Buying Vegetables and Fruits

Shopkeepers in the wet market often shout to attract customers and promote their products.

老闆 lou5 baan2

客 haak3

埋嚟	睇	下	喇喂	，
maai4 lai4	tai2	haa5	la3 wei3	,
come close	look	AP	SP

今日	啲	菜心	好	靚	呀	。
gam1 jat6	di1	coi3 sam1	hou2	leng3	aa3	.
today	CL	choy sum	very	of good quality	SP

Come close to have a look.

Today’s choy sum [a type of vegetable] is of very good quality.

過嚟	睇	下	喇喂	，
gwo3 lai4	tai2	haa5	la3 wei3	,
come over	look	AP	SP

今日	啲	菜心	好	靚	呀	。
gam1 jat6	di1	coi3 sam1	hou2	leng3	aa3	.
today	CL	choy sum	very	of good quality	SP

Come over to have a look.

Today’s choy sum is of very good quality.

When we walk close to a stall, the shopkeeper will usually ask what we want.

要	啲	咩	呀	？
jiu3	di1	me1	aa3	?
want	CL	what	SP

What do you want?

俾	一	斤	菜心	我	吖	唔該	。
bei2	jat1	gan1	coi3 sam1	ngo5	aa1	m4 goi1	.
give	one	catty	choy sum	me	SP	please

Give one catty of choy sum to me, please.

If we want to ask how much a type of vegetable is, we can say:

菜心	幾多錢 / 幾錢	斤	呀	？
coi3 sam1	gei2 do1 cin2 / gei2 cin2	gan1	aa3	?
choy sum	how much	catty	SP

How much is one catty of choy sum?

菜心	點 / 點樣	賣	呀	？
coi3 sam1	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	maai6	aa3	?
choy sum	how	sell	SP

How is the choy sum sold?

[= How much is the choy sum?]

廿四	蚊	一	斤	，	四呀六	蚊	兩	斤	，
jaa6 sei3	man1	jat1	gan1	,	sei3 aa6 luk6	man1	loeng5	gan1	,
24	dollar	one	catty		46	dollar	two	catty

要	幾多 / 幾	斤	呀	？
jiu3	gei2 do1 / gei2	gan1	aa3	?
want	how many	catty	SP

$24 for one catty and $46 for two catties. How many catties do you want?

Route A: Buy

俾	一	斤	我	吖	唔該	。
bei2	jat1	gan1	ngo5	aa1	m4 goi1	.
give	one	catty	me	SP	please

Give one catty to me, please.

Route B: Not buy

我	再	睇	下	先	，	唔該晒	。
ngo5	zoi3	tai2	haa5	sin1	,	m4 goi1 saai3	.
I	further	look	VP	first		thank you so much

I will take a look further first. Thank you so much.

The shopkeeper will sometimes offer discounts or free gifts to encourage us to buy more.

10.

買	多	斤	啦	，	平啲	俾	你	嘞	，
maai5	do1	gan1	laa1	,	peng4 di1	bei2	nei5	laak3	,
buy	more	catty	SP		cheaper	give	you	SP

四呀四	蚊	兩	斤	。
sei3 aa6 sei3	man1	loeng5	gan1	.
44	dollar	two	catty

Buy one more catty.

I can give it to you cheaper. [= I can sell it to you at a lower price.]

$44 for two catties.

平啲 peng4 di1 is used as an adverb here to modify the verb 俾 bei2. Like other adverbs, we put 平啲 peng4 di1 before the verb.

11.

買	多	斤	啦	，
maai5	do1	gan1	laa1	,
buy	more	catty	SP

送	多	個	薯仔	俾	你	嘞	。
sung3	do1	go3	syu4 zai2	bei2	nei5	laak3	.
give as gift	more	CL	potato	give	you	SP

Buy one more catty.

I can give one more potato to you as a gift.

Route A: Accept the offer

12.

好	呀	，	噉	俾	多	斤	我	啦	。
hou2	aa3	,	gam2	bei2	do1	gan1	ngo5	laa1	.
good	SP		then	give	more	catty	me	SP

Good. [= Okay.] Then, give me one more catty.

13.

好	呀	，	噉	俾	兩	斤	我	啦	。
hou2	aa3	,	gam2	bei2	loeng5	gan1	ngo5	laa1	.
good	SP		then	give	two	catty	me	SP

Good. [= Okay.] Then, give me two catties.

Route B: Not accept the offer

14.

唔使	喇	，	唔該	。
m4 sai2	laa3	,	m4 goi1	.
not need	SP		thank you

I don’t need it. Thank you.

15.

嗱	，	呢度	兩	斤	，
naa4	,	ni1 dou6	loeng5	gan1	,
look		here	two	catty

仲	有	冇	其他	嘢	要	呀	？
zung6	jau5	mou5	kei4 taa1	je5	jiu3	aa3	?
still	have	not have	other	thing	want	SP

Look. Here are two catties.

Are there still other things that you want?

16.

蘿蔔	幾多錢 / 幾錢	斤	呀	？
lo4 baak6	gei2 do1 cin2 / gei2 cin2	gan1	aa3	?
white turnip	how much	catty	SP

How much is one catty of white turnips?

17.

蘿蔔	點 / 點樣	賣	呀	？
lo4 baak6	dim2 / dim2 joeng2	maai6	aa3	?
white turnip	how	sell	SP

How are the white turnips sold?

[= How much are the white turnips?]

18.

四	蚊	斤	。
sei3	man1	gan1	.
4	dollar	catty

$4 for one catty.

19.

俾	個	大	嘅	我	吖	唔該	。
bei2	go3	daai6	ge3	ngo5	aa1	m4 goi1	.
give	CL	big	Part	me	SP	please

Give me one big one, please.

20.

俾	個	細	嘅	我	吖	唔該	。
bei2	go3	sai3	ge3	ngo5	aa1	m4 goi1	.
give	CL	small	Part	me	SP	please

Give me one small one, please.

21.

嗱	，	呢	個	好	靚	呀	。
naa4	,	ni1	go3	hou2	leng3	aa3	.
look		this	CL	very	of good quality	SP

Look. This one is of very good quality.

22.

好	呀	，	唔該	。
hou2	aa3	,	m4 goi1	.
good	SP		thank you

Good. Thank you.

If we want to choose another one, we can say:

23.

欸	……	要	呢	個	吖	唔該	。
e6	…	jiu3	ni1	go3	aa1	m4 goi1	.
hm		want	this	CL	SP	please

Hm… I want this one, please.

If we want to check the weight first, we can say:

24.

呢	個	幾重	呀	？
ni1	go3	gei2 cung5	aa3	?
this	CL	how heavy	SP

How heavy is this one?

25.

呢	個	兩	斤	。
ni1	go3	loeng5	gan1	.
this	CL	two	catty

This one is two catties.

26.

噉	就	要	呢	個	啦	唔該	。
gam2	zau6	jiu3	ni1	go3	laa1	m4 goi1	.
then	[determination]	want	this	CL	SP	please

I want this one then, please.

When we buy vegetables from a vegetable stall, we can ask for free spring onions.

27.

搭條蔥	吖	唔該	。
daap3 tiu4 cung1	aa1	m4 goi1	.
add a spring onion	SP	please

Add a spring onion, please.

28.

好	呀	，	嗱	。
hou2	aa3	,	naa4	.
good	SP		look

Good. [= Sure.] Look.

29.

唔該晒	。
m4 goi1 saai3	.
thank you so much

Thank you so much.

The shopkeeper will then work out how much we need to pay.

30.

四呀四	加	八	，	總共	五呀二	蚊	吖	。
sei3 aa6 sei3	gaa1	baat3	,	zung2 gung6	ng5 aa6 ji6	man1	aa1	.
44	plus	8		altogether	52	dollar	SP

44 plus 8. $52 altogether.

31.

四呀四	加	八	，	夾埋	五呀二	蚊	吖	。
sei3 aa6 sei3	gaa1	baat3	,	gaap3 maai4	ng5 aa6 ji6	man1	aa1	.
44	plus	8		in total	52	dollar	SP

44 plus 8. $52 in total.

32.

嗱	。
naa4	.
here you go

Here you go.

33.

收	你	一百	蚊	。
sau1	nei5	jat1 baak3	man1	.
receive	you	100	dollar

I receive $100 from you.

The shopkeeper may sometimes ask if we have coins or smaller notes to avoid giving a lot of change.

34.

有	冇	散紙	呀	？
jau5	mou5	saan2 zi2	aa3	?
have	not have	coins or small notes	SP

Do you have coins or small notes?

35.

有	冇	兩	蚊	呀	？
jau5	mou5	loeng5	man1	aa3	?
have	not have	two	dollar	SP

Do you have two dollars?

Route A: Yes

36.

有	呀	，	嗱	。
jau5	aa3	,	naa4	.
have	SP		here you go

Yes. Here you go.

Route B: No

37.

冇	呀	，	唔好意思	。
mou5	aa3	,	m4 hou2 ji3 si1	.
not have	SP		sorry

I don’t have it. Sorry.

38.

找	返	你	五呀	蚊	，	多謝晒	。
zaau2	faan1	nei5	ng5 aa6	man1	,	do1 ze6 saai3	.
give change	back	you	50	dollar		thank you so much

I give change of $50 back to you. Thank you so much.

39.

唔該晒	。
m4 goi1 saai3	.
thank you so much

Thank you so much.