Learn how to ask for the bill at a restaurant and decide how much to tip
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FinnishPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 13 - Should You Go Dutch On Your Finnish Meal? Michael here. |
| Nico: Hei. I'm Nico. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to request the bill at a restaurant, and how to discuss payment. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Nico: It's between Aino, Vilja and a Waiter. |
| Michael: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Finnish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Aino: Tarjoilija, anteeksi, saisimmeko laskun? |
| Waiter: Toki. ..Tässä olkaa hyvä. |
| Aino: Kiitos. |
| Vilja: Aino, mikä on laskun loppusumma? Maksan siitä puolet. |
| Aino: Tämän summa on 57(viisikymmentäseitsemän) euroa. |
| Vilja: Oho, melko kallista! Söimmekö noin paljon? |
| Aino: Emme oikeastaan, mutta arvonlisävero nousi juuri. Ruoan ALV (aaälvee) on nyt 14% (neljätoista prosenttia). |
| Vilja: Ai niin. Ehdin jo unohtaa. |
| Aino: Vilja, koska me ollaan täällä juhlimassa sua, niin minä maksan koko laskun! |
| Vilja: Voi Aino, kiitos, mutta.. |
| Aino: Älä huoli. Mulla oli palkkapäiväkin juuri. Voit vaikka tarjota mulle drinkin myöhemmin! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Aino: Tarjoilija, anteeksi, saisimmeko laskun? |
| Waiter: Toki. ..Tässä olkaa hyvä. |
| Aino: Kiitos. |
| Vilja: Aino, mikä on laskun loppusumma? Maksan siitä puolet. |
| Aino: Tämän summa on 57(viisikymmentäseitsemän) euroa. |
| Vilja: Oho, melko kallista! Söimmekö noin paljon? |
| Aino: Emme oikeastaan, mutta arvonlisävero nousi juuri. Ruoan ALV (aaälvee) on nyt 14% (neljätoista prosenttia). |
| Vilja: Ai niin. Ehdin jo unohtaa. |
| Aino: Vilja, koska me ollaan täällä juhlimassa sua, niin minä maksan koko laskun! |
| Vilja: Voi Aino, kiitos, mutta.. |
| Aino: Älä huoli. Mulla oli palkkapäiväkin juuri. Voit vaikka tarjota mulle drinkin myöhemmin! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Aino: Waiter, excuse me, could we have the bill please? |
| Waiter: Of course...Here you go. |
| Aino: Thank you. |
| Vilja: Aino, what’s the total? I’ll pay half of it. |
| Aino:The total is fifty-seven euro. |
| Vilja:Oh my, quite expensive! Did we eat that much? |
| Aino: Not really, but the value-added tax just went up a little bit. The VAT for food is fourteen percent now. |
| Vilja: Oh yeah. I already forgot. |
| Aino: Vilja, since we’re here to celebrate you, I’ll pay the whole bill this time! |
| Vilja: Oh Aino, thank you, but... |
| Aino: Don't worry. I just had my payday as well. You can buy me a drink later! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Nico, Northern Europe is well known for having some of the highest taxes in the world. Is it the same in Finland? |
| Nico: Definitely yes! In Finland, there’s a value added tax on all kinds of consumer goods, which has to be paid when purchasing the item or service. The amount of the tax depends on what kind of product or service is in question. |
| Michael: What’s the percentage of the general VAT? |
| Nico: The general VAT is 24%, but for food and restaurant services the tax is 14%, and for medicine, cultural services and books it’s 10%. |
| Michael: That’s quite high! |
| Nico: Yes, many people comment that taxes in Finland are quite high, but it also serves to provide free education for all children, free or nearly free healthcare, the public library system, and many other social services for all kinds of people. |
| Michael: That’s good. By the way, what’s Finnish for “taxation”? |
| Nico: It’s verotus. |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: lasku [natural native speed] |
| Michael: check, bill |
| Nico: lasku[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: lasku [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: loppusumma [natural native speed] |
| Michael: total |
| Nico: loppusumma[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: loppusumma [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: puolet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: half |
| Nico: puolet[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: puolet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: arvonlisävero [natural native speed] |
| Michael: VAT |
| Nico: arvonlisävero[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: arvonlisävero [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: nousta [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to rise |
| Nico: nousta[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: nousta [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: juhlia [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to celebrate |
| Nico: juhlia[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: juhlia [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: maksaa [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to cost |
| Nico: maksaa[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: maksaa [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: palkkapäivä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: payday |
| Nico: palkkapäivä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: palkkapäivä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: tarjota drinkki [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to offer a drink |
| Nico: tarjota drinkki[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: tarjota drinkki [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: loppusumma |
| Michael: meaning "total." |
| Nico: This is made out of two words, loppu meaning "end," "close," or "finish," and summa meaning "sum" or "amount." |
| Michael: So it literally means "the ending amount." |
| Nico: Exactly. Loppusumma is used when different numbers are added together, and also when talking about invoices or bills. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Tämän laskun loppusumma ei ole oikein. |
| Michael: ..which means "The total in this bill is not correct." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nico: arvonlisävero |
| Michael: meaning "value added tax, VAT." |
| Nico: arvonlisävero is comprised of three words. They are arvo, meaning "value," lisä meaning "addition," and vero meaning "tax." Please notice that the first word, arvo, "value," is arvon in the genitive case. |
| Michael: You can use this word whenever you need to refer to the value added tax. Are there any other expressions that can be used? |
| Nico: In an informal or casual situation, you can alternately refer to the value added tax by its abbreviation, ALV, pronounced aaälvee in Finnish. |
| Michael: That’s similar to saying “VAT” in English. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Pohjoismaissa on korkea arvonlisävero. |
| Michael: .. which means "The VAT is high in the Nordic Countries." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nico: palkkapäivä |
| Michael: meaning "payday." |
| Nico: As with many other words in Finnish, palkkapäivä is made out of two words, palkka meaning "pay" or "wage", and päivä meaning "day." |
| Michael: You can use this word when you’re talking about payday. Can you use it in a more formal context, for example, in employment contracts? |
| Nico: No. In most formal situations you will hear palkanmaksupäivä, |
| Michael: which is literally "the day for paying wages.” Can you give us an example using the more informal version? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. En malta odottaa seuraavaa palkkapäivääni. |
| Michael: .. which means "I can't wait for my next payday." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn to ask for the bill at a restaurant and discuss it in detail. |
| Nico: We'll focus on phrases that can be used at the end of the meal when it comes time to pay. |
| Michael: For example, when you want to ask for the bill, like we heard in the dialogue, you could say, |
| Nico: Tarjoilija, saisimmeko laskun? |
| Michael: Meaning “Waiter, could we have the bill please?” The waiter might then ask you how you would like to pay for your meal. |
| Nico: Yes, before bringing the bill he may ask you yhdessä vai erikseen? |
| Michael: meaning “Together or separate?” |
| Nico: You can use yhdessä, meaning “together,” when you would like the bill to contain everything that has been ordered. More politely, you could say Saammeko laskun yhdessä, kiitos? |
| Michael: meaning “Could we have the bill together, please?” What would you say when you would like to pay for the checks separately according to what each person had? |
| Nico: Haluaisimme laskut erikseen, kiitos. |
| Michael: “We would like to have separate checks, please.” |
| Nico: After bringing the bill, the waiter will most likely ask Maksatteko kortilla vai käteisellä? |
| Michael: meaning “Are you paying by card or with cash?” |
| Nico: Sometimes they might only say Kortilla vai käteisellä? |
| Michael: Which means “By card or with cash?” |
| Nico: You can answer by saying either kortilla, kiitos’, meaning “By card, please,” or käteisellä, kiitos, “With cash, please.” Remember that if you’re paying by card, the waiter might also ask you pankkikortilla vai luottokortilla? |
| Michael: meaning “By debit card or by credit card?” |
| Nico: When paying for a bill calculated with everything together, such as yhdessä, you can still offer to pay your share or, for example, half of the bill. That is also what Vilja offered to do in the lesson dialogue. Maksan siitä puolet. |
| Michael: meaning “I’ll pay half of it.” If you want to refuse such an offer, as Aino did in the dialogue, what should you say? |
| Nico: You can just make a counteroffer, Minä maksan koko laskun! |
| Michael: meaning “I’ll pay the whole bill!” |
| Nico: Let’s now see the verb Tarjota which means "to treat." |
| Michael: What can you say when you want to treat someone to a meal? |
| Nico: Tarjoan sinulle lounaan. |
| Michael: “I’ll treat you to lunch.” |
| Nico: Depending on the situation you might want to say Tarjoan sinulle drinkin. |
| Michael: “I’ll buy you a drink.” At the end of our lesson dialogue, Vilja was worried about not paying the restaurant bill, so Aino suggested playfully that Vilja could buy her a drink later... |
| Nico: Right, she said, Voit vaikka tarjota mulle drinkin myöhemmin! |
| Michael: “You can buy me a drink later!” |
| Nico: Please note that this sentence is informal because Aino and Vilja are friends. |
| Michael: Right, you wouldn’t usually suggest to someone who isn’t a friend or family member that they should buy you things! Ok, let’s finish up this lesson by giving some other sample sentences. |
| Nico: Sure, here’s one. Maksan tämän luottokortilla. |
| Michael: "I shall pay for this with a credit card." |
| Nico: The next one may be useful when eating with a friend. Maksetaan tämä puoliksi. |
| Michael: Which means "Let's pay fifty-fifty." |
| Nico: One more, Maksan laskun käteisellä. |
| Michael: "I will pay the bill with cash." |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nico: Hei hei. |
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