Speaking English - 4 Ways to Order at a Restaurant

Hey guys, I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking and welcome to this lesson on four ways to order at a restaurant.

Now those of you who are visiting English speaking countries will find this lesson very

useful as these are the most common ways that you will order food anywhere, whether it's

McDonald's or a fast food place or a sit-down restaurant.

These expressions are very common and very useful.

So the first one we have is "can" or "could" I have or get.

So for example, you might ask me what's the difference between "could" and "can."

Simply put, "could" is a little more polite.

So if you go to a restaurant, a fast food restaurant, and you're looking at the menu

and you say, "Okay, could I get a hamburger and fries, please?"

Okay, so you're being very polite there.

Now you can also say, "Could I have?"

Again, "Could I get?"

"Could I have?"

You can also say, "Can I get?" or "Can I have?"

Okay, so this is one way.

Here we have, "I will have," "I will get," "I will take."

So the first one, it's a request, it's a question, it's polite.

This one is a little more direct, okay?

So you can say, "I will have," "I will have," "I will take," "I will get."

You can use any one of these three verbs, and again, the person who is serving you will

clearly understand your message.

Okay, finally, not finally, next, "I want," right?

This just means, "I desire," "I would like," which is the most polite way of saying this.

"I want" means, "Give this to me," right?

So "I want a coffee," "I want a medium coffee, please," for example.

And finally, "I would like," "would like" being the most polite way to ask for something

when you're ordering food at a restaurant.

So you can say, "I would like an orange juice."

So if your waiter, your waitress, your server asks you, "What would you like to drink?"

"I would like an orange juice."

Now those of you who know a little bit about contractions in English, you can also contract

"I would" to "I'd," right?

So instead of being very, very formal and saying, "I would like an orange juice, please,"

you can say, "I'd like," right?

"I'd like."

And we'll just make that a little stronger because it's difficult to see.

There we go.

Okay, so guys, these are four very common ways to order food at a restaurant.

When you go up to the counter, please speak with confidence, okay?

It's all in how you present yourself to the people there.

So "Can I have?"

"Can I get?"

"Could I have?"

"Could I get?"

"I will have."

"I will get."

"I will take."

"I want."

"I would like."

"I'd like."

All right?

So next time you go to a restaurant and it's an English-speaking restaurant, practice these

phrases.

And if you want to further test your understanding, please check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

Take care, guys, and good luck.