Lesson 12 of 18 · Café & Bar
Recognise Drink Modifiers and Dietary Escalations
Recognise and clarify drink modifiers for regular vs decaffeinated coffee (*normale* vs *decaffeinato*) and dairy milk vs oat drink (*latte normale* vs *bevanda d'avena*), confirm which specific drink receives the modifier, and refer ingredient or allergy questions to the responsible colleague without making a suitability claim.
Learn these expressions
Un caffè normale o decaffeinato?
A regular or decaf coffee?
Clarifying caffeine preference.
Un cappuccino con bevanda d'avena.
A cappuccino with oat drink.
Specifying plant-based milk modifier.
Un caffè decaffeinato, per favore.
One decaf coffee, please.
Specifying decaffeinated coffee.
Con bevanda d'avena per il cappuccino?
Oat drink for the cappuccino?
Clarifying ambiguous modifier in two-drink order.
Confermo: un decaffeinato e un normale.
I confirm: one decaf and one regular.
Repeat-back verification formula.
Chiedo alla responsabile.
I will ask the person in charge.
Pass the question to the person in charge.
New words
- normale
- regular / standard (adjective; singular for both genders)
- decaffeinato
- decaffeinated / decaf (masculine singular adjective; common spoken form: deca)
- il latte
- milk / dairy cow's milk (masculine singular noun)
- latte normale
- regular cow's milk
- la bevanda d'avena
- oat drink / oat beverage (feminine noun phrase)
- con
- with (preposition)
- Chiedo alla responsabile.
- I will ask the person in charge.
- per il cappuccino
- for the cappuccino
- quindi
- so
- l'allergia
- allergy
You may hear
- Un deca, per favore. = A decaf, please.
- Avete la bevanda d'avena? = Do you have oat drink?
- Senza caffeina. = Without caffeine.
- Ho un'allergia al latte. = I have a milk allergy.
Grammar tipsShow
Word Order for Modifiers (Caffè decaffeinato):
In Italian, descriptive modifiers and adjectives usually follow the noun they modify:
un caffè decaffeinato (a decaf coffee)
un cappuccino con bevanda d'avena (a cappuccino with oat drink)
Ask only about what's unclear: if “con bevanda d'avena” could apply to either drink, ask Con bevanda d'avena per il cappuccino? before confirming.
An oat-drink request doesn't answer an allergy question. For allergies, say Chiedo alla responsabile and follow your workplace's procedure.
Listen to the conversation
Listen once without reading. Then step through the lines below, one turn at a time.
Listening practice
Listen, pick an answer, then reveal the spoken words to check. Practice only, not an exam.
Question 1
What specific drinks and milk modifiers does the customer request?
Question 2
What does Sam say they will do?