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Lesson 01 - Sentence Structure

Simple statements

Cantonese, being a Chinese dialect, shares similar sentence structures with Mandarin with occasional exceptions. A simple Cantonese statement is of the form:
L011 Subject +  Transitive Verb   + Object  
  我   食   點心。  (I eat dim-sum.)

L012
   Subject + Intransitive Verb
/ Adjective
  
    我  [好] 肚餓。
 (I am [very] hungry.)  
   點心  好好食!
 (Dim-sum's yummy!)


In Chinese, a strict word order is used to indicate the subject and the object of a verb, with the subject appears before the verb and the object after.

Declarative statements

To give further information such as when, why, where, and what in a declarative statement, there are two commonly used word orders:
L013  Subject
 + Time +  Cause +  Location + Action
   我  今日  因為肚餓  去咗茶樓  食點心。
(Because I was hungry today, I went to a tea-house to have dim-sum.)

 L014 Time +
 Subject +
  Cause +
 		 Location +
 Action
  今日 我 因為肚餓 去咗茶樓  食點心。
(Today, because I was hungry, I went to a tea-house to have dim-sum.)
 


Note that Chinese "time adverbials" appear either before OR after the subject, and never appear at the end of a sentence.


To qualify a noun, one may insert adjectives in front of it:
  • 我飲咗杯 *好苦嘅 * 茶。 (I drank a cup of *very bitter* tea)
Similarly to qualify a verb, one may insert an adverb in front of it
  • 我  *好快咁* 飲咗杯茶。(I drank *quickly* a cup of tea)


Formal grammar patterns (let me try...)

(To be written)

What is dim-sum? 乜嘢係點心？

Dim sum is a form of Chinese snacks, usually contained in steamer bamboo basket, served along with Chinese tea. There is a wide variety of dim sum dishes, salty or sweet; served as breakfast, lunch, or mid-night snacks. Cantonese dim sum is particularly famous.

點心係一種中國小食，通常用蒸籠裝住、用o黎送茶o既。點心有好多款式，有鹹有甜；早餐、晏晝、宵夜都可以食。廣東點心尤其出名。

What is Lin Heung Tea House? 乜嘢係蓮香樓？

Lin Heung Tea House is one of the most traditional Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. It is opened since Qin Danesty with over a 100 years of history. The most famous dish is "Lotus-seed paste bread".

蓮香樓係香港其中一間最老字號o既食肆。佢係清朝開業，有過百年歷史。最出名o既係蓮蓉包。





What is 茶盅?

我飲咗杯好苦嘅茶!!


(to be written)