# Minnan phrasebook

Minnan (閩南話/闽南话 Bân-lâm-ōe) is the main language of Southern Fujian and has spread from there to other areas. It is known by several different names: in mainland China, it is Minnan hua (South Fujian speech), in Taiwan, Taiwanese (臺語 or 台語 Tâi-gí), in most of Southeast Asia, Hokkien or Hokkian (福建話 or 福建话 Hok-kiàn-ōe, used widely in Indonesia) from the Minnan word for Fuijan, and in the Philippines, the overseas Chinese call it "Our People's Language" (咱儂話/咱侬话 Lán-lâng-ōe). Manila, Medan and Penang are examples of Southeast Asian cities with large and influential Hokkien-speaking communities, such that most ethnic Chinese (and a good number of non-Chinese) can converse in Hokkien regardless of their native language/dialect. It is one of the official languages of Taiwan.
Each of the major cities of Fujian's Minnan-speaking areas — Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou — as well as each part of Taiwan and each overseas region where the language is spoken has its own slightly different variant. The overseas variants are influenced by other local languages; Taiwanese has some Japanese loanwords, Hokkien has some from Indonesian and Javanese, Teochew and Cantonese, and so on. All these variants, however, are mutually intelligible to a great extent. The prestige dialect of Minnan is the Xiamen dialect in mainland China, and the Tainan dialect in Taiwan.
Minnan is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, Cantonese or other Chinese "dialects", not even with the other Min (Fujian) languages such as Mindong (Fuzhou Hua), Minbei and Puxian. Languages classified as closely related to Minnan are Teochew, which has only partial mutual intelligibility with Minnan, and Hainanese which has almost none.
All Chinese languages, in general, use the same set of characters in reading and writing in formal settings, based on standard Mandarin. This means that a Minnan speaker and a Mandarin speaker cannot talk to each other, but either can generally read what the other writes. However, when writing Minnan in a more colloquial form, there are significant lexical differences from standard Mandarin, sometimes necessitating the use to extra non-standard characters, meaning that a Mandarin speaker will not be able to make everything out. Use the Chinese phrasebook for reading most writing in Minnan-speaking areas.
Mandarin is an official language in China, Taiwan and Singapore, and widely used in education and media. Today, most Minnan speakers in mainland China and Taiwan also speak Mandarin, and most foreign residents of those areas choose to learn Mandarin rather than Minnan.
Minnan is written with simplified Chinese characters in mainland China, and with traditional Chinese characters in Taiwan. In this phrasebook, where differences exist, traditional characters are written before the slash (/), and simplified characters after the slash.

## Pronunciation

Like all other Chinese languages and their dialects, Minnan uses Chinese characters but employs its own 'unique' pronunciation. However, similar to Japanese kanji, most characters have two or more pronunciations in Minnan, which means that many characters would be pronounced differently depending on context, even if their Mandarin pronunciation remains the same in both instances. The two different pronunciations of characters are often called the literary reading (文讀/文读 bûn tha̍k), which is based on the pronunciation of Tang Dynasty Chinese, and the colloquial reading (白讀/白读 pe̍h tha̍k), which is based on the pronunciation of Han Dynasty Chinese.
But while different pronunciations for characters are a minor phenomenon in Mandarin or Cantonese, colloquial and literary pronunciations are a prevalent feature of Minnan. Most characters have at least two pronunciations, and some have more:
“一”： 白 [chi̍t] vs. 文 [it]
“大”： 白 [tōa] vs. 文 [tāi]
“學/学”： 白 [o̍h] vs. 文 [ha̍k]
An example with 3 readings : “石頭/石头” [chio̍h thâu]，“石榴” [sia̍h liû]，“藥石/药石” [io̍k se̍k]. That is, “石” can be read “chio̍h”, “sia̍h” or “se̍k”.
For example, the words ài and beh both roughly mean 'want', so they are usually written with the character 要 (although they are also written with 愛 and 欲 respectively). Consequently, the pronunciation of the character 要 can change between ài, beh and iàu depending on context.
The ordinary word for person, lâng, is usually written with the character 人, which also has the reading jı̂n or lîn. The character 生 is pronounced seⁿ or siⁿ as a verb used alone, but the word 人生 is pronounced lı̂n-seng.
Words written with the same Chinese characters often employ different pronunciations to convey different meanings; for instance, in Xiamen (but not in Taiwan, which only uses the latter reading), 大學/大学 is pronounced tōa-o̍h to mean "university", but pronounced tāi-ha̍k to refer to one of the Four Books of Confucianism.
Also, note how the words m̄ (is not, does not) and bē/bōe (cannot) are all often written with 不, so while 不要 might be read as m̄-ài or m̄-beh, 不能 or 不可 can be read as bē-sái or bōe-sái.
For referring to oneself, 我 góa is used in more informal contexts while 阮 gún is more formal and 恁爸 lı́n-pē (male) / 恁母 lı́n-bú (female) is very derogatory but used very commonly. (No cognates exist in Mandarin or Cantonese although phrases with the same meaning do.) Unlike in Mandarin, there are two equivalents of the English word "we", with 咱 lán used when the subject includes the listener(s), and 阮 goán used when the subject excludes the listener(s).
Pronunciation varies from region to region (e.g. 你 (you) can be either lı́, lú or lír). This can make comprehension slightly difficult sometimes even between 'native' speakers from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. It should also be kept in mind that most speakers of the dialect often mix Mandarin phrases into their speech due to the influence of Standard Mandarin.
Pronunciations in this guide will make use of the Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) Romanization system, which was developed by Christian missionaries working in Xiamen, Tainan and overseas Chinese communities in the 19th century. While learning POJ is useful for foreigners trying to learn Minnan, it is virtually never learned by native speakers, so stick to Chinese characters for written communication.

### Tones

Like other varieties of Chinese, Minnan is tonal; tones must be correct in order to convey the correct meaning. Like other Min dialects, Minnan has a complex tone sandhi system, which makes it harder to learn than Mandarin. In general, all syllables other than the final syllable of a word undergo tone sandhi in Minnan.
The following table shows the values of the different tones in some places, and does not show the pronunciation of the tones or tone sandhi of many areas, but may give an idea of the approximate values.
Tones of Minnan :
| Number | Name | POJ | Pitch | Description | After tone sandhi |
| 1 | yin level | a | 55 | high | 7 |
| 2 | yin rising | á | 51 | falling | 1 (Zhangzhou), 5 (Quanzhou) |
| 3 | yin departing | à | 31~21 | low falling | 2 |
| 4 | yin entering | ah | 32 | mid stopped | 2 (h final), 8 (otherwise) |
| 5 | yang level | â | 14~24 | rising | 3 (Taipei, Quanzhou), 7 (Tainan, Zhangzhou) |
| 6 | yang rising | ǎ | 51 | falling | unchanged |
| 7 | yang departing | ā | 33 | mid | 3 |
| 8 | yang entering | a̍h | 4 | high stopped | 3 (h final), 4 (otherwise) |

### Consonants

While Mandarin only distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated (unvoiced) consonants, and English only distinguishes between voiced and unvoiced consonants meaning-wise, Minnan makes a distinction in both cases. This means that aspirated unvoiced (pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, tsʰ), unaspirated unvoiced (p, t, k, ts), and unaspirated voiced (b, g, dz) are all separate phonemic consonants in Minnan. This means that pronouncing everything correctly is going to be a challenge for native English or Mandarin speakers. However, unlike in Mandarin, there is no "tongue rolling" (pinyin zh, ch, sh, r) initial consonant.
To highlight the distinction, the words for "open" (開/开) and "close" (關/关), in some pronunciations (khui and kuiⁿ respectively) sound almost identical to a native English speaker, the difference being that "open" uses an aspirated initial consonant, and "close" uses an unaspirated initial consonant with a nasalised vowel.
Initial consonants of POJ :
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
| b | b | ban | English 'b' |
| p | p | span | pinyin 'b' |
| ph | pʰ | pan | pinyin 'p' |
| j | dz/ʑ | jam | English 'j' |
| ch | ts/tɕ | cats | pinyin 'z' or 'j' |
| chh | tsʰ/tɕʰ | - | pinyin 'c' or 'q' |
| s | s/ɕ | sun | pinyin 's' or 'x' |
| g | g | get | English hard 'g' |
| k | k | skin | pinyin 'g' |
| kh | kʰ | kin | pinyin 'k' |
| t | t | Stan | pinyin 'd' |
| th | tʰ | tan | pinyin 't' |
| h | h | hat | English 'h' |
| m | m | map | English 'm' |
| n | n | net | English 'n' |
| l | l | line | English 'l' |
| ng | ŋ | sing | English 'ng' |
Like Cantonese but unlike Mandarin, Minnan retains all the final consonants (m, n, ŋ, p, t, and k) of Middle Chinese. In POJ, the nasal consonants m, n and ng are pronounced the same as English, but the others are different.
The stop consonants p, t and k are unreleased. This means that the mouth moves into the position of making the consonant, but no burst of air is released.
Final consonanats of POJ :
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
| p | p | span | pinyin 'b' |
| k | k | skin | pinyin 'g' |
| t | t | Stan | pinyin 'd' |
| m | m | map | English 'm' |
| n | n | net | English 'n' |
| ng | ŋ | sing | English 'ng' |
Furthermore, an h at the end of a syllable in POJ represents a glottal stop (ʔ); this is the sound in the middle of the English word 'uh-oh'.

### Vowels

The vowels a, e, i, o, u are pronounced as they are in many languages, such as Spanish and Italian. Minnan also has the vowel [ɔ] written as o͘ (with a dot) or oo.
Vowels of POJ :
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
| a | a | father | |
| e | e | whey | |
| i | i | see | |
| o | o | soap | |
| o͘ | ɔ | law | also written 'oo' |
| u | u | goose | |
| ee | ɛ̃ | tent | Zhangzhou dialect only, nasalised |
| ir | ɯ | no equivalent in English | Quanzhou dialect only |
| er | ə | her | Quanzhou dialect only |
Vowels in Minnan can be nasalized, and in POJ this is indicated with a superscript n 'ⁿ' after the vowel. It can also be indicated with a capital n (N) or a double n (nn). IPA notes this with a tilde (~) above the last vowel.

### Common diphthongs

There are many diphthongs in Minnan, and their pronunciations from the POJ spellings are generally fairly obvious. However, note that oe is "ui/uei" and oai is "uai".
Diphthongs of POJ :
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
| ai | aɪ | my | pinyin 'ai' |
| au | aʊ | cow | pinyin 'ao' |
| ia | ɪa | - | |
| io | ɪo | - | |
| iu | iu | - | |
| oa | ua | - | pinyin 'wa' |
| oe | ue | way | pinyin 'wei' |
| ui | ui | - | pinyin 'ui' |
| iau | ɪaʊ | - | piyin 'yao' |
| oai | uai | why | pinyin 'wai' |

## Phrase list

Basics

### Hello.

    汝好。 lı́ hó (General Taiwanese and Xiamen)/ lú hó (Zhangzhou and Penang)? (Li huh, loo ho)

### How are you?

    汝好無？/汝好无？ lı́ hó bô? Lú hó bô?

### How are you?

    食飽未？/食饱未？ chia̍h-pá-bē (General Taiwanese, Quanzhou and Xiamen)/ chia̍h-pá-bōe (Zhangzhou and Penang) (Chee-ah par beh, Chee-ah par boo-eh) ("have you eaten?")

### Not bad

    袂歹 bōe-phái/bē-phái (buay pie, beh pie)

### Fine, thank you.

    好，多謝。/好，多谢。 hó，to͘-siā (Taiwan) / 好，感謝。/好，感谢。 hó，kám-siā. (Xiamen, Indonesia, and Singapore) (Her, toh see-ya) (ho, come see-ya)

### Thank you

    感谢/感謝 kám-siā (Xiamen, Indonesia, and Singapore) / 多谢/多謝 to͘-siā (Taiwan)

### What is your name?

    汝叫什物名？ lı́ kiò sím-mi̍h miâ? (Xiamen, Singapore) / 汝叫啥物名？ lı́ kiò siáⁿ-mı̍h miâ? （Taiwan) /lír kiò sím-mi̍h miâ? (Klang, Singapore) Lú kiò hà-mi̍h miâ? (Northern Malaysia or northern Sumatra, Indonesia) (Lee key-yo seem me me-ah) (Lee key-yo see-ya me me-ah) (L-uh key-yo seem me me-ah) (Loo key-yo hah-Mick me-ah)

### My name is ... .

    我的名是... góa ê miâ sı̄... Óa ê miâ sī...: 我叫。。。Góa kiò... óa kiò... (goo-ah eh mee-ah see) (woo-ah eh mee-ah see) (goo-ah key-yo) (woo-ah key-yo)

### Please... (before a request)

    請.../请... chhiáⁿ... (Cheah)

### Please.

    拜託/拜托 Pài-thok (Bye-talk) or 好心ㄟ(hó-sim ē) (Hoe SIM, eh!) Or 多嚨 （to-lông）(Toh-long) in northern Malaysia.

### You're welcome

    免客氣/免客气 bián kheh-khı̀ ("don't be polite") (Bee-Ann cake key)

### Excuse me. (getting attention)

    勞駕/劳驾 lô-kà (Lo-car)

### Excuse me. (begging pardon)

    歹勢/歹势 phái-sè (pie say)

### I'm sorry. (informal)

    歹勢/歹势 phái-sè (pie say)

### I'm sorry. (formal)

    失禮。/失礼。sit lé. (shit-leh)

### Goodbye

    再見/再见 chài-kiàn (chye ghee-Ann).

### I can't speak Minnan.

    我袂曉講閩南話。/我袂晓讲闽南话。 góa bōe-hiáu kóng Bân-lâm-ōe. Óa bē-hiáu kóng Hok-kiàn-ōa. (Goo-ah boo-eh he-ow kong Bahn-lahm-ooay, Woo-ah beh he-ow kong Hock-kee-Ann-woo-ah)

### I don't know how to speak English

    我袂曉講英語。/我袂晓讲英语。 góa bōe-hiáu kóng Eng-gú (Goo-ah boo-ay he-ow kong eng-goo) 我袂曉講紅毛 Óa bē-hiáu kóng âng-mô͘ (Woo-ah beh-hee-ow kong ahng-more)

### Do you speak English?

    請問汝會曉講英語袂？/请问汝会晓讲英语袂？ chhiáⁿ-mn̄g lı́ ē-hiáu kóng Eng-gú bōe? (Cheah mung Lee ay-he-ow kong eng-goo boo-ay)。汝會曉講紅毛無？(Loo aye he-ow kong ahng-more bore?)

### Is there someone here who speaks English?

    請問有人會曉講英語無？/请问有人会晓讲英語无？ chhiáⁿ-mn̄g ū lâng ē hiáu kóng Eng-gú bô? (Cheah mung oo lahng ay-he-ow kong eng goo bore?) 這pêng有hà-mi̍h-lâng／hà-mang 會曉講紅毛？(Cheap-eng oo huh-me-lahng/huh-mahng aye-he-ow kong ahng-more?)

### Help!

    救命！ kiù-miā! (Key-you me-ah)

### Look out!

    小心！ sió sim! (See-oh seem)

### Good morning.

    賢早。 gâu-chá. (Gau cha)

### Good evening.

    好暗暝。 hó-àm-mî (Amoy Hokkien) (Her uh me)

### Good night (to sleep)

    好睏。 hó khùn (sleep well) (Hor-koon)

### I don't understand.

    我聽無。/我听无。góa thiaⁿ bô. (when listening) (Goo-ah tee-ah bore); 我看無。/我看无。góa khòaⁿ bô. (when reading) (Goo-ah coo-ah bore)

### Where's the bathroom?

    廁所佇佗落？/厕所佇佗落？ chheh-só͘ tī tó-lo̍h? (in Xiamen) (Che sore tee tuh-lock)/ 便所佇佗位 piān-só͘ tī tó-ūi? (in Taiwan) (pee-Ann sore tee tuh-oo-ee)／染蠻蹛佗落？Jiám-bân tòa tá-lo̍h? (in northern Sumatera, Indonesia and northern Malaysia) (Gee-ahm bahn tuah tah-lock)

### You are beautiful

    汝真媠 lı́ chin suí／lú chin suí (Lee chin Sue-y, loo chin Sue-y)

### Problems
#### Go away

    走 cháu/chó͘ (chow) 閃 siám (see-ahm)

#### Don't touch me!

    莫摸我 mài mo góa (My mo goo-ah) 莫共我摸 (My car-woo-ah mong)

#### I'll call the police. (Informal)

    我叫警察 (Goo-ah key-yo ghee-eng-chat) 我叫mà-tá （óa kiò mà-tá）(Woo-ah key-yo Ma Tah)

#### I'll call the police (Formal)

    我愛敲予警察 (Wah ay kah ho ghee-eng-chat)

#### Police!

    警察 kéng-chhat (ghee-eng-chat) / mà-tá (from Malay)

#### Stop!

    擋 tòng (thong) / 停 thêng (teng)

#### I need your help.

    我需要你的幫忙 góa su-iàu lı́-ê pang-bâng (Wah soo-yow *dee-ay bahm-mahng) or 我需要你替我斗相共 óa su-iàu lı́ tek góa tau saⁿ kang

#### I'm lost.

    (Wah mbo-key)

#### I lost my purse/wallet.

    我不見[?]我的皮包 Wah pahng-key wah-ay pay-bow

#### I'm sick.

    我破病了 góa phòa-pīⁿ liáu (Wah pwah pee liao) or Wah gahng koh

#### I've been injured.

    我著傷 (Wah tee-yuh shohng)

#### I need a doctor.

    我[?]醫生 (Wah dah-ai ee-sheng)/我愛看盧君（wah ai kuã loh-coon)

#### Can I use your phone?

    我甘可用你的電話[?] (Wah gah-ay sai yen * li-ay dyeng-way) 我會用汝的電話無？(wah A éng loo A dee-an wah bo)

#### Don't lie to me!

    勿假！ mài ké! (My keh)

### Numbers
#### 0

    空 khòng (kong)

#### 1

    一 chi̍t (chjit) / it (it)
Note: "it" is used in the ones and tens place (except the number 1 itself) and for ordinal numbers, whereas "chi̍t" is used for multiples of numbers 100 and greater, as well as before counter words.

#### 2

    兩/两 nn̄g (nng) nō͘ / 二 jī (gee)
Note: 二 jī is used in the ones and tens place (except the number 2 itself) and for ordinal numbers, whereas 兩/两 nn̄g is used for multiples of numbers 100 and greater, as well as before counter words.

#### 3

    三 saⁿ (sa)

#### 4

    四 sì (si)

#### 5

    五 gō͘ (gaw)

#### 6

    六 la̍k (lak)

#### 7

    七 chhit (chit)

#### 8

    八 poeh / peh (bpui)

#### 9

    九 káu (kau)

#### 10

    十 cha̍p (tzhap)

#### 11

    十一 cha̍p-it (tzhap-it)

#### 12

    十二 cha̍p-jī (tzhap-li)

#### 13

    十三 cha̍p-saⁿ (tzhap-sa)

#### 14

    十四 cha̍p-sì (tzhap-si)

#### 15

    十五 cha̍p-gō͘ (tzhap-gaw)

#### 16

    十六 cha̍p-la̍k (tzhap-lak)

#### 17

    十七 cha̍p-chhit (tzhap-chit)

#### 18

    十八 cha̍p-poeh (tzhap-bpui)

#### 19

    十九 cha̍p-káu (tzhap-kau)

#### 20

    二十 jī-cha̍p (li-tzhap)

#### 21

    二十一 jī-cha̍p-it (li-tzhap-it)

#### 22

    二十二 jī-cha̍p-jī (li-tzhap-li)

#### 100

    一百 chi̍t-pah (chit-pah)

#### 200

    兩百/两百 nn̄g-pah (nng-pah)

#### 222

    兩百二十二/两百二十二 nn̄g-pah-jī-cha̍p-jī (nng-pah-li-chap-li)

#### 1000

    一千 chi̍t-chheng (chit-cheng)

#### 2000

    兩千/两千 nn̄g-chheng
Like Mandarin, Minnan groups numbers starting from 10,000 into units of four digits starting with 萬/万 bān. "One million" would therefore be "one hundred ten-thousands" (一百萬/一百万) and "one billion" would be "ten hundred-millions" (十億/十亿).

#### 10,000

    一萬/一万 chi̍t-bān

#### 20,000

    兩萬/两万 nn̄g-bān

#### 100,000

    十萬/十万 cha̍p-bān

#### 1,000,000

    一百萬/一百万 chi̍t-pah bān

#### 10,000,000

    一千萬/一千万 chi̍t-chheng bān

#### 100,000,000

    一億/一亿 chi̍t-ik

#### 1,000,000,000

    十億/十亿 cha̍p-ik

#### 10,000,000,000

    一百億/一百亿 chi̍t-pah ik

#### 100,000,000,000

    一千億/一千亿 chi̍t-chheng ik

#### 1,000,000,000,000

    一兆 chi̍t-tiāu

#### number _____ (train, bus, etc.)

    _____號 hō

#### half

    半 pòaⁿ

#### less

    少 chió

#### more

    濟 chōe chē

### Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers in Chinese are expressed by prepending the number with '第', pronounced tē in Minnan. Note that there is also an alternative form for "first".

#### First

    第一 tē-it (day-it) / 頭一/头一 thâu-chi̍t

#### Second

    第二 tē-jı̄ (day-gee)

#### Third

    第三 tē-saⁿ (day-sa)

#### Fourth

    第四 tē-sı̀ (day-si)

#### Fifth

    第五 tē-gō͘ (day-gaw)
And so on, for any number:

#### Twentieth

    第二十 tē-jı̄-cha̍p (day gee-tzap)

#### Hundredth

    第一百 tē-chı̍t-pah (day chit-pah)

#### Thousandth

    第一千 tē-chı̍t-chheng (day chit-cheng)

### Time
#### what time is it?

    幾點 kúi tiám (coo-ee tiam)?

#### now

    這馬 chit-má (jeemah) / 這陣 chit-tsūn (jeetzoon)／峇lú bālú

#### later

    kah dahng-ay or shuh dahng

#### before

    ee jun

#### early

    早 chá (dtsah)

#### earlier

    較早 kah chá (kah dtsah)

#### morning

    早起 chá-khí

#### afternoon

    下晡 ē-po͘

#### evening

    暗晡 àm-po͘ (around 5-6 pm) / 暗頭仔 àm-thâu-á （around 6-7 pm)

#### night

    暗暝 àm-mı̂ / 暗時仔/暗时仔 àm-sî-á

#### tonight

    今暝 kim-mı̂

#### noon

    中晝 tiong-tàu (dyong dow)

#### midnight

    半暝 puàⁿ-mî (bpua mi)

#### Clock time
##### 1:00

    一点/一點 i̍t-tiám

##### 2:00

    二点/二點 jī-tiám

##### 2:30

    二点半/二點半 jī-tiám-pòaⁿ / 二点三十分/二點三十分 jī-tiám saⁿ-cha̍p-hun

##### 3:00

    三点/三點 saⁿ-tiám

#### Duration
##### _____ minute(s)

    _____ 分鐘/_____ 分钟 hun-cheng

##### _____ hour(s)

    _____ 點鐘/_____ 点钟 tiám-cheng

##### _____ day(s)

    _____ 日 ji̍t / _____ 工 kang

##### _____ week(s)

    _____ 禮拜/_____ 礼拜 lé-pài

##### _____ month(s)

    _____ 月 goe̍h

##### _____ year(s)

    _____ 年 nî

#### Days
##### today

    今仔日 kin-á-jit/kin-á-lit

##### yesterday

    昨日 chah-jit/chah-lit 昨昏 cha̍h-hūiⁿ

##### tomorrow

    明仔載/明仔载 miâ-á-chài / 明仔日 miâ-á-ji̍t/miâ-á-li̍t

##### the day after tomorrow

    後日/后日 āu-ji̍t/āu-li̍t

##### this week

    這禮拜/这礼拜 chit lé-pài

##### last week

    頂禮拜/顶礼拜 téng-lé-pài

##### next week

    下禮拜/下礼拜 ē-lé-pài

##### Sunday

    禮拜日 lé-pài-jı̍t / 禮拜 lé-pài

##### Monday

    拜一 pài-it

##### Tuesday

    拜二 pài-jı̄

##### Wednesday

    拜三 pài-saⁿ

##### Thursday

    拜四 pài-sı̀

##### Friday

    拜五 pài-gō͘

##### Saturday

    拜六 pài-la̍k

#### Months
##### January

    一月 it-go̍eh

##### February

    二月 jı̄-go̍eh

##### March

    三月 saⁿ-go̍eh

##### April

    四月 sı̀-go̍eh

##### May

    五月 gō͘-go̍eh

##### June

    六月 la̍k-go̍eh

##### July

    七月 chhit-go̍eh

##### August

    八月 poeh-go̍eh

##### September

    九月 káu-go̍eh

##### October

    十月 cha̍p-go̍eh

##### November

    十一月 cha̍p-it-go̍eh

##### December

    十二月 cha̍p-jı̄-go̍eh

### Colors
#### color

    色 sek

#### black

    乌色/烏色 o·-sek

#### white

    白色 pe̍h-sek

#### grey

    灰色 hoe-sek

#### red

    红色/紅色 âng-sek

#### blue

    蓝色/藍色 nâ-sek/lâm-sek

#### yellow

    黄色/黃色 n̂g-sek

#### green

    青色 chhiⁿ-sek

#### orange

    柑仔色 kam-á-sek : ("mandarin orange color")

#### purple

    茄色 kiô-sek : ("eggplant color")

#### brown

    涂色/塗色 thó·-sek (Taiwan) / 棕色 chang-sek (mainland China)

### Transportation
#### Bus and train
##### Ticket

    [?]票 phiò (dyu pyuh)

##### One ticket

    一票 chit phiò (jeet-pyuh)

##### How much is one ticket?

    一票是幾箍？ chit phiò sī kuí khoo (Jeet-pyuh shee gwee-koh?)

##### bus

    公車 / 客運 (kay-wun)

##### train

    火車 hóe-chhia (whey-chiah)

##### Where does this bus go?

    chit-ê (Dze-day kay-wun kee-dah?)

##### Does this train go to ____?

    (Dze-day whey-chiah gah-oo kee ____?)

##### What time does this train leave?

    (Dze-day whey-chiah gwee diam tsooh-whaht?)

##### What time will this bus arrive?

    (Dze-day kay-wun gwee diam ay gow-wee?)

##### Please stop!

    拜託，擋！ pài thok，tòng (Pbai-toh, dong!)

#### Directions
##### How do I get to ____?

    請問汝按怎去____啊？/请问汝按怎去____啊？ chhiáⁿ-mn̄g lí án-chóaⁿ khì ____ ah?

##### ...the train station?

    火車站/火车站 hué-chhia-chām

##### ...the bus station?

    (kay-wun dyoo?)

##### ...the airport?

    飛機場/飞机场 hui-ki-tiûⁿ

##### ...downtown?

    市區/市区 chhī-khu

##### ...the hotel?

    旅館/旅馆 lú-kuán

##### ...the restaurant?

    飯店/饭店 pn̄g-tiàm

##### Where are there a lot of ____?

    佗落有真濟____啊？/佗落有真济____啊？ tó-lo̍h ū chin chōe ____ ah?

##### Do you have a map?

    (*lee gah-oo day-doh?)

##### street/road

    路 lō͘/lo̍h

##### left

    倒 tò

##### right

    正 chiàⁿ

##### in front of the _____

    _____頭前/_____头前 _____ thâu-chêng

##### behind the _____

    _____後尾/_____后尾 _____āu-bóe

##### turn left

    斡倒手 oat-tò-chhiú

##### turn right

    斡正手 oat-chiàⁿ-chhiú

##### straight ahead

    直直去 tı̍t-tı̍t khı̀ / 直直行 ti̍t-ti̍t kiâⁿ / 行直 kiâⁿ ti̍t

##### inside

    內面/内面 lāi-bīn

##### outside

    外口 gōa-kháu

#### Taxi
##### Taxi

    的士 tek-sî (mainland China) / 計程車/计程车 kè-thêng-chhia (Taiwan)

##### Drive me to ____

    載我去____ 。/载我去____ 。 chài góa khì ____.

##### How much to go ____

    欲去____幾箍？/欲去____几箍？ beh khì ____ kúi kho͘? 愛去＿＿幾箍／鐳？

### Lodging
#### Do you have any rooms available?

    有房間無？/有房间无？ ū pâng-king bô?

#### How much for one room?

    一間[?]? (Jeet gyun, wah-tsay gyee?)

#### One person

    一個人/一个人 chı̍t-ê-lâng

#### Two persons

    兩個人/两个人 n̄ng-ê-lâng

#### Does it have ____?

    敢有____？ kám-ū ____ ? (Gah oo ____ ?) 有____無？

#### a bathroom

    便所 piān-só͘? (Taiwan) / 廁所/厕所 chheh-só͘ (mainland China)／染蠻 (northern Malaysia) jiám-bân

#### a telephone

    電話/电话 tiān-ōe (dyung way?)tiān-ōa

#### a TV

    電視機/电视机 tiān-sī-ki 電視

#### May I see it first?

    [?]先看？(Gah-ay-dahng shung kwah?)

#### Do you have something more ____?

    敢有較____？ kám-ū khah (Gah oo kah)有較____个無？

#### big

    大的 tōa-ê (dwah-ay)

#### cheap

    俗的 sio̍k-ê (siok-ay) (China and Taiwan) / 偏的 phiⁿ-ê (Singapore)便宜

#### OK, I'll sleep here for ____ nights.

    好，[?]暗 Huh, mbay-kuhng ____ ahm.

#### Is there another hotel?

    [?]有[?] 旅館 (Gah oo bahg-ay *lee-guang?)

#### What time is breakfast?

    早頓幾點？/早顿几点？ chá-tǹg kúi-tiám?

#### Please clean my room

    拜託 我的 房間 (Pbai toh kyeng wah-ay bahn-gyun)

#### Can you wake me at ... ?

    ，好無？... gah-way gyuh kiah, huhbuh?

### Money
#### Credit card

    刷卡 (swah kah)

#### Where can I exchange money?

    (Dway ay-dahng wah gjee?)Tuì ē-tàng ōaⁿ chîⁿ/Nā ai ōaⁿ lui ē khì tá-lo̍h ōaⁿ? (nah aye wah lui eh key tah lawk wah?)

#### Do you accept US Dollars/pounds/Euros? (Ē ēng Bí-kim/Eng-pōng/euro hú /hêng lui bô?)
### Eating
#### I'm a vegetarian.

    我食齋。/我食斋。 góa chia̍h che. / 我食素。 góa chia̍h sò͘.

#### drink tea

    啉茶 lim tê

#### brew tea

    泡茶 phàu tê

#### breakfast

    早頓/早顿 chá-tǹg (dzah-dun)tsa2-tuiⁿ3

#### lunch

    中頓/中顿 tiong-tǹg tiong3-tuiⁿ3

#### dinner

    暗頓/暗顿 àm-tǹg am3-tuiⁿ3

#### snack

    點心/点心 tiám-sim

#### I want...

    我欲 góa beh (gwah beh) 我愛 （ua2-ai) (wah aye)

#### tea

    茶 tê (teh)

#### coffee

    咖啡 ka-pi (in Taiwan) / ko-pi (in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia)

#### chicken

    雞/鸡 ke / koe

#### duck

    鴨/鸭 ah

#### beef

    牛肉 gû-bah

#### pork

    豬肉/豬肉 ti-bah / tu-bah / tir-bah

#### mutton

    羊肉 iûⁿ-bah / iôⁿ-bah／iaûⁿ-bah

#### eggs

    雞卵/鸡卵 ke-nn̄g / koe-nn̄g / ke-nūi / 卵 nn̄g / nūi (the former specifically refers to chicken eggs, the later can be used generally for any type of egg)

#### fresh

    鮮/鲜 chhiⁿ (Chnee)

#### fruit

    果子 kóe-chí / ké-chí (Coo-aye chee, Ker chee)

#### vegetable

    菜 chhài (Chhye)

#### fish

    魚仔/鱼仔 hî-á (hee-ah) / 魚/鱼 hî / hû (hhu2/hhw2; sounds like a long 'huh' without the vowel)

#### bread

    麵包/面包 mī-pau (mee-bao) / pahng (in Taiwan, from Japanese) / lō-ti (in Singapore and Malaysia, from Malay) (me-pow, pahng, lore-tee)

#### noodles

    麵/面 mı̄ (me)

#### rice (uncooked)

    米 bı́ (be)

#### rice (cooked)

    飯/饭 pn̄g/ puīⁿ (per-uhng/puĩ)

#### congee / rice porridge

    糜 bê/môi (beh, moi)

#### milk

    牛奶 gû-ni / gû-leng (in Penang) or 奶 ni (the former refers specifically to cow's milk, while the latter can be used for milk in general) (goo-knee, goo-lehng)

#### water

    水 chúi (choo-aye)

#### beer

    啤酒 pi-chiú (pee chiu)

#### salt

    鹽/盐 iâm (yahm)

#### pepper

    胡椒粉 hô͘-chio-hún (ho- chee-yo hoon)

#### sugar

    糖 thn̂g

#### soy sauce

    豆油 tāu-iû

#### butter

    牛油 gû-iû

#### done eating

    食飽了/食饱了 chia̍h-pá-liáu (chee-yah pah lee-ow)

#### delicious (eating)

    好食 hó-chia̍h (huh chee-yah)

#### delicious (drinking)

    好啉 hó-lim (huh lim)

#### The check, please.

    結數/结数 kiat-siàu
Unpleasant tastes
Bitter
Spicy 辣/薟 lua̍h／hiam
sour 酸 suinn/sng

### Shopping
#### How much?

    幾錢？/ 几钱？(gwee chee)幾鐳 kúi-lui

#### How many dollars/yuan?

    幾箍？/几箍？ kúi kho͘

#### Too much

    傷濟/伤济 siunn-chōe／siaunn-chē

#### Don't want

    莫 mài

#### I need...

    (Wah dah-ai...)

#### ...toothbrush

    齒抿/齿抿 khí-bín

#### ...toothpaste

    齒膏/齿膏 khí-ko

#### ...soap

    茶箍 tê-kho͘ (Taiwan) / 雪文 sap-bûn (mainland China)／sa-bûn (Malaysia, Singapore)

#### ...shampoo

    洗頭毛 sóe thâu-mn̂g (sway tow-mung) (literally "wash hair") sé thâu-mô͘

#### ...paper

    紙/纸 chóa

#### ...pen

    筆/笔 pit

#### ...books

    冊/册 chheh

#### ...an umbrella.

    雨傘/雨伞 hō͘-sòaⁿ

### Driving
#### I want to rent a car.

    我欲稅車。/ 我欲税车。 (góa beh sè chhia) 我愛稅車（óa ai suè chhia)

#### Can I get insurance?

    遮會使買保險袂？/ 遮会使买保险袂？ (chiâ ē-sái bóe pó-hiám bōe)

### Authority
#### I haven't done anything wrong.

    我無做歹代誌。 (góa bô chò phái tāi-chì.) Malaysia: 我無做嗄啦（oá bô chò sà-láh）