How to Say ‘Do you mind waiting a few minutes?’ in Spain Spanish
¿Te importa esperar unos minutillos?
teh eem-POR-tah ehs-peh-RAR OO-nohs mee-noo-TEE-yohs
[teh eem-POR-tah ehs-peh-RAR OO-nohs mee-noo-TEE-yohs]
🇪🇸 In Spain: Bar staff in Spain will often use tú with customers of any age. It's friendly, not rude, and you can answer the same way.
Phrase Breakdown
¿Te importa esperar
teh eem-POR-tah ehs-peh-RAR
Do you mind waiting
This is a polite request. Stress im-POR-ta and es-pe-RAR, and link 'esperar' straight into the next part.
¿Te importa esperar un momento?
Do you mind waiting a moment?
Words in this phrase
Te
[teh]
to you
Indirect object pronoun for "tú" used in polite questions.
Te propongo algo: ¿te parece bien si hablamos de Jesús con calma?
I propose something: does it seem okay to you if we talk about Jesus calmly?
importa
[eem-POR-tah]
matters
From the verb importar; used to say that something is important to someone.
La comunicación interna importa mucho en una empresa sana.
Internal communication matters a lot in a healthy company.
esperar
[ehs-peh-RAR]
to wait
Verb meaning to wait (also to hope).
Tengo que esperar el autobús.
I have to wait for the bus.
unos minutillos?
OO-nohs mee-noo-TEE-yohs
a few little minutes?
'Minutillos' is a friendly diminutive of 'minutos', common in Spain. The 'll' sounds like the 'y' in 'yes': mi-nu-TI-yos. Your voice rises at the end.
Vuelvo en unos minutillos.
I'll be back in a few minutes.
Words in this phrase
unos
[OO-nohs]
some; a few; about
Makes the time period approximate: “a few.”
Desde hace unos años, comparto mi fe en Jesús con naturalidad.
For a few years now, I’ve been sharing my faith in Jesus naturally.
minutillos
[mee-noo-TEE-yohs]
a few little minutes
Friendly diminutive of 'minutos', making the wait sound short.
Vuelvo en unos minutillos.
I'll be back in a few minutes.
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