THE SHORT ANSWER
Use a reminder before the action is due, then a completion question if you need to know whether it happened. If it remains undone, make the next request explicit rather than repeating a stronger command without checking the situation.
A reminder points toward a future action
The recorded arrival-message line includes both a trigger and an action: when you get home, remember to send a message. Those details make the reminder more precise than “Remember!” A learner can follow the sequence even without guessing why the message is wanted.
When making a new reminder, identify the same two pieces of information. What should happen, and when? Use an arrangement the speakers actually have. A requested arrival update is different from assuming that another adult has agreed to report every movement.
返到屋企記得傳訊息俾我
faan1 dou3 uk1 kei2 gei3 dak1 cyun4 seon3 sik1 bei2 ngo5
Remember to message me when you get home
The action is a message; the trigger is arriving home.
Ask about completion before repeating the instruction
“Have you made the call yet?” asks for a status update. In this written example, the call has already been discussed. If there are several calls, identify which one; otherwise the person may answer about a different task.
The completion question gives the other person room to answer “not yet,” explain a problem or say it is done. Those answers lead to different next turns. A completed task needs acknowledgement, while a problem may need a changed arrangement rather than a second reminder.
你打咗電話未？
nei5 daa2 zo2 din6 waa2 mei6
Have you made the call yet?
Respond to the status you actually hear
The written dialogue uses a call to a family member that was already agreed. The response “Not yet; I will call now” supplies both status and a next action. The first speaker accepts that answer without adding another command.
Practise a different response where the person cannot call now. In that version, agree on another time or clarify whether the call is still needed. This makes the exercise about completing an exchange, rather than memorising a reminder and assuming the other person will obey it.
AN EXAMPLE CONVERSATION
你打咗電話未？
nei5 daa2 zo2 din6 waa2 mei6
Have you made the call yet?
未，我而家打。
mei6 ngo5 ji4 gaa1 daa2
Not yet. I will call now.
好呀。
hou2 aa3
Okay.
Hear when the speaker is asserting authority
“Call your mother” names an action directly. “Put your phone away” does the same for a device. “Do not make me say it a second time” adds pressure and assumes the speaker can insist. These lines should not be grouped together as equally neutral household reminders.
Choose the form that matches your purpose and relationship. If you only need to know whether a call happened, ask the completion question. If you need a phone put away for a shared activity, explain that activity and request the change. A forceful repeated command is a different move, not a required second stage of every reminder.
打電話俾你阿媽啦
daa2 din6 waa2 bei2 nei5 aa3 maa1 laa1
Call your mother
A direct instruction to make a family call.
唔好要我講第二次
m4 hou2 jiu3 ngo5 gong2 dai6 ji6 ci3
Don't make me say it a second time.
A stronger repeated command; it asserts pressure rather than asking for status.
HEAR THE LINE IN CONTEXT
Watch with Auntie
Remember to message me when you get home
This clip illustrates one expression connected with the topic. The written examples above extend the lesson.
Open the full phrase lesson ↗Read the Cantonese line
- Cantonese
- 返到屋企記得傳訊息俾我
- Jyutping
- faan1 dou3 uk1 kei2 gei3 dak1 cyun4 seon3 sik1 bei2 ngo5
- English
- Remember to message me when you get home
YOUR TURN
Try it yourself
You had agreed that someone would make a call. You do not know whether it happened. Choose between a completion question and “Do not make me say it twice,” and explain why.
See one possible answer
你打咗電話未？ asks for the missing status. Wait for the answer before deciding what comes next. The stronger command adds pressure without finding out whether the person already called or encountered a problem.
Keep these in mind
- A reminder and a completion question ask for different things.
- Specify the action and its timing instead of relying on “remember.”
- Repeated commands add pressure; they do not replace listening to the answer.