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4.2 At the snack bar Includes sound files!

Click here to listen to the conversation!At the same time as Ken McNaught is drinking coffee at the restaurant, elsewhere in Berlin the two friends Sonja Malchow and Verena Offenberg are ordering something to eat at a typical Berlin Imbiss - an open stall or kiosk which you will see on street corners in German-speaking countries - outside the underground station (der U-Bahnhof) in Pankow.

Listen to their conversation with the snack bar owner Herr Aksoy by clicking either here or on the sound icon at the top of the previous paragraph. You can also click here to find the location of the snack bar and Pankow underground station on a map of Berlin.

U-Bahnhof Pankow Sonja Malchow and Verena Offenberg

Herr Aksoy Guten Morgen!
Sonja Malchow Guten Morgen!
Herr Aksoy Bitte schön? Was wünschen Sie?
Sonja Malchow Ich möchte gerne eine Bratwurst, bitte.
Herr Aksoy Eine große oder eine kleine?
Sonja Malchow Eine kleine, bitte.
Herr Aksoy Mit Ketschup und Pommes?
Sonja Malchow Mit Ketschup aber ohne Pommes.
Herr Aksoy Möchten Sie auch ein Brötchen?
Sonja Malchow Ja, bitte. Gerne.
Herr Aksoy Ein Euro achtzig, bitte.
Verena Offenberg Und ich nehme eine Currywurst.
Herr Aksoy Ein Euro siebzig, bitte.
Verena Offenberg Zehn Euro. (She hands over a ten euro note.) 
Herr Aksoy Danke sehr! Und sechs Euro und fünfzig zurück. Guten Appetit! 
Verena Offenberg Danke schön!

der Imbiss A Swiss snack bar

der Imbiss  This is one of several words for a "snack bar". You might also see the words "der Schnellimbiss", "die Imbissbude" or "die Würstchenbude" ("sausage stand")
was wünschen Sie?  "What would you like?" Having started with "Bitte schön", the conventional request for information, Herr Aksoy chooses to ask more specifically.
ich möchte gerne...  "I would like...". "Ich möchte..." on its own could be also be used here without "gerne". Note that anything that you ask for will be in the accusative case
eine Bratwurst  "A (fried) sausage". Usually served with a roll. The German reputation for eating sausages is certainly borne out by the choice offered at their snack bars!
eine große...  a big (sausage)...
...oder eine kleine?  "...or a small (sausage)?" If the noun has already been mentioned immediately beforehand, it does not need to be repeated when you are describing it by means of an adjective.
bitte please
der Ketschup  Unsurprisingly, this means "ketchup". Until the recent German spelling reform, it was spelled the same way as the English word.
Pommes  "Chips". From the French "Pommes frites". While "Pommes frites" is the version listed in German dictionaries, you are just as likely to hear "Pommes".
möchten Sie auch...?  "Would you like...?" See the conversation in the first section.
das Brötchen  "A bread roll". All nouns ending in "-chen" are neuter - including "das Mädchen". The suffix "-chen" means "little" or "small". 
gerne  Another word that is difficult to translate. "Gerne" on its own means "happily" or "willingly". The combination "Ja, gerne" translates as a more enthusiastic version of "Yes please!"
ein Euro achtzig  "One euro eighty (cents)".
eine Currywurst  "A curried sausage". Very few German words begin with "c", and many of those that do are - as here - imported from other languages.
ein Euro siebzig  "One euro seventy (cents)".
danke sehr "many thanks" (literally: "thanks very")
zurück  Literally "back", but here we would translate it as "in return".
Guten Appetit!  "Enjoy your food!" or "bon appetit".


Weiter! Chapter 4.3: Please and thank you


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