Serve me food, put food on the plate

Question

Usually I'm lazy to serve my meals myself. I ask my mother to do it for me. I just like sitting at dinning table and start eating.
Sometimes when my mother is not in home, I ask my father to put me food in the plate/serve me meals/food.
Claire, could you please put me the food on the plate and serve me dinner?

Could you please correct my sentences and provide me with better versions.

RayH · Accepted Answer

Here are a few suggestions. I've tried to modify your original sentences as little as possible while still rephrasing them into colloquial language.

Usually I'm lazy to serve my meals myself.
I'm usually too lazy to cook for myself.

I ask my mother to do it for me.
Okay

I just like sitting at dinning table and start eating.
I just like to sit down at the table and start eating.

Sometimes when my mother is not in home, I ask my father to put me food in the plate/serve me meals/food.
Sometimes when my mother is not home I ask my father to cook for me.

Claire, could you please put me the food on the plate and serve me dinner?
Claire, could you please cook dinner for me?

User_gary · Answer

Thanks a lot friend.

But I'm not talking about "cook". I'm talking about serving food.
I mean someone shall place all dishes in table and place food on plate, water on glass so that I can eat and thus serve me food.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

How about 'Will you be my slave?'

Clive

User_gary · Answer

No, I don't think so.

Shall I say to my parents "will you be my slave"? to mean "will you serve me food" or "will you put me food on the plate".

BTW: Again thanks Clive for your replies in all threads.

Khoff · Answer

Hi, User_Gary. I'm thinking that we have more of a cultural issue than a grammar issue here.

You're saying that the food is already cooked, but you want to ask your mother or father to serve it to you. I don't know how old you are, but I've been assuming you're an adult. Clive's answer was trying to suggest that most of us would think this was an unusual request. In my house, for instance, I generally serve one meal a day -- dinner, to anyone who is available at dinnertime. I have one daughter who usually prefers to eat earlier, and one who usually eats later, and they usually help themselves. (Sometimes I do serve the younger one, but only because she tends to forget to eat otherwise. We're still working on self-sufficiency.) On weekends, we usually eat lunch at different times and people help themselves. So in my house, the conversation might go like this:
Mom? I'd like a snack/late lunch/early dinner. Could you please get it for me?
Why don't you help yourself? There are leftovers in the fridge.

So if you do want to ask someone to serve you a meal that you are capable of getting for yourself, I would suggest that you do it very politely (and not too often). It's hard to ask someone to serve you without making them feel like a servant. Here's a reasonbly polite example:

Mom/Dad, would you mind geting me dinner? I would really appreciate it.

Clive · Answer

Hi Gary,

We are all just a little shocked at the idea behind your meaning, because it suggests to us that people are being treated as inferiors by the speaker. It does not seem to show an attitude of respect for other people.

In terms of English, you could say something like this.

Claire, could you bring me my dinner, please?

Clive

User_gary · Answer

Thanks friends. Now I got it.
I'm an adult and though most of the time I help myself, sometimes I do get help from my parents in serving food. And I would tend to say like this "Please put salad/food on plate" or something like that. I don't say "serve me meal" either.
Anyway, now onwards I will be careful.

BTW: But I believe we can say "Please serve me so and so dish" to a waiter in restaurants.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

When taking to a waiter, we typically say things like

'I'll have the chicken with mashed potatoes, please.'

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

In Brasil it is very common to ask somebody next to you to help you at the table by putting food in your plate. For example, I can't reach the rice bowl, so I hand my plate to the person and ask him to put some rice on it. I am pretty sure it happens in the USA too. I think the original question was: How would you ask that in English? "Could you serve me the rice, please?" is correct?

Clive · Answer

I more usually hear
eg Could you help me to some rice, please?

But more common in my experience is
eg Could you please pass the rice?
meaning that I want you to hand me the bowl.

Clive

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