Latest / Learn Cantonese with Fexingo / Cantonese at the Bookstore - Buying Books
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Cantonese with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Episode 71! Can you believe it? Lucas: I know. The time flies. Last time we were at the clinic, feeling a bit under the weather. Today, something much more relaxing. Luna: Oh good. I need a break from all that medical talk. What is it? Lucas: We're going to a bookstore. Luna: Ooh, I love bookstores. Books. 書. Lucas: Yes! 書. That's 'book'. Let's say it together: 書. Luna: 書. Lucas: Good. Now, if you want to say 'I want to buy a book', it's 我要買書. Luna: 我要買書. Lucas: Perfect. 我 means 'I', 要 means 'want', 買 means 'buy', and 書 is 'book'. So literally 'I want buy book'. Let's break it down: 我要買書. Luna: 我要買書. I want to buy a book. Got it. Lucas: Now let's imagine you're in a bookstore and you see a book you like. You want to ask 'how much is this book?' That's 呢本書幾多錢？ Luna: 呢本書幾多錢？ That's a mouthful. 呢本 means 'this', 書 is 'book', 幾多 means 'how much', and 錢 is 'money'. Lucas: Exactly. 呢本書幾多錢？ Let's practice: 呢本書幾多錢？ Luna: 呢本書幾多錢？ Lucas: Great. And if you want to say 'I want this one', as in pointing to a book, you say 我要呢本. Luna: 我要呢本. So 呢本 is 'this one'. Lucas: Right. Let's do a quick dialogue. I'll be the shopkeeper, you be the customer. Luna: Okay. Lucas: 你好，想搵啲咩？ Luna: 你好，我要買書。呢本書幾多錢？ Lucas: 呢本係一百蚊。 Luna: 我要呢本。 Lucas: Excellent! You just bought a book. Let's review the phrases. 書. Luna: 書. Lucas: 我要買書. Luna: 我要買書. Lucas: 呢本書幾多錢？ Luna: 呢本書幾多錢？ Lucas: 我要呢本. Luna: 我要呢本. Lucas: You know, learning a language is a lot like building a bookshelf. You add one book at a time. And if Fexingo has been helping you add those books, we're really glad. Luna: Yeah, I think about that. Like every episode is a new book on the shelf. Lucas: Exactly. And if you ever feel like supporting our little library, you can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just if it feels right. Luna: Yeah. Every bit helps keep this show going and ad-free. Alright, back to books. Lucas: So let's practice with a different book. Say the book is red. How would you say 'I want to buy a red book'? Luna: Hmm. 紅色 is red. So... 我要買紅色書？ Lucas: Close. In Cantonese, we usually say 我要買本紅色書. The 本 is a measure word for books. So 我要買本紅色書. Luna: 我要買本紅色書. I want to buy a red book. Lucas: Good. Now ask me 'how much is this red book?' Luna: 呢本紅色書幾多錢？ Lucas: Perfect. And if you want to say 'this red book is expensive', you can say 呢本紅色書好貴. Luna: 呢本紅色書好貴. We learned 貴 from the supermarket episode. Lucas: Yes! That's the beauty of it. Everything connects. So today we learned: 書, 我要買書, 呢本書幾多錢？, and 我要呢本. Luna: And 我要買本紅色書. Lucas: Right. Now, if you go to a bookstore in Hong Kong, try these out. People will be impressed. Luna: I will. Thanks Lucas. That was a fun trip to the bookstore. Lucas: You're welcome. Keep practicing, and we'll see you next time on Learn Cantonese with Fexingo. Luna: Bye bye!