Ordering a coffee Part 2: Options such as type of milk, depending on dietary preferences or allergies.
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Key Phrases
我可以要
wǒ kě yǐ yào
Can I have
需要什麼？
xū yào shén me
What do you need?
謝謝
xiè xiè
Thank you
Skills You'll Learn
Ordering coffee in a cafe
在咖啡店點咖啡
zài kā fēi diàn diǎn kā fēi
Specifying dietary preferences
說明飲食偏好
shuō míng yǐn shí piān hǎo
Responding to service
回應服務
huí yīng fú wù
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you're at a coffee shop and you're ordering a coffee. The barista greets you and asks about your milk preference, offering options like whole, skim, or soy milk. You choose soy milk due to a dairy allergy. The barista then inquires if you’d like your coffee hot or iced, and you opt for a hot soy milk coffee. They proceed to ask if you want any sugar or condiments, to which you reply no, preferring it plain. The barista confirms your order and assures you that it will be ready shortly.
你好，請問需要什麼？
nǐ hǎo qǐng wèn xū yào shén me
Hello, how can I help you?
你好，我想點一杯咖啡。
nǐ hǎo wǒ xiǎng diǎn yī bēi kā fēi
Hi, I'd like to order a coffee.
請問您要哪種牛奶？我們有全脂、脫脂或豆奶。
qǐng wèn nín yào nǎ zhǒng niú nǎi wǒ men yǒu quán zhī tuō zhī huò dòu nǎi
What kind of milk would you like? We have whole, skim, or soy milk.
我可以要豆奶嗎？我對乳製品過敏。
wǒ kě yǐ yào dòu nǎi ma wǒ duì rǔ zhì pǐn guò mǐn
Can I have soy milk? I'm allergic to dairy.
沒問題，您想要熱咖啡還是冰咖啡？
méi wèn tí nín xiǎng yào rè kā fēi hái shì bīng kā fēi
No problem, would you like a hot coffee or iced coffee?
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
你
nǐ
You
好
hǎo
Good
你好
nǐ hǎo
Hello
🇹🇼 [你好] is standard and polite, but in Taiwan a barista may also greet you with [哈囉] or just ask what you want right away. You can use [你好] safely with staff, but it can sound a bit textbook in very casual situations.
See breakdown →需要
xū yào
Need
💬 [需要] is common for actual need, while [想] is softer for what you feel like having. In a café, [我想點咖啡] usually sounds more natural than [我需要咖啡].
See breakdown →什麼
shén me
What
💬 [什麼] often comes after the verb in questions like [要什麼？] or [喝什麼？], not necessarily at the front. Reuse that pattern: [你想喝什麼？] = what do you want to drink?
See breakdown →需要什麼？
xū yào shén me
What do you need?
💬 A very common Taiwan pattern is verb + [什麼] for open questions: [需要什麼？] [喝什麼？] [吃什麼？]. You can swap the verb to ask for different kinds of choices.
See breakdown →我
wǒ
I
想
xiǎng
Want
💬 [想] is often the natural way to say what you'd like, not a deep emotional "want." In ordering, [我想點...] is a very normal, polite pattern you can reuse.
See breakdown →點
diǎn
Order
💬 [點] means to order food or drinks, so you can say [點咖啡] or [點一杯拿鐵]. It's different from [買], which is the general verb for buy.
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