Courses › First Steps › Days & Time
A1 · Lesson 5

Days & Time

日期同時間
What you will learn

Learn days of the week, months, telling the time, and making appointments in Cantonese.

Dialogue

Conversation

A
喂，你聽日得唔得閒呀？
Hello, are you free tomorrow?
B
聽日星期幾呀？
What day is tomorrow?
A
聽日星期六。
Tomorrow is Saturday.
B
星期六朝早唔得，下晝得。幾點好呀？
Saturday morning no good, afternoon works. What time?
A
下晝兩點好唔好？
How about 2pm?
B
兩點半啦，我三點前要食完飯。
2:30, I need to finish eating before 3.
A
好呀！喺邊度見？
OK! Where shall we meet?
B
銅鑼灣站出口見啦。星期六見！
Causeway Bay station exit. See you Saturday!
Vocabulary

Key Words & Phrases

星期
week / weekday
今日
today
聽日
tomorrow
尋日
yesterday
點
o clock
半
half
朝早
morning
下晝
afternoon
夜晚
evening / night
得閒
free / available
月
month
號
date (day of month)
Grammar

Language Patterns

Days of the week: 星期 + number

Monday to Saturday use 星期 + number (一 to 六). Sunday is 星期日 or 禮拜日.
今日星期三。
gam1 jat6 sing1 kei4 saam1.
Today is Wednesday.
星期五我去睇戲。
sing1 kei4 ng5 ngo5 heoi3 tai2 hei3.
I am going to the cinema on Friday.

Telling time: number + 點 (+ 半/字)

Use number + 點 for the hour. Add 半 for :30 or 字 for :15 intervals. For minutes, use number + 分.
而家三點半。
ji4 gaa1 saam1 dim2 bun3.
It is 3:30 now.
我八點起身。
ngo5 baat3 dim2 hei2 san1.
I get up at 8 o clock.

A-not-A questions: verb + 唔 + verb

A common Cantonese question pattern repeats the verb with 唔 in between. This replaces 嗎 in many situations.
你得唔得閒？
nei5 dak1 m4 dak1 haan4?
Are you free?
好唔好？
hou2 m4 hou2?
Is it good? / OK?

Dates: month + 月 + day + 號

Dates follow the order: year (optional) + month + 月 + day + 號. No preposition needed.
三月十五號
saam1 jyut6 sap6 ng5 hou6
March 15th
我六月去旅行。
ngo5 luk6 jyut6 heoi3 leoi5 hang4.
I am going travelling in June.
Practice

Test Your Knowledge

Translate · Question 1
How do you say "Wednesday" in Cantonese?
Answer
星期三 (sing1 kei4 saam1)
Translate · Question 2
Say "It is 5:30 now" in Cantonese.
Answer
而家五點半 (ji4 gaa1 ng5 dim2 bun3)
Fill_blank · Question 3
你 ___ 唔得閒？(Are you free?)
Answer
得 (dak1)
Choose · Question 4
What does 聽日 mean?
  • yesterday
  • today
  • tomorrow
  • next week
Answer
tomorrow
Translate · Question 5
Translate: 我星期六下晝兩點半去銅鑼灣。
Answer
I am going to Causeway Bay at 2:30 Saturday afternoon.

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