Latest / Learn Cantonese with Fexingo / Cantonese Time: Minutes and Hours
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Cantonese with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Episode 112 already — can you believe it? Lucas: I know. Time flies. And that's actually our topic today: telling time in Cantonese. Luna: Oh nice. I've been wanting to ask someone 'what time is it' when I'm out. Lucas: Perfect. So the first phrase you need is '幾點鐘' — which means 'what time' or literally 'how many o'clock'. Luna: 幾點鐘. Gei2 dim2 zung1. Lucas: Exactly. Gei2 dim2 zung1. Try saying it a bit slower: gei2... dim2... zung1. Luna: Gei2... dim2... zung1. 幾點鐘. Lucas: Perfect. Now if you want to say 'one o'clock', you say '一點鐘'. Luna: 一點鐘. That's jat1 dim2 zung1, right? Lucas: Yes! Jat1 dim2 zung1. For two o'clock: '兩點鐘' — loeng5 dim2 zung1. Luna: Loeng5 dim2 zung1. 兩點鐘. And three o'clock is '三點鐘' — saam1 dim2 zung1. Lucas: You're on a roll. Let's practice a quick exchange. If I ask you '而家幾點鐘？' — that's 'what time is it now?'. Luna: 而家幾點鐘？ Ji4 gaa1 gei2 dim2 zung1? Lucas: Right. And you answer — it's one o'clock. 而家一點鐘. Luna: 而家一點鐘. Ji4 gaa1 jat1 dim2 zung1. Lucas: Yes. Now let's say it's two o'clock. Luna: 而家兩點鐘. Ji4 gaa1 loeng5 dim2 zung1. Lucas: Great. Now let's talk about half hours. '半' means half, and '個鐘' means an hour. So '半個鐘' is half an hour. Luna: 半個鐘. Bun3 go3 zung1. So if I want to say 'half past one', would that be '一點半'? Lucas: Exactly. '一點半' — jat1 dim2 bun3. You got it. Luna: Nice. And '一個鐘' is one hour, right? Lucas: Yes. '一個鐘' — jat1 go3 zung1. So '兩個鐘' is two hours. Luna: Okay. Let me try a sentence: '我要等一個鐘' — I need to wait one hour. Lucas: Perfect. '我要等一個鐘. Ngo5 jiu3 dang2 jat1 go3 zung1.' That's super useful. Luna: I can imagine using that at the doctor's or something. Lucas: Right. Or '我等咗半個鐘' — I've waited half an hour. Luna: 我等咗半個鐘. Ngo5 dang2 zo2 bun3 go3 zung1. That's past tense? Lucas: Yes, '咗' indicates completed action. So '我等咗半個鐘' — I waited half an hour. Luna: Got it. So let's practice a mini dialogue. Say I meet you at a café. Lucas: Okay. I'll ask: '而家幾點鐘？' Luna: 而家三點鐘. Lucas: Then I say: '我等咗半個鐘' — I waited half an hour. Luna: Oh, sorry! '我遲到' — I'm late. Lucas: Nice, you used '遲到'. So you can say '我遲到半個鐘' — I'm half an hour late. Luna: 我遲到半個鐘. Ngo5 ci4 dou3 bun3 go3 zung1. Lucas: Perfect. That's a natural way to use it. Luna: You know, it's cool that we can talk about time now. It really helps in daily life. Lucas: Speaking of helping in daily life — and this ties in — if Fexingo has been helping you make actual progress with Cantonese, there's a behind the scenes thing I want to mention. Luna: Yeah, go ahead. Lucas: A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many episodes. No ads, just listener support. Luna: Right. It keeps the show going for everyone. If you've been enjoying it, that's the way to help out. Lucas: Exactly. And now back to time — so you've got '幾點鐘', '一點鐘', '兩點鐘', '三點鐘', '半個鐘', '一個鐘'. Let's do a quick recap. Luna: Let me try: 幾點鐘 is 'what time'. 一點鐘 is 'one o'clock'. 兩點鐘 is 'two o'clock'. 三點鐘 is 'three o'clock'. 半個鐘 is 'half an hour'. 一個鐘 is 'one hour'. Lucas: Flawless. You nailed it. Luna: Thanks! I feel like I can actually ask for the time now. Lucas: And understand the answer. Practice these phrases, and next time you're out, try asking someone '而家幾點鐘'. Luna: I will. Thanks for another great episode, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks for learning with us. Keep practicing, and we'll see you next time on Learn Cantonese with Fexingo.