Unit 3 · Lesson 6
Ordering and paying
about 6 min · Goal: Order food and drinks with a quantity, say whether something is tasty, cheap or expensive, and ask to pay by card
Everything before 주세요 is the order
- 이거 주세요This one, please.
- 커피 한 잔 주세요One cup of coffee, please.
- 맥주 두 병 주세요Two bottles of beer, please.
Three orders, each ending in 주세요. What comes before it grows: 이거 (this one), then 커피 한 잔 (one cup of coffee), then 맥주 두 병 (two bottles of beer).
The pattern is: thing, then number + counter if you want a quantity, then 주세요. No particle is needed. The counting phrases from the last lesson fit in without any change.
Do first: Counting things: 하나, 둘, 셋
Lesson notes
Everything explained in this lesson, on one page.
Everything before 주세요 is the order
Three orders, each ending in 주세요. What comes before it grows: 이거 (this one), then 커피 한 잔 (one cup of coffee), then 맥주 두 병 (two bottles of beer).
The pattern is: thing, then number + counter if you want a quantity, then 주세요. No particle is needed. The counting phrases from the last lesson fit in without any change.
Ordering a dish: 하나
Two dishes for the menu: 비빔밥, rice mixed with vegetables and toppings, and 김밥, rice rolled in seaweed.
A dish is normally ordered with the number alone, no counter: 비빔밥 하나 주세요. Because no counter follows, the number keeps its full form, 하나. The short form 한 only appears directly before a counter, as in 한 잔.
The ㅂ of 밥 sounds tense after the ㅁ: 비빔밥 [비빔빱], 김밥 [김빱].
Calling the server: 여기요
In a Korean restaurant you call the server yourself: 여기요. It is the word 여기 (here) with a polite 요, and it is perfectly normal to say it across the room. The server answers 네, and you give your order.
저기요 from unit 2 works as well. 여기요 is the usual one once you are seated.
여기요 calls someone. 여기예요 is the answer “it is here”.
Tasty, cheap, expensive
Three words that describe: 맛있어요 (it is delicious), 싸요 (it is cheap), and 비싸요 (it is expensive), which you read in unit 1.
Like the verbs in unit 2, each is a complete polite sentence by itself, with no separate word for “is”. Put the thing in front to say what you mean: 김밥 맛있어요, 이거 비싸요.
맛있어요 is pronounced [마시써요]. 싸요 and 비싸요 are opposites one syllable apart.
Paying by card
카드 돼요? asks whether you can pay by card — literally “does card work?”. The answer repeats the last word: 네, 돼요.
Learn both as fixed phrases. As with every question so far, the only thing that marks it as a question is the rising voice.
The whole exchange
Read the seven lines in order. You call the server, order, ask the price, hear it, ask about paying by card, get a yes, and say thank you.
Nothing here is new. Each line is a phrase from this unit or from unit 2, and together they make a complete visit to a restaurant. Play it twice: once listening, once saying the customer’s lines aloud.
What to remember
- Order with thing (+ number + counter) + 주세요: 커피 한 잔 주세요.
- A dish takes the bare number: 비빔밥 하나 주세요.
- 맛있어요 delicious, 싸요 cheap, 비싸요 expensive: each is a complete sentence.
- 여기요 calls the server; 카드 돼요? asks to pay by card.
Easy to mix up
- 한 before a counter (한 잔), 하나 without one (비빔밥 하나). 일 is for prices only.
- 싸요 is cheap, 비싸요 is expensive.
- 여기요 calls the server; 여기예요 means “it is here”.