Ordering within a £6 limit at a café
You are in a small café in Caernarfon at 10:40am. You have £6 in cash and a bus at 11:05 from a stop five minutes' walk away. You want a cheese sandwich, a cup of tea and a piece of cake. The board says: sandwich £3.50, tea £1.80, cake £2.20. A chalk sign says 'Paned a theisen am £3.50 cyn 11am'. You are allergic to nuts, and the cake is a walnut cake. The server asks: 'Ydych chi eisiau'r cynnig arbennig?' You have to order, ask about nuts, and pay. You know 'cnau' but not 'allergy'; you know 'dim cnau' and 'mae gen i broblem'. You also need to catch the bus. The bus stop is by the castle, and the café clock is two minutes fast.
1. Do you take the special? Calculate the cost and say what you order in Welsh.
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The special is £3.50 for tea and cake; separately they are £1.80 + £2.20 = £4.00, so it saves 50p. But the cake is walnut, and you are allergic to nuts, so you cannot take the special as it stands. Order the cheese sandwich and tea: £3.50 + £1.80 = £5.30, which leaves 70p from £6. In Welsh: Ga i frechdan gaws a phaned o de, plis? Oes cnau yn y deisen? Mae gen i broblem gyda chnau. If there is a nut-free cake, ask Oes teisen heb gnau? and check the total. The judgement is to price the safe order, not the cheapest sign.
2. The server says 'Mae'r deisen cnau yn flasus iawn.' What do you reply, and why?
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Reply Na, diolch. Mae gen i broblem gyda chnau. Oes teisen heb gnau? The server is being friendly, not giving medical advice. Politeness does not change an allergy. Heb gnau means 'without nuts'; dim cnau is also useful. If there is no nut-free cake, say Dim teisen, diolch and keep the sandwich and tea. Do not accept 'just a small piece' to avoid awkwardness. The judgement is to refuse clearly but politely, and to ask for an alternative.
3. It is 10:52 when you pay. Do you have time for the bus? Show your reasoning.
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The bus is at 11:05, the stop is a 5-minute walk, so you must leave by about 11:00. At 10:52 you have 8 minutes. That is enough only if the payment is quick and you do not wait for change or a receipt. Say Faint yw e, plis? and have the money ready; if the server is slow, ask Ga i dalu nawr? Do not start a long conversation about the cake. The risk is a queue or a card machine problem, so cash helps. The judgement is to protect the 3-minute margin, not just to finish the order.