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How to Say ‘One moment, let me check.’ in German

Moment, ich schau mal nach.

mo-MENT ikh show mahl nahkh

[mo-MENT ikh show mahl nahkh]

🇩🇪 In Germany: Typical friendly staff phrasing on the phone or at the counter. Moment alone is a perfectly polite way to ask you to wait.

Phrase Breakdown

Moment,

mo-MENT

One moment,

This is short for 'Einen Moment'. Stress the second syllable: mo-MENT.

Example

Moment, bitte!

One moment, please!

Words in this phrase

Moment

[mo-MENT]

just a moment

Used alone to ask someone to wait briefly.

Example

Moment, ich komme gleich.

Just a moment, I'm coming.

ich schau mal nach.

ikh show mahl nahkh

I'll check.

This is a casual phrase using the separable verb 'nachschauen'. Say 'au' like 'ow'.

Example

Kein Problem, ich schau mal nach.

No problem, I'll check.

Words in this phrase

ich

[ikh]

The pronoun 'ich' in nominative form.

Example

Ich bin da.

I am here.

schau

[show]

look, check

Colloquial form of 'schaue', from 'schauen'; with 'nach' means check.

Example

Ich schau kurz im Kalender.

I'll look in the calendar quickly.

mal

[mahl]

just / for now

A softening particle; together with 'schon' it means 'in the meantime, in advance'.

Example

Ich deck schon mal den Tisch.

I'll just set the table in the meantime.

nach

[nahkh]

(up) — part of 'nachschauen', to check

Separable prefix of 'nachschauen', meaning to look something up.

Example

Ich sehe im Kalender nach.

I'll check in the calendar.

Guides for German learners

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