How to Order Multiple Items From a Menu

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to order two or more of something at a restaurant in Japanese.

For example, "Two of these, please." is

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

Megumi Sasaki is at the restaurant with her husband.

The server is ready to take their order, and approaches them.

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

ごちゅうもん (go-chūmon)

"order"

ごちゅうもん

ふたつ (futatsu)

"two"

ふたつ

Listen to the conversation and focus on Megumi's response.

Ready?

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.)

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

Once more with the English translation.

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.)

"Your order, please."

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

"Two of these, please."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how the server says,

"Your order, please?"

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.)

This is a standard way of prompting a customer for an order.

Let’s start with ちゅうもん (chūmon), “order.” ちゅうもん. ちゅうもん.

Before ちゅうもん (chūmon) is the honorific prefix “go.” The server uses this to show the customer more respect and increase the politeness level.

Note, you may be familiar with another honorific prefix “o,” as in お-かいけい (o-kaikei). A general rule of thumb, the prefix o- is used with native Japanese words, while “go” is used with words with Chinese roots, Sino-Japanese words.

In the case of ちゅうもん (chūmon), ごちゅうもん (go-chūmon).

After this is を (o), the object-marking particle. を。を。

Think of を (o) as a marker for the thing receiving the action. In this sentence, it marks ごちゅうもん (go-chūmon) "[your] order," as the thing being requested.

And last is どうぞ (dōzo), which translates as "Please," in this context. どうぞ. どうぞ。

どうぞ (dōzo) is used to make a request very polite.

All together, it's ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.) This literally means, "Order, please." but translates as, "[Your] order, please."

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.)

This pattern is the shortened version of:

ごちゅうもうんをどうぞ言ってください (Go-chūmon o dōzo itte kudasai.), which translates as, "Please say your order."

言ってください (itte kudasai) means "Please say." 言ってください。

However, the phrase 言ってください (itte kudasai) is omitted as it is understood from the context of the situation and question.

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Megumi says,

"Two of these, please"?

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

First is これ (kore), meaning "this," or in this case, "these." これ. これ。

In Japanese, there's no plural form for most words, so これ can be both singular and plural depending on the context of the situation. In this case, it's plural, so will translate as “these.”

Next is を (o), the object-marking particle. を。

In this sentence, it marks これ (kore), "these," as the things being requested.

After this is ふたつ (futatsu), "two." ふたつ. ふたつ.

Last is the word ください (kudasai), meaning "please." ください.ください。

Together it's これをふたつください。 (Kore o futatsu kudasai) This literally means, "These two, please," but translates as, "Two of these, please."

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

The pattern is

これを (kore o) NUMBER ください。(kudasai.)

"NUMBER of these, please."

これを (kore o) NUMBER ください。(kudasai.)

To use this pattern, simply replace the {NUMBER} placeholder with the number of the item you're requesting.

Imagine you’d like three of something.

みっつ (Mittsu)。"Three." みっつ. みっつ。

Say, "Three of these, please."

Ready?

これを　みっつ　ください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

"Three of these please."

これを　みっつ　ください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

In Japanese, you use special counters when you count objects. The counter used depends on the shape or characteristic of the object.

For example, こ (ko) is used for small or round objects. ほん (Hon) is used for long objects. まい (Mai) which is used for flat objects.

There is also a general counter, which is つ (tsu), as in ひとつ (hitotsu), ふたつ (futatsu), みっつ (mittsu), よっつ (yottsu), いつつ (ittsu). This set of general counters can be used when there is no specific counter or when you don't know the counter.

Note: This set only goes up to 10.

Again, the key pattern is

これを (kore o) NUMBER ください。(kudasai.)

"NUMBER of these, please."

これを (kore o) NUMBER ください。(kudasai.)

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

"Two of these, please."

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

"Three of these, please."

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

これをよっつください。(Kore o yottsu kudasai.

"Four of these, please."

これをよっつください。(Kore o yottsu kudasai.)

これをひとつください。(Kore o hitotsu kudasai.)

"One of these, please."

これをひとつください。(Kore o hitotsu kudasai.)

これをひとつと　これをふたつ　ください。(Kore o hitotsu to kore o futatsu kudasai.)

"One of this and two of these, please."

これをひとつと　これをふたつ　ください。(Kore o hitotsu to kore o futatsu kudasai.)

Did you notice how the last speaker added これをひとつと (kore o hitotsu to) "One of these, and..." to the beginning of the order?

これをひとつと　これをふたつ　ください。(Kore o hitotsu to kore o futatsu kudasai.)

"One of theeese, and two of these, please. "

When pointing out multiple items on the menu, you can join them with the particle と (to), meaning "and." と. と.

Here is the variation pattern.

これを (kore o) {number} とこれを (to kore o) {number} ください。(kudasai.)

You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

Let's review the new words.

よっつ (yottsu)

“four”

よっつ

ひとつ (hitotsu)

"one"

ひとつ

ひとつ。

Let's review.

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

Ready?

Do you remember how to say “please”?

ください (kudasai)

And how to say the object-marking particle?

を (o)

Do you remember how to say “this" or "these"?

これ (kore)

Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, “Two of these, please”?

これをふたつください。(Kore o futatsu kudasai.)

Do you remember the polite way to say “[your] order"?

ごちゅうもん (go-chūmon)

And how to say the object-marking particle?

を (o)

Do you remember how the server says, “Your order, please”?

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Go-chūmon o dōzo.)

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Gochūmon o dōzo.)

Using the general counter, do you remember how to say “one”?

ひとつ (hitotsu)

And how to say “three”?

みっつ (mittsu)

And how to say “four”?

よっつ (yottsu)

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Jun Sasaki, and you're at a restaurant. You see a picture of a dish you'd like to try. Respond to the server by saying, "One of these, please." Here "one" is ひとつ (hitotsu).

Ready?

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Gochūmon o dōzo.)

これをひとつください。(Kore o hitotsu kudasai.)

Listen again and repeat.

これをひとつください。(Kore o hitotsu kudasai.)

Let's try another.

Now, imagine you want to order three of something. "Three" here is みっつ (mittsu).

Ready?

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Gochūmon o dōzo.)

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

Listen again and repeat.

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Megumi Sasaki, and you want to order four of something. Four is here よっつ (yottsu).

Ready?

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Gochūmon o dōzo.)

これをよっつください。(Kore o yottsu kudasai.)

Listen again and repeat.

これをよっつください。(Kore o yottsu kudasai.)

In this lesson, you learned how to order two or more of something at a restaurant. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of dining at the restaurant. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "Excuse me"?

すみません (sumimasen)

And how to say "please"?

おねがいします (onegai shimasu)

Do you remember the word for “water?”

みず (mizu)

Do you remember how to say, "Excuse me, water, please"?

すみません、みずをおねがいします。(Sumimasen, mizu o onegai shimasu.)

And do you remember how to say "Yes, understood."

はい、かしこまりました。(Hai, kashikomarimashita.)

Imagine you're Jack Jones and you're at a restaurant with your friends, and you'd like to ask for the menu.

Do you remember how to say "menu" in Japanese?

メニュー (menyū)

(1)

メニュー (menyū)

Now ask for the menu.

Ready?

メニューをおねがいします。(Menyū o onegai shimasu.)

はい、かしこまりました。(Hai, kashikomarimashita.)

Listen again and repeat.

メニューをおねがいします。(Menyū o onegai shimasu.)

You're ready to make your order. You'd like to order three of one item.

Do you remember how to say "three" in Japanese in this context?

みっつ (mittsu)

Respond to the server's approach.

ごちゅうもんをどうぞ。(Gochūmon o dōzo.)

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

Listen again and repeat.

これをみっつください。(Kore o mittsu kudasai.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can order at a restaurant unit of this course.

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

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