Korean · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 3 of 12
At the café
카페에서Kapeeseo
Order coffee and cake in Korean with 주세요, count cups and things with native numbers, and understand what café staff say.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Order drinks and food politely with 주세요
- Count with native Korean numbers and the counters 잔 and 개
- Use the object particle 을/를
- Understand the polite phrases café staff use
Listen
Kim Minjun orders coffee and cake for himself and a friend at a café in Seoul. The barista is Choi Yuna. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Yuna
어서 오세요. 주문하시겠어요?
Eoseo oseyo. Jumunhasigesseoyo?
Welcome. Are you ready to order?
Minjun
네. 아메리카노 두 잔 주세요.
Ne. Amerikano du jan juseyo.
Yes. Two americanos, please.
Yuna
따뜻한 거요, 아이스요?
Ttatteutan geoyo, aiseuyo?
Hot or iced?
Minjun
하나는 따뜻한 거, 하나는 아이스요. 케이크도 한 개 주세요.
Hananeun ttatteutan geo, hananeun aiseuyo. Keikeudo han gae juseyo.
One hot and one iced. And one piece of cake, please.
Yuna
드시고 가세요?
Deusigo gaseyo?
Is it for here?
Minjun
아니요, 포장이요.
Aniyo, pojangiyo.
No, to take away.
Yuna
네, 만 오천 원이에요.
Ne, man ocheon wonieyo.
All right, that's 15,000 won.
Minjun
카드 여기 있어요. 영수증도 주세요.
Kadeu yeogi isseoyo. Yeongsujeungdo juseyo.
Here's my card. And the receipt too, please.
Yuna
네, 잠깐만요.
Ne, jamkkanmanyo.
Sure, just a moment.
Understand
… 주세요: please give me
(juseyo) means “please give me”. Put what you want before it, because the verb comes last: (keikeu juseyo), cake, please.
The thing you want is the object of the sentence, the thing the action is done to. Korean can mark it with the object particle 을 or 를. Remember the rule from chapter 1: 을 after a consonant, 를 after a vowel. (yeongsujeung) ends in a consonant, so (yeongsujeungeul juseyo); (keikeu) ends in a vowel, so (keikeureul juseyo).
When you order, Koreans usually drop the particle, as Minjun does: (amerikano du jan juseyo). Both are correct. 도 (too) takes the place of 을 / 를: (yeongsujeungdo juseyo), the receipt too, please.
- 케이크를 주세요.Keikeureul juseyo.Cake, please.
- 영수증을 주세요.Yeongsujeungeul juseyo.The receipt, please.
- 아이스 아메리카노 주세요.Aiseu amerikano juseyo.An iced americano, please.
Native numbers and counters
To count things, Korean uses its second set of numbers, the native Korean numbers. After the number comes a counter, a word for the kind of thing you count: (jan) for cups and glasses, (gae) for most things. The order is: thing, number, counter. (keikeu han gae) is “cake one piece”. Native numbers are for counting things and people, for age and for clock hours. The Sino-Korean numbers from chapter 2 are for money, phone numbers, minutes and dates, and for everything above 99.
The numbers 1 to 4 get shorter before a counter: (hana) becomes (han), (dul) (du), (set) (se), (net) (ne). When you answer with just a number, use the full form: (hananeun aiseuyo), one is iced.
| Value | Number | With a counter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (hana) | (han jan) |
| 2 | (dul) | (du jan) |
| 3 | (set) | (se gae) |
| 4 | (net) | (ne gae) |
| 5 | (daseot) | (daseot gae) |
| 6 | (yeoseot) | (yeoseot jan) |
| 7 | (ilgop) | (ilgop gae) |
| 8 | (yeodeol) | (yeodeol gae) |
| 9 | (ahop) | (ahop jan) |
| 10 | (yeol) | (yeol gae) |
Speech levels, and no word for “you”
Korean has speech levels: the ending of the verb shows how polite you are. This course uses the polite style, with endings in -요, as Minjun does. It's right with strangers, staff and colleagues, so it's your safe default. The formal style ends in -ㅂ니다 / -습니다; you know it from set phrases like (gamsahamnida). The casual style, (banmal), drops -요 and is only for close friends and family. You'll learn both in A2.
Staff often use extra-polite phrases: (eoseo oseyo), welcome; (jumunhasigesseoyo?), are you ready to order?; (deusigo gaseyo?), will you eat here? Learn them as phrases to understand; you don't need to say them.
In short answers, add 요 to a single word to keep it polite: 요 after a vowel, 이요 after a consonant: (aiseuyo), iced; (pojangiyo), to take away.
Notice that nobody says “you”. Korean avoids a word for “you”: people just leave it out, or use the person's name + (ssi), as colleagues and new friends do: (Minjun ssi). Never add (ssi) to your own name.
| Style | Ends in | It's coffee | Use it with |
|---|---|---|---|
| formal | -ㅂ니다 / -습니다 | (keopiimnida) | announcements, speeches, staff to customers |
| polite (this course) | -요 | (keopiyeyo) | strangers, staff, colleagues: the safe default |
| casual, (banmal) | no -요 | (keopiya) | close friends your age, family |
More in the grammar: Numbers, counters, time and dates · Sound changes: why 감사합니다 is gamsahamnida · Speech levels: 해요, 합니다, 반말 and 한다 · Word order: the verb comes last · 을/를, 에, 에서 and (으)로 · Requests and suggestions: -(으)세요, -아/어 주세요, -(으)ㄹ까요?
New words
- 어서 오세요eoseo oseyowelcome (said by staff)
- 주문jumunorder · (jumunhasigesseoyo?), Are you ready to order? (staff)
- 아메리카노amerikanoamericano (black coffee) · the most popular coffee in Korea
- 잔jancup, glass (counter)
- 주세요juseyoplease give me
- 따뜻한ttatteutanhot, warm · (ttatteutan geo), a hot one
- 아이스aiseuiced
- 하나hanaone · (han) before a counter
- 케이크keikeucake
- 개gaepiece, item (counter for things)
- 드시고 가세요?Deusigo gaseyo?For here? (staff) · Literally “will you eat and then go?”
- 포장pojangtake-away; packing · (pojangiyo), to take away, please
- 영수증yeongsujeungreceipt
- 잠깐만요jamkkanmanyojust a moment · Also “excuse me” when you squeeze past people.
Practise
1.How do you order two americanos?
2.You want some cake. Which particle goes after (keikeu)?
3.Put the words in order to ask for one piece of cake.
Tap the words below in the right order.One piece of cake, please.
4.Match the Korean with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
5.Put the words in order to order three iced americanos.
Tap the words below in the right order.Three iced americanos, please.
6.The barista asks (ttatteutan geoyo, aiseuyo?). You want yours iced. What do you answer?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
아메리카노 한 잔 주세요.
Amerikano han jan juseyo.
One americano, please.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.