I just have to post this comment from one of my students, ah Laan, here. She, as well as I and everybody who’d ever attempted to take on the Canto, has fought through being answered in English, no matter what she said, for weeks. But then: “...Great victory today in the vida Canto - I often visit the small shop near our apartment for juice or snacks and always greet the proprietress in Cantonese. She greets me in English then responds to my statements - "How much is this" or "I don't need a bag" in English. But today - VICTORY! I went down to buy a beer, said hello (she answered me in Canto), asked how much it cost (she answered me in Canto), and said I didn't need a bag (she got a huge smile andwell, she said something in Canto that I couldn't understand), but dammit! It worked! It finally worked!.”
It does work. Believe me. As long as you don’t back down, break down or give up.
Photo: 四個靚女 (sei go leeng loy, 4 beautiful girls)
Classifiers, measure words, counting words, whatever you want to call them, they are a vital feature of Cantonese. Here you can learn some of them through the medium of song:
See if you can pick out the classifiers to these things from the song:
一個朋友 One friend
兩隻狗 two dogs
三隻蝨 three lice
四個仔 four sons
五隻雞 five chickens
六支筆 six pens
七條魚 seven fish
八張檯（枱） eight tables
九個袋 nine bags
十本書 ten books
But good news: You really can use 個 (goh, “piece of”) for everything! Everyone will understand. Still, learn this song by heart and you won’t have to worry much about classifiers. If you want the lyrics, sound and Chinese characters, just contact me.
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