How to Say ‘Excuse me’ in Traditional Chinese
請問
qǐng wèn
[qǐng wèn]
💬 Usage Tip: 請問 (qǐng wèn) literally means "please may I ask", so it's only used before a question, not to squeeze past someone. To get past people in a crowd, say 不好意思 "excuse me / sorry" instead.
🇹🇼 In Taiwan: Opening with 請問 is the polite, expected way to approach a stranger in Taiwan, and people are usually very willing to help once you do.
Phrase Breakdown
請問
qǐng wèn
[qǐng wèn]
excuse me; may I ask
Polite phrase used to start a question.
請問，這道菜有什麼特別？
Excuse me, what’s special about this dish?
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