How to Say Dining and Ordering Phrases in German

When visiting a German speaking country, it may be helpful to learn a few common expressions. You will find it useful to learn a few restaurant phrases including ordering and food words. Follow these tips to say dining and ordering phrases in German.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Learn common polite phrases like "Bitte" for please, "Ja bitte" for yes please, "Danke" for thank you, "Nein danke" for no thank you and "Entschuldigen Sie" for excuse me. Always be polite in a foreign country.

2. Ask for help by saying, "Konnen Sie mit mir helfen bitte?" which means, "Can you help me please?" "Konnen Sie" is the polite way to say can in German. You can also shorten this by saying "Helfen Sie" which means help me.

3. Say "Kann ich die Speisekarte haben bitte?" which means, "Can I have the menu please?" Ask for the check by saying "Kann ich bitten bezahlen?" which means, "Can I have the check, please?"

4. Know some of the German foods like "Wein" for wine, "das Weissbrot" for white bread, "der Kase" for cheese, "der Fisch" for fish, "das Huhn" for chicken, "das Obst" for fruit, "die Wurst" for sausage and "das Gemuse" for vegetables.

5. Learn dining words like waiter which is "Herr Ober" and waitress which is "Kellnerin." Tell your server you would like a table for four: "Ich mochte einen Tisch fur vier." Change the number to suit your needs.

6. Tell your server what you would like to order by saying "Ich mochten Kaffee," which means I would like coffee or "Ich mochten Fisch," which means I would like fish. You can substitute any food word you like.

Tips & Warnings

• Say "Ich habe Hunger" if you are hungry and "Ich habe Durst" if you are thirsty.
• Say please whenever asking for something.
• Remember that in German, the "w" has the same pronunciation as a "v."

[Eichendorff]

on 10/1/2008 Sorry, my comment was cut off. If you say, "I would like to pay for the meal," then say, "Ich möchte das Essen bezahlen." If you say, "I'd like to pay," then say "Ich möchte zahlen."

"Ich mochten Kaffee" is wrong. Say, "Ich möchte einen Kaffee." The word "mochten" is the 1st and 3rd person plural past tense form of the verb "mögen" and cannot be conjugated with "Ich".

[Eichendorff]

on 10/1/2008 If I were the the Culture and Society Editor of this site, I would really be embarrassed. This is the third page I have seen about German expressions, and all of them have serious mistakes.

"Können Sie mit mir helfen, bitte?" means "Can you with me help, please?" Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? The correct expression is, "Können Sie mir helfen, bitte?" Or, even better, "Können Sie mir bitte helfen?"

It's better to say, "Darf ich bitte die Speisekarte sehen?" The word "Kann" is not strictly speaking incorrect in a grammatical sense, but it is better German to say "Darf ich," which is "May I" instead of "Kann ich," which is "Can I".

In all the years I lived in Germany, I never heard "Kann ich bitten bezahlen." It was either "Rechnung, bitte!" as the previous commenter said, or "Zahlen, bitte!" The word "bezahlen" usually has to have a noun associated with it. If you say, "I'

[cricrik]

on 4/7/2008 Step 3: For "Kann ich bitten bezahlen?" corect is: "Rechnung bitte!".