Lesson 083 –Restaurants (3)

Yajie:  Cam, you should be an expert now when ordering food in a Chinese restaurant.
Cam:  Yes, for the last couple of weeks on Chinese Studio, we've been learning how to order food, drinks, call the waiter or waitress over, and all sorts of useful expressions.  But now the meal is ending, I'm full and we need to wrap up the transaction.
Yajie:  Okay, but we have one more restaurant lesson.  Let's check Key Words of the Day.

Key Words of the Day
Excuse me, can I get the bill? 服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.） How much is it? 多少钱？(duo1shao3 qian2) Can I get a receipt? 开张发票(kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4 ) How late are you open until?你们几点关门？(ni3men2 ji3 dian3 guan1 men2）. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Cam: Okay Yajie….after eating all of this marvellous Chinese food, I'm now full.  And ready to go home or maybe even better go for a walk!  So how do I ask for the bill?
Yajie: Well, you should say服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.）
Cam:  服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.）
Yajie: 服务员(fu2wu4yuan2), waiter or waitress. We learned it in our last lesson.
Cam: Right, 服务员(fu2wu4yuan2).
Yajie: 买单 (mai3dan1), to pay for the bill.
Cam: 买单 (mai3dan1)
Yajie: 买 (mai3) means buy. M-a-i, the third tone.
Cam: 买(mai3).
Yajie: 单(dan1), d-a-n, the first tone. Here it means bill.
Cam: 单(dan1)
Yajie: 服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.）
Cam: 服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.）

Conversation1:

Yajie: From the previous conversation you may have found the way of asking “how much is it?”
Cam: Yes. In Chinese we've learned it before, it’s多少钱？(duo1shao3 qian2)
Yajie: 多少钱？(duo1shao qian2), how much is it?
Cam: 钱, q-i-a-n, the second tone, right?
Yajie: Yes.

Conversation2:

Cam: Yajie，how do you say “can I get a receipt?” in Chinese?
Yajie: It's开张发票. (kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4)
Cam: 开张发票( kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4)
Yajie: kai fapiao means you want the waiter or waitress to write a receipt for you, fapiao means receipt, we learned it in the taxi lesson, remember?
Cam: Yes. Fa piao.
Yajie: zhang is short for yi zhang.
Cam: zhang. Like dian er is short for yi dian er, right?
Yajie: exactly. Together it's开张发票. (kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4)
Cam: 开张发票( kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4)

Conversation3:

Cam: Yajie, I often have a late dinner, so I’m always worried if they will suddenly close the restaurant while I’m eating. And plus, I may want to come back another day late.So, what's the Chinese for: How late are you open until?
Yajie: Well, Cam, it’s not very good for your health, anyway it’s 你们几点关门？(ni3men2 ji3 dian3 guan1 men2)
Cam: 你们几点关门？(ni3men i3 dian3 guan1 men2)
Yajie: 你们(ni3men) means you.
Cam: 你们(ni3men).
Yajie: 几点 (ji3 dian3), what time?
Cam: 几点(ji3 dian3).
Yajie: 关门(guan1 men2). Normally it means close the door. But here it has a special meaning of “closed”.
Cam: 关门(guan1 men2), closed.
Yajie: So, how late are you open until is 你们几点关门？(ni3men i3 dian3 guan1 men2) ?
Cam: 你们几点关门？(ni3men i3 dian3 guan1 men2)　

Conversation4:

Key Words Reminder
Excuse me, can I get the bill? 服务员，买单。（fu2wu4yuan2, mai3dan1.） How much is it? 多少钱？(duo1shao3 qian2) Can I get a receipt? 开张发票(kai1 zhang1 fa1piao4 ) How late are you open until?（你们几点关门？ni3men ji3 dian3 guan1 men2）.