Simple resturaunt phrases....

[Strawberries513]

wowie... I have been studying for over a year and I am still not sure how to say the following resturaunt phrases in Mandarin. If anyone could help I would appreciate it. (and maybe let me know how formal the phrases are so I dont sound like and idiot when i use them in the wrong resturaunt.)

(when waiter askes you what you will have to drink) I will have water

Waiter! Waitress! (to get thier attention)

ok I know, they are very basic but I want to be sure!! Thanks

[Yang Rui]

I'll have water: 我喝矿泉水 / 我要一瓶矿泉水

This should get you a bottle of mineral water, although you may also get water that's been purified for drinking. If you just want water from the tap that's been boiled and will be served hot, you can ask for 白开水 or 开水

Sometimes Chinese people get confused ordering water and have to explain very carefully exactly what they want.

As for calling the waiter or waitress, in my experience it depends where you are. In the north they tend to just shout " 服务员!" for both men and women.

In the south it seems more common to say "小姐!" for women and "先生!" for men.

If you want to be very informal in Guangdong you can say 靓女 for women and 帅哥 for men.

[xiaojiang216]

我想她应该客气一点儿

[gougou]

Also see here

[kudra]

presumably if you are practicing this in the US, you can drop all the modifiers of water that signify boiling, purifying, and all that lest they think you are nuts....

But it might be useful to bookmark this post and review before you get on the plane.

The other thing about practicing in the US, is that you won't necessarily know if the servers are from the north or south, or Taiwan, or whatever. 先生 seems safe for any male server, but my impression is 小姐 may not be ok if the server is significantly older than you, in which case I'm not sure. I've heard lao3ban3niang2 (I have no IME on this computer) but that might have been a Taiwan thing. I could be wrong about the inappropriateness of 小姐, check with a native speaker....

edit: I seem to be repeating myself.

[kudra]

haven't looked at this module, but check out the bottom of this page

http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/Chinese.aspx

Optional Module: Restaurant

I'd be really surprised if it, and everything else you need, isn't covered there. It is probably basic enough that it isn't dated.

[Koneko]

I could be wrong about the inappropriateness of 小姐, check with a native speaker....

Well, in Northern China, some people will associate the word, 小姐, to prostitute.

Hence, it's advisable not to say this phrase, 小姐来来来, in Northen China, which makes you sound like calling a whore.

If, however, the waitress is older than you. You may certainly call her 老板娘, provided she's the owner of the restaurant and she's serving you. Otherwise, I think it's better to call her 大婶 .

K.

[Strawberries513]

ok thanks. I will only be using these in the US (for the time being).

so can I say "我喝水“？ And what about just saying "对不起“to get the servers attention if they are passing our table?

[elina]

And what about just saying "对不起“to get the servers attention if they are passing our table?

I would say: 小姐 or 小伙子 or 服务员，麻烦你，帮我倒杯水来，谢谢。

[Koneko]

so can I say "我喝水“？

This is merely my personal preference, I think 我想要喝水 would be better and more polite than 我喝水.

K.

[ziyi star]

yes i also heard that in the north xiaojie is related to whore... if you want you can check out the link that will help you out with some basic phrases (chinesepod video at youtube.com). enjoy!

[calibre2001]

You may certainly call her 老板娘

Curious: Is 板 a traditional or simplified character?

[trien27]

lao ban niang; ban: the form used here is simplified Chinese. So, don't use this form in Hong Kong or Taiwan, but rather use the following. Traditional Chinese is "3 mouths under the door"

[liuzhou]

Curious: Is 板 a traditional or simplified character?

Both

[Czech Cara]

as for addressing the waiter/waitress I witnessed 你好！ or, to avoid 小姐， 姑娘， more or less informally. Generelly I am getting the feeling Chinese staff is treated with less respect. So what might sound 'a bit too much' to Westerners is still acceptable, right?

[Ardison]

I think 老闆(láo bǎn) or 老闆娘(láo bǎn niánɡ) is appropriate only when you see someone serving not in uniform. Generally call 服务员(fú wù yuán) is always right under various situations.

[Koneko]

calibre2001

Yes, 板 is same in both traditional and simplified forms.

Try this converter link, in the future

http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/converter-simptrad.html

as for addressing the waiter/waitress I witnessed 你好！ or, to avoid 小姐， 姑娘， more or less informally

It's alright to use 你好 for the first time, but if you use it to address the same person subsequently - I think it sounds a bit odd.

K.

[gougou]

It's alright to use 你好 for the first time, but if you use it to address the same person subsequently - I think it sounds a bit odd.

That's what I would have expected, too, but I have seen people use it repeatedly. In fact, the first time I came across it was when a waitress (the same one that had already taken my order) brought my food and tried to catch my attention by saying 你好。

Maybe Chinese have doubts about the right form of address too? Should I say 先生，or can I just stick with 洋鬼子?

[Koneko]

Ha ha... Great mind think alike!

I think, these days most waiters simply address their customers by 你.

您 is hardly heard anymore.

K.

[skylee]

I think, these days most waiters simply address their customers by 你.

您 is hardly heard anymore.

Not sure if this is true. Somehow I think I hear it used frequently, like in Taiwan and in more unscale restaurants / hotels in Chengdu and Shanghai etc ...