Learn what to say when reserving a table at an English restaurant
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| INTRODUCTION |
| British Restaurant, Part 2: Reserving a Table |
| In the last lesson, we learnt how to get a table at a restaurant. But, my dear listeners, please know that it isn’t always as easy as simply walking into a restaurant and getting a table. People in the UK enjoy eating out, especially at weekends, which means it can be difficult to get a seat. The best thing to do is to make a reservation for the time you want to go and eat. |
| SURVIVAL PHRASES |
| So in this lesson we’ll cover making a reservation at a restaurant. |
| If you decide to make a phone call to reserve a seat at a restaurant for the evening, you would say: “I would like to make a reservation, please.” |
| ‘I would like’, is a polite way of making a request. The next part is the verb ‘to make’, and then we have our noun, ‘a reservation.’ And to top it off in a polite way, we add the magic word ‘please’. So, altogether we have: “I would like to make a reservation, please.” |
| Slowly: “I would like to make a reservation, please.” |
| After this, you’ll normally be asked how many people will be in your group. They may say: “For how many people?” |
| Slowly: For how many people? |
| Now you would respond with a number. You can easily just say the number, for example, ‘four’, and it would be understood. But let’s add a few simple words to make it sound politer. “For four, please’, is all you need to say. |
| Slowly: For four, please. |
| Okay, so next we have the time. The person may ask: “What time would you like to reserve it for?” Let’s take a closer look at that. ‘What time’ is asking for when you want to arrive at the restaurant, ‘would you like’ is the polite way of asking, and ‘to reserve it for’ is asking for the reservation. The ‘it’ in this sentence is for the table you are reserving. So altogether we have: “What time would you like to reserve it for?” |
| This is a good phrase to remember, but be prepared that the person at the restaurant may say it very fast. You might only hear the key words such as ‘time’, ‘like’, and ‘reserve’, but that will be enough to understand the question. |
| So let’s answer the question! Let’s imagine you want to reserve a table for eight o’clock. You would say: “For eight o’clock, please.” |
| Slowly: For eight o’clock, please. |
| Okay, to close out this lesson we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I’ll provide you with the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So good luck! |
| - I would like to make a reservation, please |
| - For how many people? |
| - For four, please |
| - What time would you like to reserve it for? |
| - For 8 o’clock, please |
Outro |
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| Alright! That’s going to do it for this lesson. Bye! |
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