Restaurant reservations Part 3 (Advanced): Confirming the reservation details, including date, time, and number of guests.

🇨🇳 Restaurants in China often find your booking by your name plus the last four digits of your phone. Have them ready when you arrive.

🇨🇳 Restaurants usually look up a booking by the last four digits of your phone number rather than your name, so have those ready. Staff often read out the digit 1 as (yāo) instead of (yī) to avoid confusion.

💬 Putting 到 after an action shows it succeeded: 查 "look up" becomes 查到 "found it by looking". The same works in 找到 "found" and 买到 "managed to buy".

💬 有点 (yǒu diǎn) means "a bit", and it often hints that the change is a mild inconvenience: 有点贵 "a bit pricey", 有点晚 "a bit late".

💬 人数 (rén shù) is the go-to word for "number of people" at restaurants, and staff will often ask 几位 (jǐ wèi) "how many of you".

💬 位 (wèi) is the polite counting word for people, standard in restaurants instead of 个: 三位 "three people". 加到 means "add up to", so the number that follows is the new total.

💬 Saying the verb, then 不, then the verb again turns a statement into a yes-or-no question. 能不能 means "can or can't", and 不 is said lightly in the middle. Another example is 好不好 "is that OK?".

🇨🇳 Private rooms are very common in Chinese restaurants for family gatherings and business meals. They often come with a minimum spend.

🇨🇳 Private rooms often require a minimum total bill for the table. If your group orders less than that amount, you still pay the minimum, so ask the figure when you book.

💬 In casual speech, prices drop the unit at the end. 一千二 means 1,200, not 1,002. Likewise 三百五 is 350.

🇨🇳 Private rooms, called 包间 (bāo jiān), usually have no room fee but do come with a minimum food-and-drink spend. Ask about it when you book, because groups often just order generously to reach it.

💬 您看 literally means "you look." Here it means "what do you think" and softens a suggestion. Add it to the front of a proposal to make it polite: 您看明天可以吗？ "would tomorrow work?"

💬 往后推 (wǎng hòu tuī) means "push later". Switch it to 往前 and you get "move earlier", as in 往前提半个小时. Note that 半个小时 puts 半 before 个, giving the word order "half an hour".

💬 The topic comes first and the question follows: 时间 "as for the time", then "could we push it back?". Putting the thing you're talking about at the front is very common in Chinese.

💬 下班 is literally "get down from a shift". Its opposite is 上班 (shàng bān) "go to work".

💬 有个 is short for 有一个 and is the natural way to bring up someone new, a bit like "there's this friend who...". Another example is 有个问题 "I have a question".

💬 比较 (bǐ jiào) before an adjective means "rather" or "fairly" even when nothing is being compared. You can use it the same way in 比较忙 "pretty busy".

🇨🇳 Long working hours are common in Chinese cities, so a late-finishing friend is a perfectly ordinary reason to shift a booking. Restaurants rarely need more explanation than this.

💬 好 after an action means it is finished and done properly: 改好 "changed, all set". You'll also hear 做好了 "it's ready".

🇨🇳 Restaurant staff use the respectful 您 (nín) and the word 帮 "help" to frame their work as a favor to you. This is standard polite service language.

🇨🇳 This is the usual polite thank-you to end a call with staff. It feels warmer than a plain 谢谢 because it acknowledges the effort they made.

💬 Chinese often skips the word for "if": 有变动 on its own at the start of a sentence already means "if there's a change".

💬 In Chinese, "to whom" comes before the action: 给我们打电话 is literally "to us make a call". Another example is 给他发微信 "send him a WeChat".

🇨🇳 This is the standard friendly sign-off staff give after confirming a booking. Changing plans by phone on the day is generally accepted at Chinese restaurants.

💬 Put any time word in front of 见 (jiàn) to say "see you then": 明天见 (míng tiān jiàn) "see you tomorrow", 晚上见 (wǎn shang jiàn) "see you tonight". Weekdays are just numbered, so 周一 (zhōu yī) is Monday through 周六 (zhōu liù) for Saturday. Sunday breaks the pattern: it's 周日 (zhōu rì), not "week seven".