In this episode, we’ve talked about clothes shopping and learned some useful adjectives and intensifiers.
(These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.)
SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY
| TAIWANESE | ENGLISH |
| Hit niá gû-á-khòo tsin hó-khuànn! | That pair of jeans looks nice! |
| hit | that |
| tsit | this |
| niá | (measure word for clothing) |
| gû-á-khòo | jeans |
| khòo | pants or trousers |
| sann | garments worn above the waist or clothes in general |
| siat-tsuh | shirt |
| T-sioh / T-siat-tsuh | T-shirt |
| tsin (+adj) | really, very |
| tsiânn (+adj) | really, very |
| tsiok (+adj) | truly, very, highly
Usage note: “tsiok” usually sounds higher in degree than “tsin” & “tsiânn” |
| hó-khuànn | good-looking, pretty, to look good |
| bô hó-khuànn | not good-looking, to not look good |
| pháinn-khuànn | bad-looking, ugly, to look bad |
| pháinn-tshuē | hard to find |
| Tsit niá gû-á-khòo bô ha̍h-su. | This pair of jeans doesn’t fit. |
| ha̍h-su | (clothes) well-fitting |
| Tsit niá khòo siunn sè niá. | This pair of pants is too small. |
| siunn (+adj) | too, excessively |
| sè | small |
| Lín kám ū khah tuā niá--ê? | Do you have a bigger one? |
| lín | you (plural) |
| kám...? | (a question word) |
| ū | to have; to exist |
| khah (+adj) | more + adj. (comparative) |
| tuā | big |
| --ê | a … one; something that is... |
| Lín kám ū phòng-se-sann? | Do you have sweaters? |
| phòng-se-sann | sweater |
| Tsit niá sann tsiok līng. | This shirt is very loose/baggy. |
| līng | loose, slack, baggy |
| ân | tight, tense |
| tn̂g | long |
| té | short |
| tsē | many, much |
| tsió | few, little |
*Syllables that have been greyed out require tone changes.
SENTENCE PATTERN: SUBJECT + INTENSIFIER + ADJ
In this episode, we’ve also learned a sentence pattern: “Subject + Intensifier + Adj.”
| Subject | Intensifier | Adjective |
| Hit niá gû-á-khòo
(that pair of jeans) |
tsiânn
(very) |
hó-khuànn!
(good-looking) |
| Tsit niá
(this one) |
siunn
(too) |
līng.
(loose, baggy, slack) |
| Tsit niá khòo
(this pair of pants) |
siunn
(too) |
sè niá.
(small + measure word) |
In Taiwanese it wouldn’t be a complete sentence if you only have the adjective. One common way is to add an “intensifier” as a placeholder.
This is a little bit like in English when you want to qualify something or make a comment about the subject with an adjective (or the so-called “predicative” adjective), you often have to fill in a verb like “to be”.
However, if you have a negative word such as “bô” (no, to not have), it can take the place of the intensifier so it’s not necessary to add an intensifier.
For example:
| Subject | Negative | Adjective |
| Hit niá gû-á-khòo
(that pair of jeans) |
bô
(not) |
ha̍h-su.
(well-fitting) |
Big or small, many or few + measure word
Also notice that, in the third example above, we add a measure word after the adjective: “sè niá”. When we say something is “tuā” (big) or “sè” (small), “tsē” (many) or “tsió” (few), it’s usually more natural to follow it with the appropriate measure word to form an adjective. But, this mainly applies to these four adjectives only.
For more intensifiers and adjectives, go check out our downloadable workbook! It also gives you additional vocabulary with characters, pronunciation notes, grammar explanations, culture tips, and fun exercises to help your practice.
Music Credit: TeknoAXE