6

When you call say a pizza delivery service they pick up the phone with something like "Tanaka's pizza delivery service, XYZ branch, this is Sato speaking". (I'm sorry, I'd reproduce it in Japanese but it was so fast that I didn't really understand it).

What do I say in response to that? In England I'd say, "Hi, I'd like to order a pizza". What would be better for me, in Japanese, something more generic like, "Hi, I'd like to place an order". But do Japanese people really say this when they order food?

I'm pretty sure that "こんばんは。注文をしたいのですが。。。"is not what Japanese people say when they call a restaurant. What's natural?

Improve this question
2
  • I checked and there was no "conversation" tag so I'm not sure what tags are suitable. Please feel free to edit.
    – Rudy the Reindeer
    Nov 18, 2014 at 23:44
  • Maybe a "phonecalls" tag would also be appropriate? I don't know.
    – Rudy the Reindeer
    Nov 18, 2014 at 23:46

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
7

Greetings like こんばんは sounds unnecessary. Some people may begin with すみません, though I don't think it necessary either. I would say はい、注文をお願いします, just like you in English!

Improve this answer
6
  • And then after I finish listing the food items in my order, what would I say? 以上ですand then よろしくお願いしますor just 失礼しますat the end of the phone call before I hang up?
    – Rudy the Reindeer
    Nov 19, 2014 at 0:05
  • @RudytheReindeer - 失礼します sounds over-polite to me. How about saying "以上です、よろしくお願いします"? That may sound fairly smooth.
    – isayamag
    Nov 19, 2014 at 1:44
  • Yes, thank you, sounds good. Does it matter whether I say "以上で、よろしくお願いします”or"以上です、よろしくお願いします"? And one more: would a Japanese person in this situation ever say "注文（を）したいのですが。。。"?
    – Rudy the Reindeer
    Nov 19, 2014 at 6:36
  • Of course, if strictly speaking, there are myriad of ways of wording and each of them has its nuance. Maybe, like Falken said below, the shop person may want to say something after you finished listing items by saying 以上です。 (or just 以上で。). And, because よろしくお願いします is generally a very useful magic phrase for the very last word of closing a conversation, so keeping it until then is pretty natural. 注文をしたいのですが… is of course acceptable and the を is omissible.
    – isayamag
    Nov 19, 2014 at 7:14
  • 1
    At any rate, I don't think you have to be too nervous about such subtle differences. After all it's a commercial conversation and there is no strict model or anything. Sorry for my bad English.
    – isayamag
    Nov 19, 2014 at 7:35
5

There's honestly nothing wrong with beginning the call with "こんばんは" as it would add a touch of your personality. It would be equivalent to saying "Good evening, I'd like to order a pizza", which sounds nice and isn't too overly polite.

If you want to say the same typical phrase as other Japanese, you could use:

"すみません、注文{ちゅうもん}お願い{おねがい}したいのですが。"

Whether you drop the "を" or not is up to you.

When you've finished listing your order, "以上{いじょう}です。" is correct. After that, the person taking your order is likely to tell you how long it will be until they deliver it, to which "よろしくお願い{おねがい}します。" is fine, or "お待ち{おまち}しております。" meaning you'll be waiting for the order to be delivered.

Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .