How to Say ‘No, it was ten minutes late.’ in Japanese
いいえ、十分遅れました。
iie juubun okure mashi ta
[iie JOOP-poon oh-KOO-reh mah-shee tah]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Japanese trains are so punctual that ten minutes counts as a real delay worth mentioning. Rail companies even hand out delay certificates 遅延証明書 "delay certificate" for passengers to show at work.
Phrase Breakdown
いいえ、
iie
no
いいえ (iie) is a polite 'no'. Hold the long 'ii' sound, then end with 'e'.
いいえ、違います。
No, that's wrong.
Words in this phrase
いいえ
iie
[iie]
no
A negation or disagreement word.
いいえ、大丈夫です。
No, it's okay.
十分遅れました。
juubun okure mashi ta
it was ten minutes late
Say 'juppun okuremashita' and pause slightly at the small 'っ' (the double 'p').
電車が十分遅れました。
The train was ten minutes late.
Words in this phrase
十分
juubun
[JOOP-poon]
ten minutes
When telling time, read juppun (or jippun) and means ten minutes.
駅まで十分かかります。
It takes ten minutes to the station.
遅れ
okure
[oh-KOO-reh]
be delayed; fall behind
Stem of 遅れる, meaning something is late or behind schedule.
電車が遅れました。
The train was delayed.
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.
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