Buy food, order in a café or restaurant, say what you eat and what you don't

Food as the object

When you eat, drink, buy, order or need something, that food is the object of the sentence, so it takes the Akkusativ you learnt in chapter 2. Feminine, Neutrum and plural nouns look exactly as they do in the Nominativ: Ich esse eine Banane. Ich esse ein Ei. Ich kaufe die Tomaten. Only masculine nouns change: der Apfel becomes Ich esse einen Apfel, der Tee becomes Ich trinke den Tee. Many words you need in a café are masculine (der Tee, der Kaffee, der Saft, der Kuchen, der Salat), so you will say einen and den a lot this week. Others are not: das Wasser, die Milch, das Ei. As in every unit, the article is part of the word, so learn it with the word.

With an article or without?

English says "I drink tea" and "I eat rice" with no "a", and German does the same. When you mean a food in general, or an amount you do not count, use no article: Ich trinke Tee. Wir kaufen Reis und Gemüse. Things you can count take ein in the singular and no article in the plural: Ich esse einen Apfel. Ich esse gern Äpfel. Use der, die or das for one particular thing that you and the other person both have in mind: Der Kuchen hier ist lecker. In a café you will also hear ein with words like Wasser and Kaffee: Ein Wasser, bitte. Here ein means one glass, one bottle or one cup, and it is completely normal.

essen, nehmen, mögen and hätte gern

Three verbs you need at every meal do not follow the regular pattern. essen (to eat) and nehmen (to take; in a shop or restaurant, to have) change e to i with du and er/sie/es: du isst, er isst; du nimmst, er nimmt. With du, essen adds only -t, not -st: du isst (not du issst), because the stem already ends in an s sound, as in du heißt from chapter 1. nehmen also loses its h and doubles the m: nimmst, nimmt. mögen (to like) behaves like a modal verb: ich mag and er mag are the same and have no ending. hätte gern is a fixed phrase for ordering; learn its forms now, and the grammar behind hätte comes at A2.

To ask for something politely, Ich möchte einen Tee (from chapter 2) and Ich hätte gern einen Tee mean the same; at a bakery counter you will hear hätte gern most. At the table, Ich nehme … (I'll have …) is just as polite: Ich nehme den Fisch. To say what you like, use mögen with a noun: Ich mag Kaffee. When you like doing something, keep the real verb in position 2 and put gern after it: Ich trinke gern Tee. Usman kocht gern.

• Ich esse jeden Morgen einen Apfel.

  I eat an apple every morning.

  میں ہر صبح ایک سیب کھاتا ہوں۔

  der Apfel is the object: einen.

• Ich hätte gern einen Tee mit Milch.

  I'd like a tea with milk.

  مجھے دودھ والی ایک چائے چاہیے۔

• Wir kaufen Reis, Zwiebeln und Tomaten.

  We are buying rice, onions and tomatoes.

  ہم چاول، پیاز اور ٹماٹر خرید رہے ہیں۔

  Rice in general and plurals: no article.

• Hina isst gern Biryani.

  Hina likes eating biryani.

  حنا کو بریانی کھانا پسند ہے۔

  essen: sie isst.

• Nimmst du den Fisch oder das Hähnchen?

  Are you having the fish or the chicken?

  تم مچھلی لو گے یا چکن؟

• Der Kuchen ist lecker. Ich nehme ihn.

  The cake is delicious. I'll take it.

  کیک مزے دار ہے۔ میں یہ لیتا ہوں۔

  der Kuchen → ihn, as in chapter 2.

• Arjun mag Kaffee, aber Priya mag Tee.

  Arjun likes coffee, but Priya likes tea.

  ارجن کو کافی پسند ہے، لیکن پریا کو چائے۔

• Die Kinder essen gern Pizza.

  The children like eating pizza.

  بچوں کو پیزا کھانا پسند ہے۔

Urdu uses one word, nahin, for every kind of no. German splits the job. kein belongs to the noun: it replaces ein, or stands where there was no article at all. Ich habe ein Ei becomes Ich habe kein Ei. Ich trinke Milch becomes Ich trinke keine Milch. Wir haben Eier becomes Wir haben keine Eier. Because kein sits in the place of ein, it takes the same endings, and the Akkusativ rule from chapter 2 still applies: der Saft, so Ich trinke keinen Saft. In the plural, where ein has no form, kein becomes keine. Watch the gender of the noun, not of the Urdu word: die Zeit is feminine, so it is Ich habe keine Zeit.

nicht handles the rest. It says no to a verb (Ich rauche nicht), to an adjective (Die Suppe ist nicht scharf), to gern (Ich esse nicht gern Fisch), to a place (Omar wohnt nicht in Köln), and to a noun that already has der, die, das or mein (Ich nehme den Fisch nicht). Later you will also meet nicht before a noun when you contrast two things: Ich trinke nicht Tee, sondern Kaffee. For now, when you simply say that you do not eat or drink something, kein is the word you want.

Where nicht goes

German word order gives nicht some freedom, but three places cover almost every sentence you need at A1. First, at the end, when the sentence is just a verb, or a verb with a time word or an object that has der, die or das: Ich rauche nicht. Ich koche heute nicht. Ich nehme den Fisch nicht. Second, just before an adjective, gern or a place: nicht scharf, nicht gern, nicht in Köln. Third, with a modal verb, just before the infinitive at the end: Ich kann heute nicht kochen. kein never moves around like this; it stands where ein would stand, in front of its noun.

• Ich esse kein Schweinefleisch.

  I don't eat pork.

  میں سور کا گوشت نہیں کھاتا۔

  das Fleisch, no article in the yes-sentence: kein.

• Danish trinkt keinen Kaffee.

  Danish doesn't drink coffee.

  دانش کافی نہیں پیتا۔

  der Kaffee as the object: keinen.

• Wir haben heute keine Eier.

  We have no eggs today.

  آج ہمارے پاس انڈے نہیں ہیں۔

• Sara isst nicht gern Fisch.

  Sara doesn't like eating fish.

  سارہ کو مچھلی کھانا پسند نہیں۔

• Der Tee ist nicht heiß.

  The tea isn't hot.

  چائے گرم نہیں ہے۔

• Ich kann heute nicht kochen.

  I can't cook today.

  میں آج کھانا نہیں پکا سکتا۔

  Modal verb: nicht goes just before the infinitive.

• Isst du kein Fleisch? – Doch, ich esse Hähnchen.

  Don't you eat meat? – Yes, I do, I eat chicken.

  کیا تم گوشت نہیں کھاتے؟ – کھاتا ہوں، میں چکن کھاتا ہوں۔

  doch answers a question with kein or nicht positively (chapter 3).

You use the imperative to tell someone what to do: to give advice (der Ratschlag), an instruction at work, or an invitation at the table. German chooses the form by the person you speak to, just as it does with du, ihr and Sie in every other sentence. With Sie the imperative looks like a yes/no question without the question mark: Nehmen Sie Platz? is a question, Nehmen Sie Platz! is an invitation. The verb is in position 1 and Sie follows it. Your voice and the word bitte make the difference between an order and a friendly request, and with Sie and bitte it is perfectly polite: Warten Sie bitte hier!

For du, start from the du form you already know and take away du and the ending -st: du kommst → Komm! du trinkst → Trink! du kaufst → Kauf! Verbs that change e to i keep the i: du nimmst → Nimm!, du sprichst → Sprich! But a change from a to ä does not stay: du fährst → Fahr! (not Fähr!). essen is a special case because du isst has only -t: drop that and you get Iss! If the stem ends in -t or -d, an -e stays at the end so you can say it: du wartest → Warte!, du arbeitest → Arbeite! For ihr, simply leave out ihr: ihr kommt → Kommt!, ihr esst → Esst! The verb comes first (only bitte or a name may stand before it: Bitte warten Sie hier! Jonas, kauf …), and no subject follows it, except Sie.

• Nehmen Sie bitte Platz, Frau Becker!

  Please take a seat, Ms Becker!

  مسز بیکر، تشریف رکھیے!

• Probieren Sie den Kuchen!

  Try the cake!

  کیک چکھ کر دیکھیے!

• Komm, iss noch etwas!

  Come on, have some more!

  آؤ، تھوڑا اور کھاؤ!

  essen → du isst → Iss!

• Trink nicht so viel Cola!

  Don't drink so much cola!

  اتنی زیادہ کولا مت پیو!

• Jonas, kauf bitte Milch und Eier!

  Jonas, please buy milk and eggs!

  یوناس، براہِ مہربانی دودھ اور انڈے لے آنا!

• Kinder, esst bitte das Gemüse!

  Children, please eat the vegetables!

  بچو، سبزی کھاؤ، شاباش!

  Several children: the ihr form, esst.

• Seid bitte leise!

  Please be quiet! (to several people)

  ذرا خاموش رہو! (کئی لوگوں سے)

• Warte, ich komme!

  Wait, I'm coming!

  رکو، میں آ رہا ہوں!

Learn each noun with its article and its plural. Words like Reis, Gemüse, Obst, Milch, Wasser and the Fleisch words are used without a plural in everyday German, so they have none in the list; the meal words have plurals that you will rarely need. Meat words are built from the animal + Fleisch, and the compound takes the article of its last part: das Fleisch, so das Rindfleisch, das Lammfleisch.

Amounts and packs

To ask for an amount, put the measure straight in front of the food. German needs no word for "of": eine Flasche Wasser, ein Kilo Tomaten, 200 Gramm Käse. Only the measure word carries the article and the Akkusativ, so a masculine measure changes: der Liter, so Ich hätte gern einen Liter Milch. After a number, masculine and Neutrum measures usually stay as they are: zwei Kilo, 500 Gramm, zwei Liter, zwei Stück Kuchen. Feminine measures and packs take their plural: zwei Flaschen, drei Dosen, zwei Tassen, zwei Packungen.

Shopping for food in Germany often happens at a counter: the bakery, the cheese or meat counter in a supermarket, a market stall. The conversation is short and always runs the same way, so learn the questions as blocks. You do not need to understand every word of Was darf es sein?; you only need to know that it is your turn to say what you want. (All prices in this course are made up for practice.)

Paying

At the till or the table you will hear Wie möchten Sie bezahlen? or Zahlen Sie bar oder mit Karte? Answer Bar. or Mit Karte, bitte. You can also ask first: Kann ich mit Karte zahlen? zahlen and bezahlen mean the same here. In a restaurant Zusammen oder getrennt? asks whether one person pays for everyone or each person pays separately. When you pay in cash and want the waiter to keep the change, you say Stimmt so.

Look at the grammar inside the dialogue: einen Mangosaft and einen Salat (der, as objects), kein Schweinefleisch, nicht so scharf, and sie ist vegetarisch for die Suppe. Dann nehme ich has the verb in position 2 after dann, the same rule as in chapter 1. The price is invented.

The task: your colleague Lena invites you to dinner at her home on Saturday. Write her a short reply and cover all three points below. Use only sentences you are sure of; three short correct sentences are better than one long one with mistakes.

• Thank her and say that you are coming.
• Say what you do not eat or drink.
• Ask what you should buy or bring.