A polite complaint needs more than a greeting: staff need to know what went wrong and what would help. Practise short exchanges about food, a damaged glass and a bill, then act out the café dialogue.
The idea
Build the complaint in three steps: get attention with Affedersiniz, state an observable problem such as Fişte iki çay görünüyor, then request an action with Hesabı kontrol edebilir misiniz?. The ability question works here as a request. Use the polite siz form with staff you do not know; misiniz is written separately from the verb. A calm tone helps the request sound courteous.
Read the text
Müşteri: Affedersiniz, fişte iki çay görünüyor.
Görevli: Hemen kontrol ediyorum.
Müşteri: Masada yalnızca bir çay var. Hesabı kontrol edebilir misiniz?
Görevli: Haklısınız, hesabı düzeltiyorum.
Müşteri: Teşekkür ederim, şimdi doğru.
Examples
- Affedersiniz, çorbam biraz soğuk.Excuse me, my soup is a little cold.
- Fişte iki çay görünüyor.The receipt shows two teas.
- Bunu değiştirebilir misiniz, lütfen?Could you replace this, please?
- Masada yalnızca bir çay var.There is only one tea on the table.
- Hesabı kontrol edebilir misiniz?Could you check the bill?
- Elbette, hemen kontrol ediyorum.Of course, I am checking it right away.
- Haklısınız, hesabı düzeltiyorum.You are right, I am correcting the bill.
- Teşekkür ederim, şimdi doğru.Thank you, it is correct now.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Turkish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
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Watch out
Adding lütfen does not automatically make every command suitable for a stranger. Lütfen değiştir still uses the familiar singular imperative and can sound abrupt to a staff member. Bunu değiştirebilir misiniz? asks for a replacement without assigning blame.
Try it yourself
___, çorbam biraz soğuk. Begin with “excuse me”.
Show answer or example answer
Affedersiniz / Kusura bakmayın
Affedersiniz or Kusura bakmayın opens the conversation gently. Here the phrase gets attention before mentioning the soup; it does not mean the customer caused the problem.
Bunu ___? Ask for the cracked glass to be replaced: use değiştirmek, the ability form and polite siz.
Show answer or example answer
değiştirebilir misiniz
değiştirebilir misiniz: the glass is cracked, so the desired action is replacement. This addresses the employee politely; değiştirebilir misin would address one person informally.
Hesabı ___ misiniz? There is an extra tea on the receipt. Choose kontrol etmek or getirmek and use the ability form.
Show answer or example answer
kontrol edebilir
kontrol edebilir: the receipt is already there, so ask for a check, not for someone to bring the bill. In this form, the t of etmek becomes d: edebilir.
___, şimdi doğru. The bill has been corrected. Add a brief thank-you.
Show answer or example answer
Teşekkür ederim / Teşekkürler
Teşekkür ederim or Teşekkürler acknowledges the help. The following şimdi doğru confirms that the correction solved the billing problem.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
___, çorbam biraz soğuk. Begin with “excuse me”.
Affedersiniz / Kusura bakmayın
Bunu ___? Ask for the cracked glass to be replaced: use değiştirmek, the ability form and polite siz.
Hesabı ___ misiniz? There is an extra tea on the receipt. Choose kontrol etmek or getirmek and use the ability form.
___, şimdi doğru. The bill has been corrected. Add a brief thank-you.
Teşekkür ederim / Teşekkürler
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Keep your progress
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In pairs, play a customer and a café employee. Use the receipt dialogue, then replace the billing problem with a cracked glass. Include the problem, a specific request, a staff response and thanks; swap roles.