Restaurant reservations Part 2: Specifying any dietary restrictions or special requests.
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Key Phrases
我想訂今晚的晚餐。
wǒ xiǎng dìng jīn wǎn de wǎn cān
I'd like to book dinner for tonight.
一家四口，晚上七點可以嗎？
yī jiā sì kǒu wǎn shàng qī diǎn kě yǐ ma
Is 7:00 pm okay for a family of four?
我太太不吃牛肉，一位小朋友對花生過敏。
wǒ tài tài bù chī niú ròu yī wèi xiǎo péng yǒu duì huā shēng guò mǐn
My wife doesn't eat beef, and one child is allergic to peanuts.
Skills You'll Learn
How to make a dinner reservation for a specific time and number of people.
如何預訂晚餐並說明時間與人數。
rú hé yù dìng wǎn cān bìng shuō míng shí jiān yǔ rén shù
How to mention dietary restrictions and food allergies clearly.
如何清楚表達飲食限制與食物過敏。
rú hé qīng chǔ biǎo dá yǐn shí xiàn zhì yǔ shí wù guò mǐn
How to request seating preferences such as a window seat.
如何提出座位需求，例如靠窗的位置。
rú hé tí chū zuò wèi xū qiú lì rú kào chuāng de wèi zhì
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you are calling a restaurant to reserve dinner for your family, confirm the time and number of guests, and mention special dietary needs like avoiding beef, a peanut allergy, and a request for a window seat.
你好，我想訂今晚的晚餐。
nǐ hǎo wǒ xiǎng dìng jīn wǎn de wǎn cān
Hello, I’d like to book dinner for tonight.
好的，請問幾位呢？
hǎo de qǐng wèn jǐ wèi ne
Sure, for how many people?
我們一家四口，晚上七點可以嗎？
wǒ men yī jiā sì kǒu wǎn shàng qī diǎn kě yǐ ma
There are four of us. Is 7:00 pm. okay?
可以，幫您安排四位。
kě yǐ bāng nín ān pái sì wèi
Yes, I’ll arrange it for four people.
另外，我太太不吃牛肉。
lìng wài wǒ tài tài bù chī niú ròu
Also, my wife doesn’t eat beef.
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
訂
dìng
To reserve; to book
晚餐
wǎn cān
Dinner
訂晚餐
dìng wǎn cān
Book dinner
今
jīn
This; current
晚
wǎn
Evening; night
今晚
jīn wǎn
For tonight
💬 [今晚] is literally [今] + [晚], and this pattern is reusable: time word + noun. You can build similar phrases like [今天] (today) or [今年] (this year).
See breakdown →我想
wǒ xiǎng
I want to
💬 [我想] often works like a softer, more polite [I'd like to] before an action, not just a literal [I think]. You can reuse it with other verbs too: [我想訂位] or [我想改時間]
See breakdown →訂今晚的晚餐
dìng jīn wǎn de wǎn cān
Reserve tonight's dinner
💬 Put [的] between a time phrase and a noun to mean [the ... for that time]: [今晚的晚餐], [明天的位子], [七點的訂位]. It's a very common way to let the first part describe the noun after it.
See breakdown →今晚的晚餐
jīn wǎn de wǎn cān
Dinner tonight
💬 In [今晚的晚餐], [的] links the time phrase to the thing it describes. You can swap in other time words the same way, like [今天的午餐] or [明天的晚餐].
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