Try a story before revealing the help

Read about a bird, a fallen tree and a new friend with the pronunciation and English hidden. Aim for the scene rather than a perfect translation, then open each answer to check.

≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

This time the Jyutping and the English begin hidden.
Aim for the scene, not a perfect translation.
If a line resists, find the light grammar characters first and let the nouns fall out around them.
If one character will not come back to you, reveal the line, take it, and keep going — this is checking scene recovery, not character memory.
If you can recover who did what, you are ready for the first book, which uses a deliberately smaller vocabulary.

Two phrases to have fresh in mind

Every character in the story ahead has appeared before, one of them only in passing. These two phrases are the ones worth a last look.

Cantonese	Meaning
多謝do1 ze6	thank you — the form used when someone has given you something
而家ji4 gaa1	now — the joining word, doing real work here

The bird is called 阿寶aa3 bou2, and the cat and dog are the two from the last story.

A bird, a fallen tree, and a new friend

Read each line aloud, say what you think happened, then reveal. If a line resists: find 嘅, 咗, 喺 or 係 first.

從前，喺樹上有一隻雀仔。佢嘅名係阿寶。
The same opening shape as the last story, with a different place and a different animal.
Show answer +Hide answer −
cung4 cin4, hai2 syu6 soeng6 jau5 jat1 zek3 zoek3 zai2. keoi5 ge3 meng2 hai6 aa3 bou2 — “Once upon a time, there was a bird in a tree. His name was Ah Bou.”
有一日，好大風。
Three words, and no verb in sight.
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jau5 jat1 jat6, hou2 daai6 fung1 — “One day it was very windy.” A describing word and a noun make a whole sentence.
嗰棵大樹倒咗。
A pointing word, a counting word, then what happened.
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go2 po1 daai6 syu6 dou2 zo2 — “That big tree came down.”
阿寶好唔開心。
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aa3 bou2 hou2 m4 hoi1 sam1 — “Ah Bou was very unhappy.”
阿福嚟咗，問佢：「你點解唔開心呀？」
Two verbs, then a question that moves nothing.
Show answer +Hide answer −
aa3 fuk1 lai4 zo2, man6 keoi5: nei5 dim2 gaai2 m4 hoi1 sam1 aa3? — “Ah Fuk came, and asked him: ‘Why are you unhappy?’”
阿寶話：「因為我嘅樹倒咗。」
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aa3 bou2 waa6: jan1 wai6 ngo5 ge3 syu6 dou2 zo2 — “Ah Bou said: ‘Because my tree came down.’”
「你嚟我屋企啦。我同阿黑喺山上。」
An invitation, and the ending that makes it one.
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nei5 lai4 ngo5 uk1 kei2 laa1. ngo5 tung4 aa3 hak1 hai2 saan1 soeng6 — “‘Come to my home. Ah Hak and I are on the hill.’”
阿寶話：「多謝你。」佢哋而家係三個好朋友。
A number still needs its counting word.
Show answer +Hide answer −
aa3 bou2 waa6: do1 ze6 nei5. keoi5 dei6 ji4 gaa1 hai6 saam1 go3 hou2 pang4 jau5 — “Ah Bou said: ‘Thank you.’ The three of them are good friends now.”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Cantonese chapters ↗