Checking a restaurant order | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich möchte die Bestellung prüfen, bevor das Essen kommt.

   I want to check the order before the food comes.

   Ich möchte

   I want to

   die Bestellung

   the order

   prüfen

   check

   bevor

   before

   das Essen

   the food

   kommt

   comes

   More detail

   Ich möchte expresses the speaker’s present wish: “I want to.” Ich is the first-person singular pronoun, and möchte is the first-person singular form used for a polite or relatively gentle “want.” It is historically related to mögen (“to like; may”), but in this construction it expresses desire. The following verb stays in the infinitive: Ich möchte lernen = “I want to learn.” die Bestellung means “the order.” Bestellung is a feminine noun, so its definite article here is die. The article marks a specific order that is identifiable in the situation; it does not by itself say how many orders there are. A reusable contrast is die Bestellung (“the order”) versus eine Bestellung (“an order”). prüfen means “to check” or “to inspect.” It is an infinitive because it follows möchte. In the main clause, German places this infinitive at the end: Ich möchte die Rechnung prüfen. = “I want to check the bill.” bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before.” It connects the checking with an event that has not yet occurred at that point. A clause introduced by bevor is subordinate, so its finite verb goes to the end. das Essen means “the food.” Essen is a neuter noun in this meaning, which is why it takes the definite article das. The article and noun form the subject of the bevor clause here. kommt means “comes” in this sentence. It is the third-person singular present form of kommen: kommen → kommt. The subject is das Essen, which is grammatically singular. German present tense can describe a scheduled or expected future event, so bevor das Essen kommt means “before the food comes,” without requiring a separate future form. Together, Ich möchte die Bestellung prüfen means “I want to check the order.” The time clause bevor das Essen kommt adds “before the food comes.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I want to check the order before the food comes.” The comma separates the main clause from the following bevor clause, whose verb kommt appears at the end.

2. Es ist einfacher, Fehler zu korrigieren, bevor sie anfangen zu kochen.

   It's easier to fix mistakes before they start cooking.

   Es ist

   it is

   einfacher

   easier

   Fehler

   mistakes

   zu korrigieren

   to fix

   bevor

   before

   sie

   they

   anfangen

   start

   zu kochen

   to cook

   More detail

   Es ist introduces an impersonal evaluation: “it is …”. Here es is a formal subject, while the action being evaluated comes afterward. German commonly uses this frame for statements such as Es ist wichtig, pünktlich zu sein (“It is important to be on time”). einfacher means “easier” here. It is the comparative form of einfach (“easy”); the basic comparison is einfach – einfacher – am einfachsten (“easy – easier – easiest”). The sentence compares correcting mistakes with an understood alternative, without stating what that alternative is. Fehler means “mistakes” here. It is the plural of der Fehler; the plural form is also Fehler, so the ending does not change. In Fehler zu korrigieren, this noun is the object of the action: “to correct mistakes.” zu korrigieren means “to correct” or “to fix.” korrigieren is the base verb, and zu korrigieren is its infinitive with zu. This form follows the comparative evaluation: Es ist einfacher, den Text zu korrigieren means “It is easier to correct the text.” bevor means “before” and introduces a subordinate clause. German places the finite verb at the end of this clause: bevor sie anfangen ... (“before they start ...”). sie means “they” here. It is a third-person plural pronoun referring to the mistakes in the fixed meaning. The form sie can have other grammatical roles in German, but its plural subject role is clear in this clause because it is paired with plural anfangen. anfangen means “to start” or “to begin.” It is the base form; in the present tense, sie anfangen is the third-person plural form. A reusable pattern is anfangen, etwas zu tun (“to start doing something”), as in Wir fangen an zu lernen (“We start studying”). zu kochen means “to cook.” kochen is the base verb, and zu kochen is its infinitive with zu. Together with anfangen, it forms anfangen zu kochen, “start cooking.” The main frame is Es ist einfacher, ...: “It is easier to ...”. The infinitive phrase Fehler zu korrigieren supplies the action being judged. The connector bevor then adds the time condition, and sie anfangen zu kochen says that the mistakes start cooking. Thus the complete utterance means: “It’s easier to fix mistakes before they start cooking.”

3. Ich habe Suppe ohne Zwiebeln bestellt.

   I asked for soup without onions.

   Ich habe

   I have

   Suppe

   soup

   ohne

   without

   Zwiebeln

   onions

   bestellt

   ordered

   More detail

   Ich habe introduces the speaker and the completed-action construction. In this sentence, habe is the first-person singular present form of haben, used as the auxiliary in the German perfect tense; Ich habe ... bestellt corresponds to “I ordered ...” or, literally, “I have ordered ...”. The subject pronoun Ich means “I”. Example: Ich habe Kaffee bestellt. — “I ordered coffee.” Suppe is the feminine noun “soup”. German nouns are capitalized. The form is singular here; the sentence does not state how much soup was ordered. Example: Die Suppe ist heiß. — “The soup is hot.” ohne means “without” and introduces what is absent. It is a preposition that takes the accusative case, including when the following noun phrase is plural. Example: Tee ohne Zucker — “tea without sugar.” Zwiebeln means “onions” and is the plural of Zwiebel (“onion”). In this sentence it names the ingredient excluded from the order. With a plural noun and no article, the form Zwiebeln looks the same in the nominative and accusative; ohne still requires the accusative here. Example: Ich esse Nudeln ohne Zwiebeln. — “I eat noodles without onions.” bestellt is the past participle of bestellen, “to order”. Together with habe, it forms the perfect: habe bestellt. In a German main clause, the finite auxiliary appears in the second position, while the participle is placed at the end. Example: Wir haben Salat bestellt. — “We ordered salad.” The meaningful structure is Ich habe + Suppe ohne Zwiebeln + bestellt: “I ordered soup without onions.” The noun phrase ohne Zwiebeln specifies the requested absence of onions from the soup. This same pattern can be reused with another item, as in Ich habe Salat ohne Dressing bestellt. — “I ordered salad with no dressing.”

4. Und ich habe Salat ohne Dressing bestellt.

   And I asked for salad with no dressing.

   Und

   and

   ich habe

   I have…

   Salat

   salad

   ohne

   without

   Dressing

   dressing

   bestellt

   ordered

   More detail

   Und means “and” and links this statement to another statement. It is a conjunction and does not change the word order of the clause that follows here. ich habe contains the first-person singular pronoun ich (“I”) and the present-tense form habe of haben (“to have”). Here, habe is an auxiliary: together with bestellt at the end, it forms the German perfect tense. The reusable pattern is ich habe + ... + past participle. Example: Ich habe Kaffee bestellt. — “I ordered coffee.” Salat means “salad.” The noun is masculine: der Salat. In this sentence it is singular accusative because it is what was ordered. The masculine article would show this case distinction (der → den), but the noun itself remains Salat. ohne means “without” and is a preposition that takes the accusative case. It introduces something that is absent from the order. For example, Tee ohne Zucker means “tea without sugar.” Dressing means “dressing,” as in salad dressing. It is commonly used as a neuter noun, das Dressing; after ohne, its accusative form is still Dressing, so the case is not visible on this noun. bestellt is the past participle of bestellen, “to order.” In this sentence it describes the completed act of ordering the salad. With the auxiliary haben, it forms the perfect: habe bestellt = “ordered” / “have ordered.” The verb can also be used for ordering other food or goods. Together, ich habe Salat ohne Dressing bestellt means “I ordered salad with no dressing.” The structure is ich habe + the ordered item Salat + the prepositional phrase ohne Dressing + the participle bestellt at the end. Und adds this complete statement to what came before.

5. Das Dessert sollte nach dem Essen kommen.

   The dessert should come after the meal.

   Dessert

   dessert

   sollte

   should

   Essen

   meal

   kommen

   come

   More detail

   Dessert means dessert here. It is a neuter German noun: das Dessert; the plural is die Desserts. In the sentence, Das Dessert is the subject, meaning the dessert is the thing expected to come. sollte is the third-person singular form of sollen in the simple past form, but with a present-oriented recommendation or expectation it commonly corresponds to English “should.” The modal verb expresses what is expected or considered appropriate; it does not by itself assert that the dessert actually comes. With a modal verb, the other verb remains in the infinitive: Das Dessert sollte kommen = “The dessert should come.” Essen means meal in nach dem Essen. Here it is the noun das Essen, not the verb form in the sense “to eat.” German can form a noun from an infinitive and capitalize it: essen → das Essen. After nach meaning “after,” this noun phrase takes the dative, so das Essen becomes dem Essen. The fixed phrase nach dem Essen means “after the meal.” kommen means to come. Its base form is the infinitive, and it stays in that form after the modal sollte. For example, Der Zug sollte bald kommen. means “The train should come soon.” Together, Das Dessert identifies the subject, sollte expresses an expectation or recommendation, nach dem Essen specifies the time, and kommen names the expected action. The whole utterance means: “The dessert should come after the meal.”

6. Ich werde die Bedienung bitten, alles zu bestätigen.

   I'll ask the server to confirm everything.

   Ich werde

   I will

   Bedienung

   server

   bitten

   ask

   alles

   everything

   zu bestätigen

   to confirm

   More detail

   Ich werde means “I will” here. werde is the first-person singular present form of werden, used as the auxiliary for the future: ich werde + infinitive. The same verb can also mean “become” in other constructions, so its function is determined by the following infinitive. Bedienung refers here to the restaurant service worker addressed by the speaker. It is the feminine noun die Bedienung; the form does not change for this role in the sentence. In other contexts, Bedienung can refer more generally to service or operation, so the restaurant context and the fixed meaning support “server” here. bitten means “to ask” or “to request.” It is an irregular verb whose useful present-tense forms include ich bitte and du bittest; its infinitive is bitten. A common reusable pattern is jemanden bitten, etwas zu tun (“to ask someone to do something”). In this sentence, the person being asked is expressed by die Bedienung. alles means “everything” or “all [of it].” It is an indefinite pronoun, not a reference to a specifically named collection in the sentence. For example, Ich prüfe alles. means “I check everything.” zu bestätigen means “to confirm.” bestätigen is the base verb, and zu bestätigen is its infinitive with zu. With bitten, this infinitive clause states what the person is being asked to do: jemanden bitten, etwas zu bestätigen means “to ask someone to confirm something.” Together, Ich werde places the asking in the future, die Bedienung identifies the person asked, bitten supplies the asking action, and alles zu bestätigen states its requested action and object. The complete utterance therefore means that the speaker will ask the server to confirm everything.