A German cafe is one of the first places a learner has to do something with the language rather than just recite it. The encounter is short and predictable, which makes it perfect for seeing how real politeness works. Below, a guest (der Gast) orders from a waiter (der Kellner). Watch for the frozen polite phrase Ich hätte gern, the formal Sie that strangers always use with each other, es gibt for what is on offer, and the German way of stating a price.
The dialogue
Guten Tag! Was darf es sein?
The waiter: Hello! What can I get you?
Guten Tag. Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee, bitte.
The guest: Hello. I'd like a coffee, please.
Gern. Möchten Sie auch etwas essen?
The waiter: Of course. Would you like something to eat as well?
Was gibt es denn?
The guest: What is there, then?
Es gibt Kuchen, Croissants und belegte Brötchen.
The waiter: There's cake, croissants, and filled rolls.
Dann nehme ich ein Stück Kuchen. Was kostet das?
The guest: Then I'll take a piece of cake. What does that cost?
Der Kaffee kostet zwei Euro achtzig, der Kuchen drei Euro fünfzig.
The waiter: The coffee is two eighty, the cake three fifty.
Gut. Und ein Glas Wasser, bitte.
The guest: Good. And a glass of water, please.
Kommt sofort. Möchten Sie hier essen oder zum Mitnehmen?
The waiter: Coming right up. Would you like to eat here or to take away?
Hier, bitte.
The guest: Here, please.
Sonst noch etwas?
The waiter: Anything else?
Nein, danke. Das ist alles.
The guest: No, thank you. That's all.
Das macht sechs Euro dreißig zusammen.
The waiter: That comes to six thirty altogether.
Bitte sehr. Stimmt so.
The guest: Here you go. Keep the change.
Vielen Dank! Schönen Tag noch.
The waiter: Thank you very much! Have a nice day.
Grammar in context
Ich hätte gern — the default polite order
The phrase a German actually uses to order is Ich hätte gern ("I would like to have"). It is a Konjunktiv II form of haben — literally "I would have gladly" — that has frozen into the standard service-counter request. It is softer and more idiomatic than Ich möchte (also fine) and far more natural than the blunt Ich will ("I want"), which sounds demanding. See Konjunktiv II overview and politeness and requests.
Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.
I'd like a coffee. (the standard, friendly order)
Sie with the waiter
The guest and the waiter are strangers, so they address each other with the formal Sie, not the informal du. You can see it in Möchten Sie...? and Was darf es sein? (impersonal, but unmistakably formal). Capital-S Sie is the polite form; using du with waitstaff you don't know would be too familiar. See the du/Sie decision.
einen Kaffee — the accusative object
Kaffee is masculine (der Kaffee), and because it is the direct object of hätte gern, it takes the accusative: der → den, and the indefinite ein → einen. This is the one place where masculine articles visibly change shape, so cafe orders are a great drill for it.
Ich nehme einen Tee und einen Apfelsaft.
I'll take a tea and an apple juice. (both masculine → 'einen')
Was gibt es? / Es gibt... — availability
Es gibt ("there is / there are") is how German states what exists or is on offer. It is followed by the accusative, and it never changes for singular or plural: Es gibt Kuchen (sg.), Es gibt Croissants (pl.). The question form simply inverts: Was gibt es? See es gibt and impersonal constructions.
Es gibt heute frischen Apfelkuchen.
There's fresh apple cake today.
Was kostet das? and Das macht... — prices
Two phrasings appear. Was kostet das? ("what does that cost?") asks the price of one item; kosten takes the price directly. Das macht... ("that comes to...") states the total at the end. Both are everyday register; Das macht is the one the waiter uses to total the bill. See money, shopping, and numbers expressions.
Reading the price: zwei Euro achtzig
A price like 2,80 € is spoken zwei Euro achtzig — the whole euros, then the word Euro, then the cents. Note two things at once: Euro stays singular after a number (never zwei Euros), and German writes the price with a comma (2,80), not a point. See number, date, and time errors.
Das macht zusammen acht Euro zwanzig.
That comes to eight twenty altogether.
ein Stück Kuchen, ein Glas Wasser — measure + substance
ein Stück Kuchen ("a piece of cake") and ein Glas Wasser ("a glass of water") show the German quantity pattern: the measure word (Stück, Glas) is followed directly by the substance, with no preposition. English needs "of"; German does not.
Ich nehme noch ein Glas Wasser, bitte.
I'll have another glass of water, please.
bitte and danke — the social glue
bitte attaches to almost any request to make it polite ("please"), and as a reply to thanks it means "you're welcome". Bitte sehr hands something over ("here you are"). Stimmt so — literally "it's right like that" — is the standard way to say "keep the change". These small fixed phrases are what make you sound like a regular rather than a tourist.
Vocabulary
| German | Gender / form | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Kaffee | m. | coffee |
| der Kuchen | m. | cake |
| das Stück | n. | piece |
| das Glas | n. | glass |
| das Wasser | n. | water |
| das Brötchen | n. | bread roll |
| der Euro | m. (sg. after numbers) | euro |
| der Kellner / die Kellnerin | m. / f. | waiter / waitress |
| es gibt | phrase + acc. | there is / there are |
| zum Mitnehmen | phrase | to take away |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich will einen Kaffee.
Too blunt with a stranger — use 'Ich hätte gern' or 'Ich möchte einen Kaffee'.
✅ Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.
I'd like a coffee. (the polite default)
❌ Möchtest du auch etwas essen?
Wrong with waitstaff — strangers use formal 'Sie': 'Möchten Sie...?'
✅ Möchten Sie auch etwas essen?
Would you like something to eat too?
❌ Das macht zwei Euros achtzig.
Wrong — currency stays singular: 'zwei Euro achtzig'.
✅ Das macht zwei Euro achtzig.
That comes to two eighty.
❌ Ich hätte gern ein Glas von Wasser.
Wrong — no 'von' after a measure word: 'ein Glas Wasser'.
✅ Ich hätte gern ein Glas Wasser.
I'd like a glass of water.
Now practice German
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Konjunktiv II: Hypotheticals, Wishes, and PolitenessB1 — The German mood for the unreal — hypotheticals, wishes, and the everyday politeness behind hätte gern, könnten Sie, and würden Sie.
- Forms of Address and the du/Sie DecisionA2 — When to say du and when to say Sie, who gets to offer the switch, and how titles work — the single biggest social-grammar decision in German.
- Politeness and Making RequestsB1 — German politeness is built on Konjunktiv II and bitte, not on piling up hedges — the polite-request ladder from bare imperative to Könnten Sie bitte ...?
- es gibt and Impersonal ConstructionsA2 — Why German says es gibt for 'there is/are' with the accusative and no plural, when to use es ist/es sind instead, and how impersonal es behaves.
- Expressions for Money, Shopping, and NumbersA2 — Transactional German for shops and restaurants — asking prices, ordering politely, paying, and the units-stay-singular rule, with culturally specific routines like Stimmt so and getrennt oder zusammen.
- Number, Date, and Time ErrorsA2 — German numbers, dates, and times are a dense cluster of transfer traps: units before tens, the halb-drei reversal, the swapped decimal and thousands marks, and the singular unit after a count.