You have mastered the complexities of how to say “please” and “thank you” in Dutch; Now take your conversation to the next level with these simple requests. The following sentences cover the basic transactions in a Dutch restaurant, café or bar.
Simple food and drink requests
After calling your server with a Dutch hello (a word, at least, that doesn’t need to be memorized), it’s time to place an order. The simplest form of request is X, graag (X, khrahkh) ‘X, please’, where X is the item you want to order. This is short for ik wil graag… (ik vil khrahkh) ‘I would like to…’. Unfortunately, these phrases feature one of the most difficult Dutch sounds, the voiced velar fricative call, represented by “kh” in the pronunciation scheme; It is very similar to the ch in Yiddish hard faced ‘nerve’ or Scottish loch ‘lake’.
Some common words used to complete this request are:
- I would like a beer
Ik grail een biertje. (Ik vil khrahkh ən BEERtyə.) - I would like a bottle of water.
Ik will collect water from the water. (Ik vil khrahkh ən fles VAtər.) - I would like the dish of the day.
Ik wil graag from dagschotel. (Ik vil khrahkh də DAHKHskhohtl.) - I’d like a serving of French fries.
Ik grail een portie friet. (Ik vil khrahkh POn POORtsee freet.)
Alternatively, the speakers can also formulate the request in the form of a question:
- Puedo tener un…?
Can I have a …? (Makh I one…)
To order multiple drinks, you don’t need to use a special plural form; just use the number instead of the word een (‘one’): twee (tvay, ‘two’), drie (dree, ‘three’), vier (feer, ‘four’), etc. Example:
- Quisiera cuatro cafes.
I’d like four coffees. (I feel honor KOHfee khrahkh.)
To order another of the same item, use this phrase:
- Another X, please.
Nog een X, graag. (Nokh ən X, khrahkh.)
The beer request contains a variant of the usual word for beer ( Bier ), namely biertje , which is a diminutive (ie ‘little beer’). It is unclear how it became the standard form of the request, but seasoned travelers from Europe will certainly note that the typical size of a Dutch beer is actually very small compared to its Central European counterparts. The country also has its own spin on the sale of water in restaurants; Most of the time, restaurants will refuse to serve tap water and require customers to purchase bottled water, hence the form of this request.
These last phrases will provide visitors with the most essential Dutch restaurant requests:
- ¿Tienes un menú en inglés?
Do you have an English menu? (Have YOOlee ENn ENGglsTAHLikhə meNOO?) - ¿Donde esta el bano?
Where is the WC / WC? (Vahr es də VAY-say / het tvahLET?) - Comprueba, por favor.
The bill please. (Də RAYkəning, khrahkh.)
Interact with the waiters
Of course, the usual procedure in a restaurant is for the waiter to first come up and ask a question, which will be a variant of one of these phrases:
- What would you like to drink?
Willen jullie iets do you drinken? (WILlə YOOlee eets tə DRINkə?) - What would you like to eat ?
Weten jullie het al? (Lit.: “Do you already know [what you would like]?”) - Anything else?
Anders nog iets? (AHNdərs nokh eets?)
And if you can’t remember any of the above phrases to order in Dutch, you can at least opt out of Dutch with this essential phase:
- Speak English?
Engels Spreek heh? (SPRAYK andə ENGgls?)
