A question about making coffee
A asked B to make him a cup of coffee. B went to the kitchen and got started. After a while A wants to inquire about his coffee. What do you think about the following:
1/ how's my coffee?
2/ how's my coffee cooking?
3/ what about my coffee?
any other options?
What do you think about the following answers(provided the coffee is not ready yet) :
1/ under way
2/ coming soon
3/ 1 minute
any other options?
Thank you!
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Answers · 6
3
I am usually the one who makes coffee. My wife usually asks "Is there coffee?" Or "Is there coffee yet?"
"Is there coffee?" is very common in the US. I don't know if it is in the UK.
The stress pattern is "IS there COFfee?" "Is there coffee?" is a question about the existence of coffee. The word "there" doesn't carry any sense of place or direction or location.
Some likely answers might be "Yes, there's coffee," "Yes, it's done," "Yes, it's ready," "No, not yet," or "No, it's still brewing."
I remember a funny bit of dialog from the original "Roseanne" sitcom.
Roseanne's husband: "Is there coffee?"
Roseanne: "How long have we been married, Dan? In all these years, has there ever, ever, once not been coffee?"
(Pause)
Roseanne's husband: "So, is there coffee?"
3
None of those questions or answers sound very natural to the native speaker's ear.
1/ How's my coffee?
This isn't very natural, because the coffee isn't ready yet. If you say 'How is ...?', you are asking for an assessment of the product. For example 'How's your coffee?' 'Fine. It's nice and strong'.
It's the best of the three options, though.
2/ How's my coffee cooking?
This is wrong. ( a classic Russian mistake). You don't cook coffee - you make or brew it.
3/ What about my coffee?
This is wrong, because it suggests that the coffee has been forgotten. Let's say that B comes out of the kitchen and says 'Let's go to the beach'. At this point, A would say 'What about my coffee?'. This means 'Hey, haven't you forgotten something? You said that you'd make me some coffee!
For me, the most natural question would be 'How's my coffee coming along?' or 'How's my coffee doing?'
As for the answers:
1/ under way
Doesn't sound natural
2/ coming soon
Doesn't sound natural
3/ 1 minute
Possible
I'd say something like: 'It's nearly ready' , 'It's nearly done' or 'It'll be ready in a minute'.
2
I think A would say "How's my coffee coming along", "Is my coffee ready?", "Is the coffee almost done?"
If the coffee isn't ready yet, B could say "It's still brewing", "It's almost done", "It'll be ready in a minute".
I hope this helps!
1
if B is my roommate)) I would say the following:
What the Hell is going on? why u taking ages to get it ready)))?
Otherwise,
Am I getting my coffee anytime soon?
Or, I hate to wait, let me do it myself)))
....
Answers would as:
if B is my roommate, he would say!
Shut up, I'm not your servant, wait or come do it yourself.
or are u blind, it is ready in front of you))
...
otherwise,
ready in a moment.
be patient plz, Good thing come late!
....
I m just trying to be funny, in reality, it might get different.
1
I see that talk as:
- Is my coffee ready?
- It will be ready soon
=)
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