🥡 Can I Have A Bowl Of Soup? — Ordering Take-Out
Last stop of the food unit: ordering take-out food! Today you will count uncountable food with counters (a bowl of soup, a bottle of water, two cups of tea) and make polite requests: "I'd like…, please.", "Can I have…?", "Anything else?"
At The Take-Out Counter
Read the little scene below.
🤔 What do you order when you buy take-out food?
🥣 Counters — A Bowl Of, A Bottle Of, A Piece Of
Countable nouns have a plural: one hamburger, two hamburgers. Uncountable nouns don't (rice, water): use some — or a counter to say how much!
The counter takes the plural, not the food: "two bags of chips", "three bowls of rice", "four glasses of water" — never "two waters" ❌.
🧮 The Counter Machine
Choose a food, a counter and how many. Does it make sense? (A bag of soup? 😂)
🙏 Polite Requests — I'd Like, Can I Have…?
Use Can I have…? or I'd like… to make a polite request. In spoken English, I'd is more common than I would. Add please to be extra polite!
🧑🍳 The Clerk / Waiter
- "Can I help you?"
- "Anything else?"
- "Would you like a drink?"
- "How about some dessert?"
🙋 You
- "I'd like a bowl of soup, please."
- "Can I have some ice cream, please?"
- "We'd like two hamburgers, please."
- "Yes, please." / "No, thanks."
🎩 Polite Or Not?
Two customers are ordering. Who is more polite? Choose the best request!
🥡 Your Turn — At The Take-Out Counter
Choose up to four things from the menu board, then click Order! — the clerk and you have a polite conversation, and you get your receipt.
Listen And Repeat!
Click 🔊 Listen to hear the phrase, 🐢 Slowly to hear it slower, then 🎙️ My turn and say it out loud into your microphone!
✍️ Practice Time!
Exercise 1 — True Or False?
Exercise 2 — Complete The Dialogue
Fill in the missing word in each line of the conversation.
🎭 Create & Record: Ordering Take-Out Food
You're at a take-out restaurant with your family. Write the conversation with the clerk: order food and drinks with counters (a bowl of, a bottle of…), answer "Anything else?" and "Would you like…?", and always be polite!
🎙️ Now, Record It!
Act out your conversation out loud (alone with both voices, or with a friend) and record yourselves. Then listen back!
🎯 Final Quiz — Ordering Take-Out
Answer 7 questions to test everything you learned in this lesson!