Latest / Learn Cantonese with Fexingo / Cantonese Liking Things - 鍾意
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey there, welcome back to Learn Cantonese with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Ready for some more Cantonese? Last episode we ordered coffee and tea. I'm still thinking about that iced milk tea. Lucas: I know, right? But today, we're going to talk about something super useful — telling people what you like. In Cantonese, the word for 'like' is 鍾意. Luna: 鍾意. That sounds nice. So how do I say 'I like it'? Lucas: You say 我鍾意. Let's break it down: 我 means 'I', and 鍾意 means 'like'. So 我鍾意. Luna: 我鍾意. Lucas: Perfect. Now, if you want to ask someone 'do you like it?', you say 你鍾唔鍾意? That's 'you' — 你, then 鍾唔鍾意 — the question form. Luna: 你鍾唔鍾意? So you add 唔 in the middle to make it a question. That's clever. Lucas: Exactly. And if you don't like something, say 我唔鍾意. 唔 is the word for 'not'. Luna: 我唔鍾意. Okay, I think I've got those. Let me practice: 我鍾意. 你鍾唔鍾意? 我唔鍾意. Lucas: You're a natural, Luna. Now let's put them into a little scene. Say we're at a café — like from last episode — and I offer you a coffee. Luna: Okay, let's do it. Lucas: I'll say: 你想要咖啡嗎? Do you want coffee? Luna: Hmm, I'm more of a tea person. So I'd say: 我唔鍾意咖啡, 我鍾意茶. Lucas: That's perfect! You said 'I don't like coffee, I like tea.' 唔鍾意 for dislike, 鍾意 for like. And you used 茶 from our drinks episode. Luna: Nice, I'm getting the hang of it. But Lucas, what if I want to ask someone if they like a specific thing, like a song or a place? Lucas: Great question. You just put the thing before 你鍾唔鍾意. For example, if you want to ask 'Do you like this song?', say 呢首歌你鍾唔鍾意? 呢首 means 'this', 歌 is 'song'. Luna: 呢首歌你鍾唔鍾意? That's a bit longer. Let me try: 呢首歌我鍾意. Lucas: Exactly. You can put the object at the front for emphasis. Very natural in Cantonese. Luna: So if I see a cute dog, I could say 呢隻狗我鍾意? That means 'this dog, I like'? Lucas: You got it! 呢隻狗我鍾意. Although, who wouldn't like a cute dog? Luna: True. Okay, I want to get more practice. Let's do a quick exchange. You ask me about something, and I'll answer. Lucas: Alright. 你鍾唔鍾意食壽司? Do you like eating sushi? Luna: 我鍾意食壽司! I love sushi. So I can add 食 — 'eat' — before the thing. That makes sense. Lucas: Yes. The verb can go before the object. So 鍾意食 is 'like to eat'. Similarly, 鍾意睇 is 'like to watch'. Luna: Oh, like 我鍾意睇戲 — I like watching movies. Lucas: Perfect example. 戲 means 'movie'. So you're already making longer sentences. Luna: This is fun. I feel like I can actually say what I like now. Hey, speaking of things I like — I really like this podcast. It's helping me a lot. Lucas: That's so great to hear. And you know, a lot of listeners tell us the same thing. If Fexingo has been helping you make real progress with Cantonese, there's a simple way to keep it going. A couple of dollars a month on buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely makes a difference — it keeps us ad-free and focused on teaching. Luna: Yeah, every little bit helps. And we appreciate every single person who supports us. So if you can, check it out. Lucas: Alright, back to practice. Let's do one more round. I'm going to say a sentence, and you tell me if you like it. Ready? Luna: Ready! Lucas: 我鍾意行山. I like hiking. Luna: 我唔鍾意行山. I don't like hiking. Too much effort! Lucas: Fair enough. How about: 我鍾意唱歌. I like singing. Luna: 我鍾意唱歌! I love singing. Even if I'm not great at it. Lucas: That's the spirit. And remember, you can always ask others: 你鍾唔鍾意唱歌? Luna: 你鍾唔鍾意唱歌? Yes, I'll use that. So today we learned 我鍾意, 你鍾唔鍾意, and 我唔鍾意. Plus how to add things like food or activities. Lucas: That's it. Keep practicing these phrases, and soon you'll be talking about your likes and dislikes naturally. Thanks for joining us on Fexingo. Luna: See you next time! Bye bye!