coffeeCulture and vocabulary notes
Coffee shops or tea rooms, called kissaten (喫茶店), are numerous in Japan and are very popular places to meet friends and relax. You can order all kinds of soft drinks, desserts, and even light-lunch items such as sandwiches there. Many of these items are foreign loanwords and so are written in katakana.
In any situation that involves buying or shopping, kudasai can mean “Please bring (me),” “Please sell (me),” or “Please give (me).” The o in Kōhii o kudasai is called a particle. It has no meaning in itself but indicates that the preceding word is the direct object in the sentence. Other particles will be introduced later.
There are no articles like “a” or “the” in Japanese. Although in English you tend to say, “Please give me some ice cream,” Japanese usually just say, “Please give me ice cream.”
Grammar
The first sentence pattern below shows you the simplest way to ask for something in Japanese. It consists of the item (a noun) you want, a particle, and a word meaning “please.” Look carefully at the sentence pattern that follows.
| Sentence Pattern 1 | |
| NOUN + o / kudasai.〜を ください。 | Please give me + NOUN. |
Examples
| Sōda o kudasai.ソーダをください。 | Please give me soda. |
| Jūsu o kudasai.ジュースをください。 | Please give me juice. |
| Kēki o kudasai.ケーキをください。 | Please give me cake. |
| Aisukuriimu o kudasai.アイスクリームをください。 | Please give me ice cream. |
| Kokoa o kudasai.ココアをください。 | Please give me cocoa. |
| Chokorēto sheiku o kudasai.チョコレート シェイクをください。 | Please give me (a) chocolate shake. |
Practice
1. Practice saying these sentences aloud. What the waitress says is included for your recognition, since you will hear it often in coffee shops and other places serving the public.
| Waitress: | |
| Nani ni shimashō ka?何にしましょうか？ | What shall I bring you? |
| [or] | [or] |
| Nani ni nasaimasu ka?何になさいますか？ | What are you going to have? |
| Customer: | |
| Kōhii o kudasai.コーヒーをください。 | Please give me (some) coffee. |
| Appuru pai o kudasai.アップルパイをください。 | Please give me (a piece of) apple pie. |
| Aisukuriimu o kudasai.アイスクリームをください。 | Please give me (some) ice cream. |
| Kōra o kudasai.コーラをください。 | Please give me (a) cola. |
| Miruku o kudasai.ミルクをください。 | Please give me (some) milk. |
| Orenji jūsu o kudasai.オレンジジュースをください。 | Please give me (some) orange juice. |
2. See if you can order the following items. Turn to page 236 to see the answers.
a) coffee
b) sandwich
c) lemonade
d) ice cream soda
e) tea
• LESSON 2 •
Ordering at a Bar
In this section you will use the sentence pattern from Lesson 1 to order various types of drinks at a bar.
Vocabulary
| biiru | ビール | beer |
| burandē | ブランデー | brandy |
| jin fuizu | ジンフィズ | gin fizz |
| kakuteru | カクテル | cocktail |
| ramu | ラム | rum |
| Sukotchi uisukii | スコッチウイスキー | Scotch whiskey |
| uisukii | ウイスキー | whiskey |
| uisukii sōda | ウイスキーソーダ | whiskey and soda |
| uokka | ウオッカ | vodka |
Useful Expressions
| mizuwari de | 水割りで | with water and ice |
| sutorēto de | ストレートで | straight |
Culture and Vocabulary Notes
Bars (バー), often called nomiya (飲み屋), are popular places for Japanese people to meet for social gatherings with friends or with fellow employees after work. Izakaya (居酒屋) are a popular type of pub that also serves simple food.
Mizuwari is a native Japanese word. The de
