Ordering in Japanese: kudasai and onegaishimasu
Point to a menu item and say これをください。—“This one, please.” If you know its name, try カレーを一つお願いします。—“One curry, please.” Both ください and お願いします work for ordering. Start by making the item and quantity clear.
In this article
Five useful restaurant phrases
These phrases cover getting a server’s attention, asking for a menu, ordering and paying. お願いします is read おねがいします (onegaishimasu); 会計 is かいけい (kaikei), the bill or payment.
Scroll sideways to see the full comparison ↔
| Situation | Japanese and reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Get a server’s attention | すみません。 | Excuse me. |
| Ask for a menu | メニューをください。 | A menu, please. |
| Point to an item | これをください。 | This one, please. |
| Order one coffee | コーヒーを一つお願いします。 コーヒーをひとつおねがいします。 | One coffee, please. |
| Ask for the bill | お会計をお願いします。 おかいけいをおねがいします。 | The bill, please. |
Build the request: item, を, quantity, ending
A useful ordering pattern is “item + を + quantity + ください／お願いします.” The particle を, pronounced o, marks what you are ordering. In this pattern, the quantity follows it.
一つ, read ひとつ (hitotsu), means one item or portion; 二つ, read ふたつ (futatsu), means two. In our coffee order, they refer to one or two coffees. Japanese has other counters; this lesson practices these two general quantity words.
The illustrations below are an original practice menu, not a real restaurant’s menu or prices. Say each request, then swap curry for coffee or change one to two.
- One curry
カレーを一つ
ください。
One curry, please. - Two coffees
コーヒーを二つ
お願いします。
Two coffees, please. - The bill
お会計を
お願いします。
The bill, please.
Both endings work for ordering, but their grammar matters
カレーを一つください。 and カレーを一つお願いします。 can both request one curry. The first asks for the item; the second frames it as a request for the other person to handle. For a basic restaurant order, do not treat every use of kudasai as rude. Whichever ending you choose, keep the item and quantity clear.
You may hear を omitted in conversation. Keep it in your practice sentences while learning the full pattern. Our worked example of を and で explains how a particle marks a noun’s role.
To ask someone to do an action, a different pattern uses a verb’s te-form + ください: ゆっくり話してください。 means “Please speak slowly.” Do not mechanically replace its ending with お願いします to make 話してお願いします. Two options for ordering a noun do not mean the endings are interchangeable in every sentence.
A short order and a quantity check
This original practice dialogue combines two items. Read the customer’s order, then check the quantities repeated by the server. Here と means “and.”
Scroll sideways to see the full comparison ↔
| Speaker | Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | すみません。カレーを一つと、コーヒーを二つお願いします。 | Excuse me. One curry and two coffees, please. |
| Server | カレーを一つと、コーヒーを二つですね。 | One curry and two coffees, right? |
| Customer | はい、お願いします。 | Yes, please. |
| Customer, after the meal | お会計をお願いします。 | The bill, please. |
Practice: requests, quantities and a verb ending
Choose an answer, then open the explanation. Check the two ordering options, the number of coffees and the way a verb request is formed.
When pointing to a dish, can you use これをください。 or これをお願いします。?
Choose first, then check the explanation.
Show explanation
Both can be used when ordering or requesting a product. これ means the item you are indicating, so make sure the other person knows which dish you mean.
Which request orders two coffees?
Choose first, then check the explanation.
Show explanation
二つ（ふたつ） means two items. In this coffee order it means two coffees; 一つ（ひとつ） would mean one.
Which correctly asks someone to speak slowly?
Choose first, then check the explanation.
Show explanation
話して is the te-form of 話す. Adding ください makes the request. This differs from the item + をお願いします ordering pattern.
Read your menu and practice a request with Maho
Add a menu photo or text to Maho’s Japanese analysis. Check the recognized dish name before reading its pronunciation and meaning. Small print and reflections can affect recognition, so verify the source text first.
Ask Maho AI where the quantities belong in an order for one curry and two coffees, or request a short dialogue based on the same practice menu. AI explanations can be wrong; compare the sentence with the references before using it.
For drink requests without sugar, see our guide to nashi and its meanings. For structured study, explore JLPT vocabulary and grammar lessons.