When to use "zamawiać" vs "zamówić" in restaurant situations?
John published
about 1 month ago
Hey everyone,
I was at a restaurant in Kraków last week and got confused about which verb to use when ordering food. I've heard both "zamawiam" and "zamówię" being used by native speakers at different times.
Is there any real difference in meaning or politeness between these two forms in this specific context?
Pawel published
29 days ago
hi John,
Both “zamawiam” and “zamówię” mean “to order,” but the difference is in tense and aspect, not politeness:
Zamawiam → “I’m ordering / I order” (present, imperfective)
Zamówię → “I’ll order” (future, perfective)
At a restaurant, „Zamówię…” is the usual choice for placing your order. But there are also other natural ways to order casually or politely:
Poproszę… – “I’d like…” (most common/polite)
Dla mnie… – “For me…” (casual)
So you can mix and match depending on how casual or polite you want to sound.