwo3	gaan3 m4 zung1	dou1	wui5	guk6	lai4	sik6	ge3	.
but	from time to time	too	will	roast	come	eat	SP

We will usually steam it to eat,

but we will roast it to eat from time to time too.

31.

我哋	都	成日	會	整	豉油雞	㗎	。
ngo5 dei6	dou1	seng4 jat6	wui5	zing2	si6 jau4 gai1	gaa3	.
we	too	very often	will	make	Soy Sauce Chicken	SP

We will make Soy Sauce Chicken very often too.

To ask which store the person will usually go to, we say:

32.

你	通常	會	去	邊	檔	魚檔	㗎	？
nei5	tung1 soeng4	wui5	heoi3	bin1	dong3	jyu4 dong3	gaa3	?
you	usually	will	go	which	CL	fish stall	SP

Which fish stall will you usually go to?

33.

魚	你	鍾意	去	邊	檔	買	㗎	？
jyu2	nei5	zung1 ji3	heoi3	bin1	dong3	maai5	gaa3	?
fish	you	like	go	which	CL	buy	SP

For fish, which stall do you like going to buy it?

34.

我	通常	都	會
ngo5	tung1 soeng4	dou1	wui5
I	usually	[emphasis]	will

去	前邊	嗰	檔	魚檔	嘅	。
heoi3	cin4 bin6	go2	dong3	jyu4 dong3	ge3	.
go	front	that	CL	fish stall	SP

I will usually go to the fish stall in front.

35.

我	最	鍾意	去	陳記	嘅	。
ngo5	zeoi3	zung1 ji3	heoi3	can2 gei3	ge3	.
I	most	like	go	Chan Kee	SP

I like going to Chan Kee most.

In the past, people would often use their own name to name their shop. They would usually take one syllable from their name and add the word 記 gei3 after it (e.g., 陳記 can2 gei3 ‘Chan Kee’). Shop names with 記 gei3 may sound a bit old-fashioned nowadays.
Notice that 陳 can2 is said with Tone 2 instead of the usual Tone 4. Tone changes are common in names.

36.

我	有時	會	去	發哥	嗰度	，
ngo5	jau5 si4	wui5	heoi3	faat3 go1	go2 dou6	,
I	sometimes	will	go	Brother Fat	there	SP

有時	會	去	娟姐	嗰度	嘅	。
jau5 si4	wui5	heoi3	gyun1 ze1	go2 dou6	ge3	.
sometimes	will	go	Sister Kuen	there	SP

I will sometimes go to Brother Fat’s place

and will sometimes go to Sister Kuen’s place.

We can put 嗰度 go2 dou6 (‘there’) after someone’s name to refer to someone’s place. When referring to a shop owner, we often add 哥 go1 (‘brother’) or 姐 ze1 (‘sister’) after their name to show respect (e.g., 發哥 faat3 go1 ‘Brother Fat’, 娟姐 gyun1 ze1 ‘Sister Kuen’).

37.

我	都	成日	會	去	陳記	㗎	。
ngo5	dou1	seng4 jat6	wui5	heoi3	can2 gei3	gaa3	.
I	too	very often	will	go	Chan Kee	SP

I will go to Chan Kee very often too.