Ep13: Days of the Week | Kin-á-ji̍t pài-kuí 今仔日拜幾?

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Ep13: Days of the Week | Kin-á-ji̍t pài-kuí 今仔日拜幾?
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In this episode, we’ve talked about the days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) in Taiwanese. Also, we learned about expressing days and weeks in a relative sense, such as “today” or “last week”.

(These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.)

SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY
TAIWANESE ENGLISH
hioh-khùn to take a break
phah-sǹg to plan, to intend
tshit-thô to play, to have fun; to go sightseeing
Ua̍t-lâm Vietnam
Thài-kok Thailand
Sìng-tàn-tseh / Sìng-tàn Christmas
Lí tang-beh khì? When are you going? When will you go?
tang- when
kin-á-ji̍t today
tsa-hng / tsa̋ng yesterday
bîn-á-tsài / miâ-á-tsài tomorrow
tso̍h--ji̍t the day before yesterday
āu--ji̍t the day after tomorrow

Pronunciation note:--ji̍t” in “the day after tomorrow” is always in the neutral tone. If you change the tone in the regular way, it becomes “some day in the future.”

āu next or after

Usage note: when “āu” is prefixed to the days of the week, remember to use the full form, e.g., “āu lé-pài-sann” (the Wednesday of the coming week), “āu lé-pài-ji̍t” (the Sunday of the coming week).

āu-ji̍t some day in the future
Kin-á-ji̍t pài-kuí? What day is today?
kuí how many; several
lé-pài-ji̍t / lé-pài Sunday

Culture note: “lé-pài-ji̍t” literally means “the day of worship”, which originates from Christian culture. It was brought into Taiwanese long ago possibly by missionaries or through contacts with Western cultures.

Usage note: the shortened form is used more often in common conversation.

lé-pài Week

Usage note: when “lé-pài” is used with “āu” (next), “tíng” (last), or numbers in the front, it only means “week”, not “Sunday”.

(lé-)pài-it Monday

Usage note: the shortened form is used more often in common conversation. This also applies to the other days of the week.

(lé-)pài- Tuesday
(lé-)pài-sann Wednesday
(lé-)pài- Thursday
(lé-)pài-gōo Friday
(lé-)pài-la̍k Saturday
āu lé-pài next week
tíng lé-pài last week
tíng last or previous

Usage note: same as the usage of āu; when people add the days of the week after “tíng”, they usually use the full form, e.g., tíng pái-sann (the Wednesday of the previous week).

Tsiok ta̍k-ke sìng-tàn khuài-lo̍k. Wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
tsiok to offer good wishes; to congratulate
khuài-lo̍k to be happy; happiness
Sin-khuài-lo̍k! Happy New Year!
Sin- New Year

*Syllables that have been greyed out require tone changes.

For more about how to talk about time, 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

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