Reading · A2 · Text 5

Restaurant

54 words1 min read83% known at A2

Wenn man in einem Restaurant bedient wird und etwas von der Karte bestellt, ist von „à la carte“ die Rede.

When you are served in a restaurant and order something from the menu, it is referred to as 'à la carte'.

Das ist französisch und heißt „nach der Karte“.

That is French and means 'according to the menu'.

Kein à la carte sind bediente Restaurants, bei denen es ein festes Menü gibt.

Full-service restaurants that have a fixed menu are not à la carte.

Man kann also nicht einfach von der Karte bestellen, worauf man gerade Lust hat.

So you cannot simply order whatever you like from the menu.

8 words above A2

bedient← bedienen
served (past participle) weak verb: bedienen, bediente, bedient; used with 'werden' to form passive to serve; to operate; to play a card according to the grouping of the first card of a trick; to follow suit C1[bəˈdiːnən]
Rede← die Rede
talk, discussion; in expression 'von etwas die Rede sein' = to be about something only used in singular in this expression
Lust← die Lust
desire, inclination no plural in this usage
worauf
on what, at what; in relative clauses: which combination of 'wo' + 'auf'; used for things, not people
bediente← bedient
served (as attribute, meaning 'with waiters') past participle of 'bedienen' used as adjective
Menü← das Menü
fixed-price meal, set menu plural: die Menüs
französisch
French (the language) as adjective; here refers to the language
la
the (French feminine definite article) part of the French phrase 'à la carte'

Grammar in this text

Passive voice with werden + Partizip II

Wenn man in einem Restaurant bedient wird

The passive is formed with 'werden' and the past participle. The subject is acted upon (the person is being served). The past participle 'bedient' comes at the end.

Relative clause with dative plural relative pronoun 'denen'

bei denen es ein festes Menü gibt

'denen' is the dative plural relative pronoun referring to 'Restaurants'. The verb goes to the end of the relative clause.

Relative clause with prepositional relative adverb 'worauf'

worauf man gerade Lust hat

'worauf' means 'on what/which' and replaces 'auf + relative pronoun' when the antecedent is a thing or idea. The verb is placed at the end.

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Text from Restaurant — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.

Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.