When you wish to order a beer in German, saying ein Bier, bitte is simply announcing that you are an absolute beginner.

Rather than saying that, use these 3 methods.

Begin with ‘ich möchte…’ to order a beer in German

Ich möchte, it means I’ would like, is the simplest way to say I want a beer in German.

Here are some sentences to show you how it is used:

• Ich möchte eine Flasche Guinness, bitte. (I would like a bottle of Guinness, please)
• Ich möchte fünfzehn Flaschen Märzen, bitte. (I would like 15 bottles of Märzen, please)

Not difficult, right?

And it gets even easier when you learn German for beginners with Hello Hello

You see, the sentence structure is quite simple – to say I would like a beer in German, you start with the word ich möchte, then the number, and lastly the type of beer.

Ich möchte ——- (number of beers) ——- (type of beer) ——- , bitter.

‘Ich hätte gerne’ can also be said to order a beer in German

In the earlier example, you have learned what to say when the waiter approaches you.

But what would you say when you walk up to the counter instead?

In that situation, you say ‘Ich hätte gerne’, which means I’d like…

Think of stopping by your favorite eating joint and saying, I would like a cheeseburger and an ice-cold coke, then you will see the contrast between ordering from the counter and communicating to a waiter who has come to you.

Ich hätte gerne ein Guinness, bitte. (I would like a Guinness, please)

Ich hätte gerne fünfzehn Flaschen Märzen, bitte. (I’d like 15 bottles of Märzen, please)

Für mich, ein…

This phrase could be used to order beer in German when the other person you are with has ordered and now this is your turn.

It is quite straightforward, and it means…you guessed it – for me a….

Let’s look at some of the examples:

Ich hätte gerne ein Weissbier, bitte. (I would like a Weissbier, please)

Für mich, ein Weissbier leicht, bitte. (For me, a Weissbier light, please)

Now let’s say you are three people at a table and the waiter is taking your orders:

Waiter: Was hätten Sie gerne zu trinken? (What would you {all} like to drink?)

Person 1: Ich hätte gerne ein Kölsch. (I would like to drink a Kölsch)

Person 2: Für mich bitte ein Märzen. (For me, a Märzen, please)

Waiter: Und was möchten Sie trinken? (And what will you drink?)

You: Für mich auch ein Märzen. (For me, a Märzen as well)

Remember:

You must only use für mich when your friends have already ordered.

One more method to say I would like a beer in German

Now that you have known the most common ways of ordering beer in German, let us show you another way we like to use:

In this other method, the word to use is darf ich…

Which means ‘may I’

• Darf ich bitte ein Bier haben? (May I have a beer, please?) But remember, you have to specify which beer you want…
• Darf ich bitte ein Märzen haben? (May I have a Märzen, please?) And closely linked to ‘darf ich’ is ‘kann ich’…
• Kann ich bitte ein Märzen haben? (Can I have a Märzen, please?)

If you loved this article, why don’t you download Hello Hello Language on Go’s German language app and learn German the easy way?