Sprechen: Einkaufen & Bestellen

Lesson · 3 rules · about 3 min

With Ich hätte gern and a few shop phrases, you can buy bread, fruit or coffee anywhere German is spoken.

1Ich hätte gern … — the universal opener
2The shopkeeper's questions
3ö and ä

Why this matters

Shopping out loud at the bakery, from the greeting to the goodbye: twelve lines of one conversation, short phrase to long. The single most useful sentence in it is Ich hätte gern … — 'I'd like …' — which works in every bakery, market stall, café and shop and you need it from day one even though the grammar behind it (Konjunktiv II) comes much later: you learn it as a fixed phrase, like a password. Alongside it: Was kostet das Brot? (how much is the bread?), Sonst noch etwas? (anything else?), Das ist alles, danke. Two sounds to practise: ö in Brötchen and schönen (round your lips, say 'eh'), and the open ä in hätte.

Rule · 1 of 3

Ich hätte gern … — the universal opener

Followed by the thing in the accusative: Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee / ein Brötchen / zwei Kilo Äpfel. Softer than 'Ich will' and just as polite as 'Ich möchte' — shop staff hear both all day.

Ich hätte gern ein Kilo Äpfel, bitte. I'd like a kilo of apples, please.
Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee und ein Croissant. I'd like a coffee and a croissant.

Quick check

Ich hätte gern Kuchen. (der Kuchen)

Rule · 2 of 3

The shopkeeper's questions

Was darf es sein? / Was möchten Sie? (what would you like?) — Sonst noch etwas? (anything else?) — Das macht … (that comes to …). Learn the answers: Das ist alles, danke. / Nein, danke.

1 Greeting Guten Tag! Was darf es sein?
2 You order Ich hätte gern ein Kilo Äpfel.
3 Anything else? Sonst noch etwas?Nein, danke. Das ist alles.
4 Paying Das macht 4,50 Euro.Hier, bitte.

Sonst noch etwas? – Nein, danke, das ist alles. Anything else? – No thanks, that's all.
Guten Tag! Was darf es sein? Hello! What can I get you?

Quick check

The baker asks „Sonst noch etwas?“ You don't want anything else. What do you say?

Memory trick · 3 of 3

ö and ä

Brötchen, schönen: lips round, tongue for 'eh'. hätte: an open 'eh' as in 'bet'. Say 'Ich hätte gern zwei Brötchen' five times.

Ich hätte gern zwei Brötchen. I'd like two rolls.
Einen schönen Tag noch! Have a nice day!

Quick check

Which word has the same rounded ö sound as Brötchen?

Words · tap to hear

The words you need

Practise these words as flashcards

Listen

Play it, then pick what you heard.

Cheat sheet

What to take with you

Ich hätte gern … — the universal opener
The shopkeeper's questions
ö and ä

How to remember it

'Ich hätte gern' + accusative + 'bitte': a complete polite order, every time.
Was kostet das? — ask before you buy; the number comes back euros first.

Asking politely for something and answering the price question is part of A1 exam speaking — and of every visit to a bakery.

With Ich hätte gern and a few shop phrases, you can buy bread, fruit or coffee anywhere German is spoken.

Ich hätte gern … — the universal opener

Ich hätte gern Kuchen. (der Kuchen)

The shopkeeper's questions

The baker asks „Sonst noch etwas?“ You don't want anything else. What do you say?

ö and ä

Which word has the same rounded ö sound as Brötchen?

The words you need

Play it, then pick what you heard.

What to take with you

More

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