Learn the phrases to use at a restaurant
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| Hello and welcome to German Survival Phrases brought to you by germanpod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Germany. |
| You will be surprised at how far a little German will go. |
| Now before we jump in, remember to stop by germanpod101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. |
| If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| German Survival Phrases. Lesson 11. How many people? |
| There is a wide variety of German food and your job as a visitor is to eat as many of these things as possible. |
| However before you start eating, you have to get to the table. |
| So in today’s lesson, we will cover getting to the table in a restaurant. |
| As for ordering, well you will have to hang on until next week. |
| Now usually the first question you will be asked is, how many people are in your group which in German is Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] Let’s hear it once again [Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] The first word [Wie] means how. |
| Let’s hear it one more time [Wie] This is followed by [viele] which in English is many [viele] This is followed by [Personen] which in English is people [Personen] Let’s take a look at the next word [sind] which means our. |
| [sind] So next word is [in] which in English is in. |
| The next word is [Ihrer] which in English is your. |
| [Ihrer] Finally the last word of the sentence is [Gruppe] which in English is group. |
| Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time. |
| [Gruppe] So altogether we have [Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] Literally this means how many people are in your group? Now let’s go over how to answer. |
| In German, the word for 1 is [eins] 2 is [zwei] 3 is [drei] 4 is [vier] Finally 5 is [fünf]. |
| Let’s just recap numbers here. |
| [eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf] And now let’s put them together with the word for people which is [Person] Singular and [Personen] plural because the word [Person] is a feminine noun [die Person] the word for 1 [eins] becomes [eine, eine Person] We can take the rest of the numbers as they are. |
| Now we need to use the plural form [Personen]. |
| So [zwei Personen, drei Personen, vier Personen] and [fünf Personen] Let’s make a complete sentence. |
| In German, the word for we is [wir] Next comes the German word for are which is [sind]. |
| So altogether we have [wir sind] which is we are in English. |
| Now let’s give the answer for two people. |
| [Wir sind zwei Personen] Now for 3, [Wir sind drei Personen] four people [Wir sind vier PErsonen] and five people [Wir sind fünf Personen]. |
| Now let’s look at what you would say if you come alone. |
| You have already learned the German word for I [Ich] which is [bin]. |
| Let’s learn the word for am [bin]. |
| Let’s say that again [bin]. |
| So now we have [Ich bin] I am in English. |
| Now we can answer for one person [Ich bin eine Person] Let’s hear an example of how this works. |
| You walk into a restaurant with a group of four people. |
| The host asks [Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] then you reply [] Now let’s try it with just you. |
| [Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] Then you say [Ich bin eine Person] |
| Okay to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. |
| I provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out aloud. |
| You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. |
| So [Viel Glück] which means good luck in German. |
| How many people are in your party [Wieviele Personen sind in Ihrer Gruppe?] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 [eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf] Person [Person] People [Personen] We are people [Wir sind Personen] I am one person [Ich bin eine Person] |
| That’s going to do it for today. |
Comments
HideWhen you go to have dinner in restaurants in Germany, is it usual to book a table, or is just showing up at the restaurant fine ?
Hi Sid,
Thank you for pointing this out!
I guess you are right: it depends a little on whether you are a
large group or just a couple of people.👍
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
wie viele Leute?
Hi Christine,
Good question!👍
The majority of restaurants don't require a reservation.
If they do, it would be mentioned on the website and they
will have a sign outside.
Saying this, nice restaurants might require a booking on
weekends for dinner tables.
Thank you.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Kannen sie mir sagen, wann ich eine Reservierung in Deutschland machen soll? Fur die meisten Restaurants is eine Reservierung erforderlich?
Hallo Paul,
Thank you for your comment and question.
Yes that sounds good, you can say "“Guten Abend. Kann ich bitte einen Tisch reservieren für Abendessen für zwei Personen am Freitag um 19 Uhr." (you can use sieben Uhr abends as well but to avoid any confusion, especially on the telephone or with noise in the background I would say 19 (neunzehn) Uhr.) It sounds more natural to take out the "das" before "Abendessen".
I hope this helps!
Vielen Dank!
Clara
Team GermanPod101.com
Is this the correct way to make a reservation?
"Guten Abend. Kann ich bitte einen Tisch reservieren für das Abendessen für zwei Personen am Freitag um sieben Uhr abends"
Thanks
Paul
That depends on the class and popularity of the restaurant, as well as the day of the year ;-) You can usually just show up, but if it's a very classy or a very popular restaurant, you won't get a seat.