German · Real conversations
How to say “Could we have a few more minutes?” in German
Ask for a little more time before ordering or making a choice.
Könnten wir noch ein paar Minuten haben?
Could we have a few more minutes?
The plural form speaks for your group.
Use it in three situations
Reading a menu
Könnten wir noch ein paar Minuten haben?
Could we have a few more minutes?
Choosing together
Könnten wir noch ein paar Minuten zum Auswählen haben?
Could we have a few more minutes to choose?
Checking a menu detail
Wir sind noch nicht so weit zu bestellen.
We're not ready to order yet.
What to watch for
This asks for time to decide, rather than asking how long cooking will take.
Read the whole expression before replacing a detail. The natural wording may use a different order or construction from the English sentence.
Your turn
Imagine restaurant problems. Say this in German: Could we have a few more minutes to choose?
Reveal a sample reply
Könnten wir noch ein paar Minuten zum Auswählen haben?
Could we have a few more minutes to choose?
Build a useful exchange
Explain a problem with an order and settle the bill.
This expression in other languages
A note on speaking German
Use Sie for formal address and du with people you address informally. Könnten Sie …? is a useful polite request. Keep noun capitals and the verb position shown in each complete sentence.
The examples preserve German accents and ß. Read a full sentence before replacing a detail: a subordinate clause can move the verb to the end, and case can change an article or pronoun.
