Lesson 81: Making a Reservation
Booking a table, a haircut, or a doctor’s slot all follow the same little script in Hebrew. Learn it once and you can reserve almost anything over the phone.
Booking a table
מִסְעֲדַת ״הַזַּיִת״, שָׁלוֹם.
mis’adat "hazayit", shalom.
"The Olive" restaurant, hello.
שָׁלוֹם, אֲנִי רוֹצֶה לְהַזְמִין שֻׁלְחָן לִשְׁנַיִם.
shalom, ani rotse lehazmin shulchan lishnayim.
Hello, I’d like to book a table for two.
לְמָתַי?
lematai?
For when?
לְהַיּוֹם בְּשֶׁבַע בָּעֶרֶב.
lehayom besheva ba’erev.
For today at seven in the evening.
יֵשׁ שֻׁלְחָן פָּנוּי. עַל אֵיזֶה שֵׁם?
yesh shulchan panui. al eize shem?
There’s a free table. Under what name?
Grammar: “for when?” and availability
The reservation verb is לְהַזְמִין (lehazmin) — the same word for “to order” and “to invite”. Two question forms run the conversation:
- לְמָתַי? lematai? — “for when?” (note the לְ־ on “when”)
- עַל אֵיזֶה שֵׁם? al eize shem? — “under what name?”
The key word for “available” is פָּנוּי (panui) / פְּנוּיָה (pnuya, f.): יֵשׁ שֻׁלְחָן פָּנוּי (“there’s a free table”).
Tip: Time slots use לְ־ for “for”: לְהַיּוֹם (for today), לְמָחָר (for tomorrow).
Vocabulary
Reserving
| הַזְמָנָה | hazmana | reservation |
| לְהַזְמִין | lehazmin | to reserve, book |
| פָּנוּי | panui | free, available |
| תֹּר | tor | appointment; queue |
Useful words
| לְמָתַי? | lematai? | for when? |
| תַּאֲרִיךְ | ta’arich | date |
| עַל אֵיזֶה שֵׁם? | al eize shem? | under what name? |