Numbers and time words give you a compact, practical starting set in Cantonese. Instead of reading them once and moving on, use them to label real quantities and sort a small weekly plan. This guide has three targets: recognise the written forms, retrieve them in a different order, and keep number, position and time cues separate.
Connect a number to a quantity
Start with 一, 二 and 三, the course forms for one, two and three. Place that many objects beside each written form, then mix the labels. This gives you a direct meaning to retrieve rather than making every answer depend on reciting the sequence from the beginning.
| Number cue | Cantonese |
|---|---|
| One | 一 |
| Two | 二 |
| Three | 三 |
| Four | 四 |
| Five | 五 |
| Six | 六 |
| Seven | 七 |
| Eight | 八 |
| Nine | 九 |
| Ten | 十 |
The lesson also supplies 第一 for “First” and 第二 for “Second”. Compare them with 一 and 二. A quantity cue asks how many; a position cue tells you the order. Keep separate cards for these meanings, even if some of the printed forms resemble each other.
Build a week you can recognise
Put 星期一 and 星期日 at the ends of a practice list running from Monday through Sunday. Then add the days between them. This is an ordering task for the supplied names; it does not tell you which day a local calendar considers the start of the week or how a date is written in a sentence.
| Day | Cantonese |
|---|---|
| Monday | 星期一 |
| Tuesday | 星期二 |
| Wednesday | 星期三 |
| Thursday | 星期四 |
| Friday | 星期五 |
| Saturday | 星期六 |
| Sunday | 星期日 |
Now compare 今天 (“Today”) with 明天 (“Tomorrow”). Their reference changes as time passes. On a card marked “Today”, write the actual day you are studying; use a second card for the following day. Revisit the same cards in your next session and update the day while keeping the time-word label.
| Time cue | Cantonese |
|---|---|
| Now | 現在 |
| Yesterday | 昨天 |
| Today | 今天 |
| Tonight | 今晚 |
| Tomorrow | 明天 |
The example 星期一 gives you a concrete reading target. English spaces are not a reliable map of the divisions in this written form. Trace the supplied sequence in order, then cover it and reconstruct it. If you cannot yet read its characters, work alongside the letters lesson instead of guessing their sound from their appearance.
Try three short checks
You see three objects. Recall the matching course number without counting from one.
Reveal the answer
三
Select the course word for the day after today, without using the weekday list.
Reveal the answer
明天
What is the English weekday cue for 星期日? Say the cue first, then check.
Reveal the answer
Sunday
Finish by drawing a small weekly grid and placing three number labels on it as memory prompts. Keep these as labels: joining a weekday, a number and a time word does not automatically produce a grammatical sentence. Use the grammar and phrase lessons when you are ready to express a complete plan.
In a later review, begin with the forms you missed rather than rereading the whole table. Test in both directions: meaning to written form and written form to meaning. If your answer is close, compare the spelling carefully before marking it as remembered.