Ordering a coffee (Advanced): The size of coffee you want.

💬 ございます is the extra-polite form of あります "there is". You'll hear it from staff constantly.

💬 種類 (shurui) means "kinds" and follows a number to count types of things, as in 二種類 (ni-shurui) "two kinds".

💬 と after です sets up a condition: "if it's M, then...". It's a polite way staff introduce an explanation.

💬 こちら is the polite version of これ "this". Staff use it when pointing to something near them.

💬 くらい after a noun means "about" or "roughly". 大きさ (ōkisa) is "size", made from 大きい "big".

🇯🇵 Sizes vary a lot between chains, so staff often show you a sample cup rather than naming a volume.

💬 じゃあ is the casual, spoken form of では. You use it to move on to a decision: "okay then".

💬 で after a choice means "I'll go with that". Mでお願いします works the same way.

🇯🇵 This is a far more formal apology than すみません. Staff use it when they can't give you what you asked for, and it often signals a polite "no" is coming.

💬 まで marks a limit, "up to" or "until". Also 5時まで "until 5 o'clock".

💬 となっております is a stiff, polite way of saying "it is" or "that's the rule". It ends in まして here, so the sentence trails off and leaves the bad news unspoken.

🇯🇵 Staff often won't say "no" outright. A sentence like this, left trailing, is how a refusal politely sounds.

💬 なら after a noun means "if it's that" or "in that case". For example, コーヒーなら "if it's coffee".

💬 も means "also" or "too", and it takes the place of が or は after the noun.

💬 でしたら is the polite version of なら. You'll hear staff say it, while customers usually just say なら.

💬 ご用意できます (go-yōi dekimasu) is staff politeness for "we can prepare". It puts ご in front of 用意 "preparation" to show respect to you.

💬 The の here stands in for "one" or "thing", so 温かいの means "a warm one". 冷たいの "a cold one" works the same way.

💬 やっぱり signals a change of mind back to an earlier idea: "on second thought". The small っ is a held beat: (yap-pari).

💬 にします after a choice means "I'll go with". It's the go-to way to decide: これにします "I'll take this".

🇯🇵 かしこまりました is very polite customer-service language, so you'll hear staff say it to you, but you normally wouldn't say it back. A customer would usually answer with はい or ありがとうございます.

💬 480円 is (yonhyaku hachijū en). 円 is said (en), not (yen).

💬 で marks how you pay. Swap in other methods, like 現金で "in cash".

💬 あちら is the polite form of あそこ "over there". It points to something far from both you and the speaker.

💬 Staff put お before a verb and add します to humbly describe what they'll do for you. 渡す means "hand over".

🇯🇵 At many cafés you pay at one spot and pick up your drink at a separate counter, so listen for where they point.

💬 少々 (shōshō) is a polite way to say "a little", softer than ちょっと.