Last updated July 7, 2009

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Basic Conversation (3)

Basic Conversation 4 - 下

	Written 國		Oral 粵
What is your name?	你叫甚麼名字	nei5 giu3 sam6 mo1 ming4 zi6	你叫咩名	nei5 giu3 me1 meng2
I am called...	我叫	ngo5 giu3	""	""
My name is...	我的名字是	ngo5 dik1 ming4 zi6 si6	我個名係	ngo5 go3 meng2 haai6
How old are you?	你多少歲	nei5 do1 siu2 seoi3	你幾歲呀	nei5 gei2 seoi3 aa3
I will be 19 this year	我今年十九歲	ngo5 gam1 nin4 sap6 gau2 seoi3	""	""
Where do you come from?	你從哪裏來	nei5 cung4 naa5/4 leoi5 loi4/6	你係邊度黎	nei5 hai6 bin1 dou6 lai4
I come from England	我從英國來	ngo5 cung4 jing1 gwok3 loi4/6	我係英國黎	ngo5 hai6 jing1 gwok3 lai4
Where do you live?	你住在哪裏	nei5 zyu6 zoi6 naa5/4 leoi5	你住係邊度	nei5 zyu6 hai6 bin1 dou6
I live in <place name>	我住在	ngo5 zyu6 zoi6	我住係	ngo5 zyu6 hai6

Usage Note

呀 is not strictly necessary but Cantonese often add the "a" sound at the end of sentences.
Note the pronunciation change of 名 in written and spoken form.
裏 is sometimes written as 裡 and 甚麼 is sometimes written as 什麼.
黎 and 係 should really have small 口 characters to their left, as they are oral characters unique to Cantonese. It is difficult to show this "mouth" character on the computer though so I have left it out.

Character Analysis

　名字 = name 甚 = very, considerably 來 = come 住 = dwell, inhabit 在 = at, on, in
甚麼 = what, whatever
咩 = Cantonese interrogative particle, transforms a statement into a question.
哪 = interrogative particle, which?, where?, how? etc
歲 = age of a person 多少 = how many 邊 = edge, border 裏 = within, inside