Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Finnish Survival Phrases, brought to you by FinnishPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Finland. You'll be surprised at how far a little Finnish will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
Finnish Survival Phrases lesson 12 - Finnish Restaurant: Reserving a Table |
Reeta: In the last lesson, we learned how to get a table at a restaurant. Because of the popularity of Finnish food, however, it can be difficult to get a seat, especially on the weekends. The best thing to do, without a doubt, is to make a reservation for the time you want to go and eat. |
In this lesson, we'll cover making a reservation at a restaurant. |
Normally, if you make a phone call in order to make a reservation for the evening you would say, Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi. Let’s break it down, Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi. Once more, Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi. |
Literally, haluaisin means "I would like to." We follow this with varata which in English means "to reserve" in its infinitive form. Pöydän is the accusative form of the noun "table." Finally, we have täksi illaksi, which means "for tonight." |
Now the whole phrase: Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi. |
Normally, they'll ask you how many people are in your party and what time you'd like a table. |
"For how many people?" is Kuinka monelle? Let’s break it down, Kuinka monelle. Once more, Kuinka monelle. |
Now imagine you are a party of two. In Finnish, you would use Kahdelle, which in English means "For two people." |
Finally, let's see how they will ask you the time of your reservation. Mihin aikaan? |
Now let's answer the question! Let's imagine you want to reserve a table at eight o'clock: "At eight o'clock please." In Finnish, that's Kahdeksalta, kiitos. Let’s break it down, Kahdeksalta, kiitos. Once more, Kahdeksalta, kiitos. |
We follow this with kiitos, which you'll remember is "please." |
The whole phrase, once again: Kahdeksalta, kiitos. |
Ok, to close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so Onnea! which means “Good luck!” in Finnish. |
“I'd like to make a reservation.” - Haluaisin varata pöydän |
“For how many people?” - Kuinka monelle? |
“For two.” - Kahdelle. |
“For what time do you want to reserve?” - Mihin aikaan? |
“At eight o'clock, please.” - Kahdeksalta, kiitos. |
Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
5 Comments
HideWhat differences have you noticed between restaurants in Finland and in your country?
Hei Luca P. Gentile,
Thank you for your questions
You would say it like this.
"Suomalaisen ja ei-suomalaisen ravintolan välillä on paljon eroa or suuri ero.
"Ero" or "eroa", it depends on the form of the sentence.
The word for has few different words in Finnish. It depends where you use it.
¨for that¨ sen vuoksi, sen vuoksi.
¨for my day" minun päivääni.
"For a good day" hyvään päivään.
I hope it helps a bit
Let us know if you have any question.
Cheers,
Aarni
Team FinnishPod101.com
Moi!
Ero valissä suomalainen ja ei-suomalainen ravintolaa on paljon!
The differences between Finnish and non-Finnish are many.
(ps, should I say Ero or Eroa?)
HOW TO SAY ¨FOR¨
I have noticed that often¨-lle¨ is used to say ¨for¨, but I guess in some cases there are other postfixes, what about ¨for that¨, ¨for my day¨, ¨for a good day¨, etc...?
Hei John!
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! We're really happy to hear you're enjoying the lessons! :smile:
And not to worry, you're not demanding at all. We're happy to help!
There's also nothing to correct, as you have heard and written the sentence perfectly! :thumbsup:
"Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi" - " I would like to reserve a table for tonight".
Keep up the good work, John!
Päivi
Team FinnishPod101.com
Hi,
I am really enjoying the FinnishPod101 lessons and I must confess I am also developing an addiction to the flashcards too :smile:. I love seeing the percentage next to the Core 2000 word list go up.
I don't want to sound like I am being really demanding but there were an extra two words (I think) that I am not sure whether I have heard them correctly. Could you confirm if the full sentence is 'Haluaisin varata pöydän täksi illaksi'?
Kiitos paljon Australiasta / Many thanks from Australia!
John