Xiaoyu rings a Sichuan restaurant for four people the following evening, and warns them they may be late.
The member of staff
您好，四川饭店。
Nín hǎo, sìchuān fàndiàn.
Hello, Sichuan Restaurant.
Xiaoyu
您好，我想订一个位子。
Nín hǎo, wǒ xiǎng dìng yī gè wèizi.
Hello, I would like to book a table.
The member of staff
什么时候？几位？
Shénme shíhou ? Jǐ wèi ?
For when? How many of you?
Xiaoyu
明天晚上七点，四位。
Míngtiān wǎnshang qī diǎn, sì wèi.
Tomorrow evening at seven, four people.
The member of staff
好的。您贵姓？
Hǎo de. Nín guìxìng ?
Very good. May I have your surname?
Xiaoyu
我姓林。
Wǒ xìng Lín.
My surname is Lin.
The member of staff
林小姐，请问您的电话。
Lín xiǎojie, qǐngwèn nín de diànhuà.
Miss Lin, may I have your phone number?
Xiaoyu
就是我现在打的这个号码。我们可能晚十分钟到，可以吗？
Jiù shì wǒ xiànzài dǎ de zhè gè hàomǎ. Wǒmen kěnéng wǎn shí fēnzhōng dào, kěyǐ ma ?
The one I am calling from. We may be ten minutes late, is that all right?
The member of staff
没关系，我们等您。
Méiguānxi, wǒmen děng nín.
That is no trouble, we will wait for you.
您贵姓 asks for the surname and nothing else: 贵 means precious, and the phrase honours the person you are speaking to. You answer with 我姓 followed by the surname alone, never with 我贵姓. Among young people the same question is put as 你叫什么名字, seen in lesson 4.
四位 counts four people with courtesy, and it is the one used by restaurants, hotels and ticket offices. 四个人 says the same thing plainly, and does among friends. You never apply 位 to yourself: 我是一位老师 would be giving yourself airs.
订位子 for a table, 订票 for a ticket, 订房间 for a room. The verb always assumes you are holding something that already exists for later. In writing and in apps you often see 预订, which stresses the advance and means exactly the same.
