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Kaho’s Japanese Corner: Chotto matter kudasai

Today I would like to teach “chotto matte kudasai” today.  It means “please wait for a second.”

If you are paying at a cashier and you forgot something that you wanted to buy, you can say “sumimasen, chotto matte kudasai!”.  “Excuse me.  Please hold on!”

Chotto = a little
matte = wait (imperative form)
kudasai = this makes the verb formal

A person who is giving service would say this to his/her customer in a politer form of the phrase, which is the following.

Shosho omachi kudasai.
This above also means “please wait for a moment”.

Chotto imeans “a little”.  You can use this separately in many ways.
Someone offers you drink.  If you want a little bit, you can say “chotto, onegaishimas”.  “Just a little, please.”

You can add “dake (dah-keh)” after chotto and that means “just/only a little”.

Are you bored?

“Chotto matte kudasai!”  I’m not done yet!  I have one  more thing to add!

You can also use “matte!” or “matte kudasai” by themselves.  “Matte!” is a casual form.  “Matte kudasai” is formal and it means “please wait”.

I hope that you find this helpful!

Want to read more of these helpful Japanese language posts?  Check them all out HERE.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hi! It’s so nice to find you in the comment section! Very nice to hear from you!! 🙂

    There is no direct translation for “I miss you” in Japanese. The word “miss” does not exist in Japanese, but the concept is expressed with different words. The Japanese express the same feeling of “missing you” by saying “I want to see you.” “Aitai des.” “Aitai ne” for between friends.

    “Aitai ne–!”