I just have had such a good laugh at the picture and borrowed the picture and Mandarin sentence from the page.
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今天抓到一隻老鼠，差不多這麼大
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So if we were to say this in Mandarin 今天抓到一隻老鼠，差不多這麼大, how would you say this in Teochew? The answer is 今日掠著隻貓鼠, 差唔多照生大. Even if you cannot read Chinese characters, you can see there are differences between Mandarin - the first line and Teochew the later.
Mandarin / Teochew / English
今天 / 今日 / today
抓到 / 掠著 / caught
一隻 / 隻 / one [隻 a measure word for animals]
老鼠 / 貓鼠, / rat or mouse
差不多 /差唔多 / approximately
這麼 / 照生 / this
大 / 大 / big
In English: The rat [I] caught today is approximately this big.
The time word for English is always placed after the verb but for Chinese this indicator word is always placed in the beginning of a sentence or before the verb.
I as a word is more or less always omitted.
Homework: Write out the Teochew characters "今日掠著一隻貓鼠, 差唔多照生大." in PêngIm 拼音.
Review: 差唔多 ca1 m6 do1 – just about, more or less, nearly, almost, approximately, approximate
Homework review for 差唔多
The Teochew PêngIm are as follows.
今日 gim1dzig8 - today
掠著 liah8dioh8 - caught / catch
隻 ziah4 - one [隻 ziah4 is a measure word]
貓鼠 ngiao1ce2 - rat or mouse [e in ce2 is said as eu - ceu2]
差唔多 ca1 m6 do1 - the word of the day - approximately
照生 jio3sên1 - this [n after sê means sê is said through your nasal]
大 dua7 big
The rat I caught today is approximately this big.
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