Question
My Japanese colleague came over to ask me something, but I was in the middle of a virtual meeting with my client. I wanted to tell her to wait for a second while I mute the call. How do I say “Please wait” in Japanese?
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
ちょっと待（ま）ってください。
Chotto mattekudasai
Please wait a while.
少々（しょうしょう）お待（ま）ちください。
Shooshoo omachikudasai
Please wait a while.
You can tell your colleague “Chotto mattekudasai”. “Mattekudasai” is “please wait”. “Matte” comes from the verb machimasu (to wait) and “kudasai” is “please”. “Chotto” means “a little bit, a while”.
If you are telling someone for example your boss to wait for a while, you can say the more polite version, shooshoo omachikudasai.
