4.8 Im Restaurant (1)

Anna Müller and Margarete Schäfer, the two Berlin neighbours whom we saw meeting for the first time in an earlier section, have met up at the "Café Lit" restaurant for a meal. But first they need to find a seat! Click on the sound graphic at the top of this paragraph or here to listen to their conversation.

das Restaurant---This is written as in English but it is pronounced quite differently. 

im Restaurant---in the restaurant

Ist hier noch frei?---"Is this seat taken?" Literally: "Is here still free?" 

entschuldigen Sie bitte---"Excuse me please". This is the most polite way of gaining somebody's attention.

leider---unfortunately

hier ist leider besetzt---"Unfortunately, this seat is taken". The word "besetzt" is also used to translate "engaged" both for a phone-line and a toilet cubicle.

natürlich---of course; naturally

nehmen Sie Platz---"Take a seat". This is a word-for-word translation of the English, with the indefinite article being omitted. Both this phrase and "Entschuldigen Sie, bitte" are requests / instructions. In the "Sie" form, this means that the subject and the verb are reversed such that the verb is the first element in the sentence.

der Kellner---waiter

der Tee---tea

der Kakao---cocoa

die (Coca-)Cola---No need to translate this one, but note that this is feminine in German. It is "das Coke" however! 

die Limonade---lemonade

der Wein---"wine". Most alcoholic drinks turn out to be masculine.

ein Kännchen Tee---"A pot of tea". As with the glass of wine, the word for "of" is omitted in German after a noun of quantity.

die Milch milk

die Zitrone---This means "lemon". Tea is usually drunk in German-speaking countries with lemon - and from a glass. If you want milk rather than lemon you will need to ask for "Tee mit Milch".

gleich---immediately

und ich nehme....---and I'll have...

das Glas glass

ein Glas Wein---This means "a glass of wine". Here too there is no word for "of" in German after the noun of quantity.

das Bier---The German for "beer" is one of the few words for alcoholic beverages which is neuter, not masculine.

ein großes oder ein kleines?---"a large (beer) or a small (beer)". As in the earlier section, the noun does not need to be repeated. We will discuss adjective endings in a later section.

Möchten Sie auch...?---Would you also like...? 

die Speisekarte---"The menu". Literally: "The food card". You might also hear it reduced to "die Karte".