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How to Say ‘Hold it for me first’ in Traditional Chinese

先幫我保留

xiān bāng wǒ bǎo liú

[shyen bāng wo bǎoliú]

💬 Usage Tip: 幫我 + verb means "do something for me": 幫我保留 "hold it for me", 幫我拿 "get it for me". 先 before it adds "for now".

Phrase Breakdown

先幫我

xiān bāng wǒ

first, for me / please help me first

先 (xiān) means 'first, for now', and 幫我 (bāng wǒ) means 'help me' or 'for me'. Together they make a polite request.

Example

你可以先幫我拿一下嗎？

Could you hold this for me for a moment?

Words in this phrase

先

xiān

[shyen]

first

Used to say you will do something before anything else.

Example

我先看看，不急著買。

I'll look first; I'm not in a hurry to buy.

幫

bāng

[bāng]

to help

To assist someone with a task.

Example

我們已經幫客人預訂座位。

We have already helped guests book seats.

我

wǒ

[wo]

I; me

The first-person pronoun used to talk about yourself.

Example

我想多了解你們公司的制度，所以先自我介紹。

I want to learn more about your company’s system, so I’ll introduce myself first.

保留

bǎo liú

[bǎoliú]

to hold; to reserve

To keep something for someone for later.

Example

請幫我保留這個位子。

Please hold this seat for me.

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