How to Order at a Restaurant

Learn how to order at a restaurant

Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can Do Polish by PolishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to order at a restaurant in Polish.

For example, "Excuse me, a coffee, please." is

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Karol Kowalski , is at a restaurant with his wife.

He orders a coffee.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

Kawę.

"coffee"

Kawę.

Oczywiście.

"certainly"

Oczywiście.

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

Once more with the English translation.

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

"Excuse me, a coffee, please."

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

"Certainly. Here you are."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Karol asks for a coffee?

"Excuse me, a coffee, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

First is przepraszam, meaning, "Excuse me." Przepraszam. Przepraszam.

Here, Karol is using the expression to get someone’s attention.

Note, this expression can also be used as an apology, but here Karol uses it to get the attention of the waiter who is nearby.

Next is proszę o, "please." Proszę o. Proszę o.

Let’s start with proszę, "I ask" as in " ask for." Proszę. Proszę.

Proszę is from the verb prosić, "to ask for." Prosić.

After this is the preposition o, meaning "for" in this context. O. O.

Together, it’s proszę o, literally, "I ask for", but translates as "please" in this context. Proszę o.

Last is kawę, "coffee." Kawę. Kawę.

Kawę is from the feminine noun kawa, "coffee." Here kawę is the object of the sentence, so the final -a has been replaced with -ę. Kawę.

The grammatical term here is the accusative case.

All together, it’s Prepraszam, proszę o kawę. "Excuse me, a coffee, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember the waiter’s response,

"Certainly. Here you are."

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

First is oczywiście, "certainly." Oczywiście. Oczywiście.

The waiter acknowledges Karol by saying, Oczywiście. "Certainly."

Next is proszę bardzo, "Here you are." Proszę bardzo.

Let’s start with proszę, "please." Proszę. Proszę.

After this is bardzo, meaning "very." Bardzo. Bardzo.

Together, it’s proszę bardzo. Literally it means "please very much," but translates as "Here you are." in this context. Proszę bardzo.

All together, it’s Oczywiście, proszę bardzo. "Certainly. Here you are."

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

The pattern is

Przepraszam, proszę o ITEM.

"Excuse me, ITEM, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o ITEM.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the object you are requesting.

Note: This pattern requires a noun in the accusative case.

Imagine you'd like to order a "Polish pizza," zapiekanka. It’s feminine and singular.

The accusative form of zapiekanka is zapiekankę. The final -a in zapiekanka is been replaced with -ę. Zapiekankę. Zapiekankę.

Say

"Excuse me, a Polish pizza, please."

Ready?

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

"Excuse me, a Polish pizza, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

In Polish, the accusative case is usually used to indicate that something is the object of an action. A direct object.

The general rules for forming the accusative case of singular nouns are as follows.

Feminine nouns mostly end in -a. In the accusative this -a changes to -ę.

kawa, "coffee" becomes kawę;

zapiekanka, "polish pizza," zapiekanka becomes zapiekankę.

There are two groups of masculine nouns: animate or inanimate.

For animate nouns add -a.

For example, homar, "lobster," becomes homara in the accusative.

In the case of inanimate nouns, there is usually no change.

For example, rachunek, "check" is also rachunek in the accusative.

Neuter nouns remain unchanged.

For example, menu, "menu" is also menu in the accusative.

Again, the key pattern is

Przepraszam, proszę o ITEM.

"Excuse me, ITEM, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o ITEM.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

"Excuse me, a coffee, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

"Excuse me, a Polish pizza, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

Przepraszam, proszę o menu.

"Excuse me, a menu, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o menu.

Przepraszam, proszę o homara.

"Excuse me, the a lobster, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o homara.

Przepraszam, poproszę o rachunek.

"Excuse me, the check, please."

Przepraszam, poproszę o rachunek.

Did you notice how the last speaker replaced the expression proszę with poproszę?

Przepraszam, poproszę o rachunek.

"Excuse me, the check, please."

Let’s start with the expression poproszę, "please" as in "please give me." Poproszę. Poproszę.

This expression can replace proszę when you are ordering something.

Next is the preposition o, meaning "for" in this context. O.

Note: The preposition o can be omitted both after proszę and poproszę.

Next is the word rachunek, "check." Rachunek. Rachunek.

Rachunek is masculine, singular and inanimate. The accusative form of rachunek doesn’t change.

Together, it’s poproszę o rachunek, literally "please give me the check," but it translates as "the check please." Poproszę o rachunek.

All together, Przepraszam, poproszę o rachunek. "Excuse me, the check, please." Przepraszam, poproszę o rachunek.

Let's review the new words. The accusative will be given first, followed by the dictionary form.

Kawę.

"coffee"

Kawę.

kawa.

Zapiekankę.

"Polish pizza"

Zapiekankę.

Zapiekanka.

Homara.

"lobster"

Homara.

Homar.

Rachunek.

"check"

Rachunek.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "Excuse me?"

Przepraszam.

And how to say "coffee" when it’s the object of an action?

Hint: coffee is feminine.

Kawę.

Do you remember how Karol says,

"Excuse me, a coffee, please."

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Do you remember how to say "certainly?"

Oczywiście.

Do you remember how the waiter says,

"Certainly. Here you are."

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

Do you remember how to say "check" when it’s the object of an action?

Hint: there is no change.

Rachunek.

And how to say "polish pizza" when it’s the object of an action?

Zapiekankę.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Karolina Kowalski , and you’re at a restaurant. Get the waiter’s attention, and ask for a coffee, or kawę in Polish.

Ready?

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

Listen again and repeat.

Przepraszam, proszę o kawę.

Let's try another.

Imagine you’re finished eating. Ask for the check, or rachunek in Polish.

Ready?

Przepraszam, proszę o rachunek.

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

Listen again and repeat.

Przepraszam, proszę o rachunek.

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Karol Kowalski , and you’d like to order a Polish pizza, or zapiekankę in Polish.

Ready?

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

Oczywiście. Proszę bardzo.

Listen again and repeat.

Przepraszam, proszę o zapiekankę.

Well done! This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to order at a restaurant in Polish, an essential skill for dining at a restaurant.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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