Bedeutung
Settling payment at a restaurant/shop.
Kultureller Hintergrund
Estonians are very tech-savvy. You can pay for almost everything, including parking and street food, via mobile apps or SMS. Tipping is not built into the bill. If you want to tip, you usually tell the waiter the total amount you want to pay before they enter it into the card machine. Splitting the bill is very common and not seen as 'cheap'. Waiters are used to splitting the total by the number of people or by specific items. In Estonia, like in Finland, it is considered polite to wait until everyone has finished eating before asking to 'arvet maksma'.
Signal clearly
In Estonia, catch the waiter's eye and make a writing motion in the air if you can't speak loudly; they will understand you want to 'arvet maksta'.
Check the bill
Always double-check the 'arve' before paying. While rare, mistakes in automated systems can happen.
Bedeutung
Settling payment at a restaurant/shop.
Signal clearly
In Estonia, catch the waiter's eye and make a writing motion in the air if you can't speak loudly; they will understand you want to 'arvet maksta'.
Check the bill
Always double-check the 'arve' before paying. While rare, mistakes in automated systems can happen.
Use the Partitive
Using 'arvet' (partitive) instead of 'arve' (nominative) makes you sound much more like a native speaker when asking to pay.
Teste dich selbst
Fill in the missing word in the partitive case.
Ma soovin _____ maksma. (arve)
In the phrase 'soovin arvet maksta', the object 'arve' must be in the partitive case 'arvet'.
Which sentence is the most natural way to ask for the bill in a restaurant?
How do you ask to pay?
'Palun arvet!' is the most common and polite short form.
Match the Estonian phrase with its English meaning.
Match the following:
These are the four most common payment-related collocations.
Complete the dialogue between a waiter and a customer.
Waiter: 'Kas te soovite maksta koos või eraldi?' Customer: 'Me soovime maksta _______.'
The waiter asked if they want to pay together or separately (eraldi).
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Visuelle Lernhilfen
Maksma vs Tasuma
Aufgabensammlung
4 AufgabenMa soovin _____ maksma. (arve)
In the phrase 'soovin arvet maksta', the object 'arve' must be in the partitive case 'arvet'.
How do you ask to pay?
'Palun arvet!' is the most common and polite short form.
Ordne jedem Element links seinen Partner rechts zu:
These are the four most common payment-related collocations.
Waiter: 'Kas te soovite maksta koos või eraldi?' Customer: 'Me soovime maksta _______.'
The waiter asked if they want to pay together or separately (eraldi).
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Häufig gestellte Fragen
14 FragenYes, waiters usually won't bring it until you ask. Say 'Palun arvet' or 'Sooviksime arvet maksta'.
Almost everywhere. Estonia is very digital. Even small kiosks usually take cards.
It is neutral. It's appropriate for both a fancy restaurant and a casual cafe.
The 'arve' is what you pay; the 'tšekk' is the receipt you get after you have paid.
You can say 'Ma maksan sinu eest' or 'Ma teen sulle välja'.
It's in the partitive case because the verb 'maksma' often takes a partitive object to indicate the activity of paying.
Yes, 'üüriarvet maksma' is the standard way to say you are paying your rent bill.
No, it is entirely optional, though 5-10% is common in restaurants for good service.
Say 'Kas me saame maksta eraldi?' (Can we pay separately?)
Say 'Ma maksan sularahas'.
Yes. 'See maksab...' means 'It costs...'.
You might hear 'klaarime ära' (let's settle up).
Say 'Siin on viga' (There is a mistake here).
Yes, Apple Pay and Google Pay are widely accepted in Estonia.
Verwandte Redewendungen
arvet tasuma
synonymTo settle the bill
välja tegema
similarTo treat someone
arvet klaarima
informalTo settle up
arvet esitama
builds onTo present the bill
