How to Say ‘Thank you for waiting, here's the South Exit.’ in Japanese
お待たせしました、南口です。
o mata se shi mashi ta minamiguchi desu
[o mah-tah seh shee mah-shee tah mee-nah-MEE-goo-chee dess]
Phrase Breakdown
お待たせしました、
o mata se shi mashi ta
sorry to keep you waiting
A polite set phrase. Drivers and staff often say it when they arrive. Pause briefly at the comma.
お待たせしました、どうぞ。
Sorry to keep you waiting, go ahead.
Words in this phrase
お
o
[o]
polite prefix
Used before nouns to make them polite.
お茶をどうぞ。
Please have some tea.
待た
mata
[mah-tah]
kept waiting
Part of 待たせる, meaning to make someone wait.
長く待たせてすみません。
Sorry for making you wait a long time.
せ
se
[seh]
causative marker (part)
Part of the causative ending (〜せる) meaning “let/make (someone) do.”
きょうは家で休ませます。
Today, I will let them rest at home.
し
shi
[shee]
do
し is the stem of する, meaning to do.
予約しします。
I do the reservation.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past stem
Part of the polite past ending in a verb phrase.
昨日は多くのことを学びました。
I learned many things yesterday.
た
ta
[tah]
past tense ending
This ending completes the polite past tense form.
空席がございまし た。
There were vacant seats.
南口です。
minamiguchi desu
this is the south exit
南口 (minami-guchi) means 'south exit', and です makes it polite. The 'u' in 'desu' is nearly silent.
出口は南口です。
The exit is the south exit.
Words in this phrase
南口
minamiguchi
[mee-nah-MEE-goo-chee]
south exit
Noun for the south entrance/exit of a station.
南口に着きました。
We arrived at the south exit.
です
desu
[dess]
is; polite copula
A polite sentence ending used in formal conversation.
少し伺いたいです。
I would like to ask a little.
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