Paying the Bill
When we’ve finished a meal, we can ask if other people are ready to pay the bill.
If we want to treat other people, we can pretend to go to the washroom and pay the bill in advance secretly. This can prevent other people from grabbing the bill later. If we’ve done so successfully, we can proudly say:
To get the bill from the server, we can say:
In some restaurants (e.g., cha chaan teng), we will pay the bill at the cashier counter near the entrance. The server will ask us to take the bill there to pay.
- 拎張單出去俾 ling1 zoeng1 daan1 ceot1 heoi3 bei2 is a type of serial verb construction. We will examine it in later lessons.
When the server brings us the bill, they may ask who will pay.
If we’re not sure what payment methods are accepted, we can ask:
If we’re not sure whether a payment method is accepted, we can ask:
Route A: Yes (Pay by credit card)
In Hong Kong, the server will usually ask us to tap our credit card on a payment terminal nowadays.
In some restaurants, the server will still take our credit card to the cashier counter and then come back with a credit card receipt for us to sign on it.
A few moments later…
A few moments later…
Route B: No (Pay in cash)
A few moments later…
If we don’t need the change, we can say:
The server may ask if we want the receipt.
If the server doesn’t give us a receipt, we can say:
Parking is usually not free in Hong Kong, especially in shopping malls. However, if we eat at a restaurant in a shopping mall, we can often use our receipts to redeem free parking. The server may ask whether we drive to see if we need a receipt.
- 揸車嚟 zaa1 ce1 lai4 is a type of serial verb construction. We will examine it in later lessons.
Route A: Yes
Route B: No
If the server doesn’t ask, we can say:
If we want to split the bill and pay back the person who paid the bill, we can say:
If we order our own food individually and want to pay for our own food, we can say:
We can also ask for the price of our food directly.
If we want to treat other people, we can reply:
If we want to ask if other people are ready to leave, we can say:
When we leave the restaurant, the server may sometimes say:
- Since we are giving money to the restaurant, the server will say 多謝 do1 ze6 instead of 唔該 m4 goi1.