Speak Like Natives! -Vol.7 Ordering McDonald’s in Japan

Learn Japanese from natives!  

For those of you who are tired of studying Japanese from your minna no nihongo, and willing to speak more natural Japanese like natives, you clicked on the right page!

We post natives’ casual conversation skits for you to show how Japanese people talk in real life.There are useful key phrases you can try just from tomorrow. Enjoy!

Vo.7 Ordering McDonald’s in Japan

In the new lifestyle, it is becoming a trend to take out food from restaurants and enjoy at home.
Today, let’s see how you order McDonald’s (or any fast food restaurants!) in Japan!

By the way, do you know how you pronounce McDonald’s in Japanese?

The English word “McDonald’s” has three syllables,
which is; Mc-Don-ald’s.
Now when this is written in Japanese katakana,
McDonald’s becomesマクドナルド（makudonarudo）.

As you might already know, every Katakana(or Hiragana) has one syllable,
so can you now guess how to pronounce the word マクドナルド in Japanese?

Let’s check audio below and see if your guess was right or not!

How to pronounce マクドナルド↓

Haha! Totally different from English McDonald’s, right?
Well, actually ma-ku-do-na-ru-do is pretty long for even Japanese people, so they shorten it by saying マック（makku）.

マックis the way people in Tokyo area shorten the word McDonald’s.
If you live in Kansai area, you’ll find more people saying;
マクド(makudo) instead of マック（makku）.

Alright! Let’s get back to the conversation now!

Conversation

店員

いらっしゃいませ。こちらでお召（め）し上（あ）がりですか？

なつこ

いいえ、持（も）ち帰（かえ）ります。チーズバーガーセットをひとつ下さい。

店員

かしこまりました。ドリンクはどうなさいますか？

なつこ

コーラをお願（ねが）いします。
あと、テリヤキバーガーを単品（たんぴん）でお願いします。

店員

ご注文（ちゅうもん）は以上（いじょう）でよろしいでしょうか？もしよろしければ、新（しん）メニューで、抹茶味（まっちゃあじ）のフルーリーがございますが、デザートにいかがですか？

なつこ

結構（けっこう）です。以上（いじょう）でお願（ねが）いします。

店員

ありがとうございます。お会計（かいけい）は、750円です。

Key Phrases

1. こちらでお召（め）し上（あ）がりですか？ 

Kochirade omeshiagari desuka? – Is it for here?

It is a fixed phrase to ask whether you are eating inside or taking out.

To ask “Is it to go?”, we say
“お持ち帰りですか？” “omochikaeri desuka?”

2. 持（も）ち帰（かえ）ります

Mochikaerimasu – I take it out / To go

If you are eating at the restaurant, you say
“店内（店内）で” “tennai de”.
“Tennai” means “inside the restaurant”.

3. （チーズバーガー）セット

setto – for meal (set)

When you would like to order the dish with side meal, we say “setto”.

ex.) おこさまセット – kids meal 

*A little story. my Japanese friend ordered a hamburger meal in France…He said “Hamburger set please.” like in Japanese language. He ended up having seven(!) hamburgers.

Staff understood what he ordered as “Sept” (“7” in french) hamburgers…lol

4. ドリンクはどうなさいますか？

Dorinku wa dou nasaimasuka? – what would you like for drink?

どうなさいますか(dounasaimasuka?) is the more polite form of どうしますか（doushimasuka）.

5. 単品（たんぴん）

tanpin– single dish, without side dishes included

In the conversation, she meant to order only a Teriyaki burger, without any fries or drink.  

6. 以上（いじょう）でよろしいでしょうか？

Ijyo de yoroshii deshouka? – Anything else? / Is it everything you need?

It is a typical phrase at restaurants for staff to finish asking the order.

7. 結構です

Kekkodesu – No thank you.

Not only for ordering food, you can also use this phrase at any occasions to kindly turn down the suggestions or recommendations.

A bit casual version is 大丈夫（だいじょうぶ）です（daijyoubu desu）which is also commonly used.

8. お会計（かいけい）は〜円（えん）です

Okaikei wa 〜 yen desu. – The total (of your payment) is 〜 yen.

It is also a fixed phrase at any shops or restaurants to let you know how much your bill is going to be.