“Could you bring the bill, please?” in Vietnamese

When to use it

Use it at the end of a meal in a Vietnamese restaurant to ask politely for the bill.

The sentence in English: “Could you bring the bill, please?”

In “Could you bring the bill, please?” ‘Could’ is softer than ‘can’ and goes before ‘you’; ‘please’ closes the request.

Could

auxiliary verbcan · form: conditional · modal verb; "Could you…?" is a polite request

you

pronounpersonal pronoun

bring

verbbring · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after a modal verb the main verb has no "to"

the

determinerdefinite article

bill

nounnoun; the check at a restaurant

please

adverbpoliteness word

The sentence in Vietnamese: “Cho tôi xin hóa đơn được không ạ?”

In “Cho tôi xin hóa đơn được không ạ?” politeness comes from ‘cho tôi xin’ (let me have), the question tag ‘được không’ (is that OK?) and the particle ‘ạ’. The speaker asks to receive the bill rather than telling the waiter to bring it.

Cho

verbcho · tense: unmarked · 'give, let'; opens a polite request

tôi

pronounfirst person 'I/me', the one asking

xin

verbxin · tense: unmarked · 'ask for, request'; softens the request

hóa

nounfirst syllable of hóa đơn (Sino-Vietnamese)

đơn

nounwith hóa: 'bill, receipt'

được

auxiliary verbđược · tense: unmarked · 'be allowed'; with không it asks 'is that OK?'

không

particlequestion particle at the end: yes/no question

ạ

particlepoliteness particle for strangers or elders

What changes from one language to the other: English × Vietnamese

English addresses the waiter (‘could you bring’); Vietnamese talks about the speaker (‘let me have’). English uses ‘Could’ and ‘please’, Vietnamese ‘được không’ and ‘ạ’.

Example conversation