Chinese word

稍候

Pronunciation

Pinyinshāo hòu

Meaning

verbplease wait

Example

会议将在五分钟后开始，请稍候。huì yì jiāng zài wǔ fēn zhōng hòu kāi shǐ qǐng shāo hòu

The meeting will begin in five minutes, so please wait.

More examples

请您稍候，我去查一下资料。qǐng nín shāo hòu wǒ qù chá yí xià zī liào

Please wait while I go check the information.

Core concept

A polite signal that the current activity pauses briefly and then resumes.

Common phrases

请稍候qǐng shāo hòu
Please wait
稍候一下shāo hòu yí xià
wait a moment
稍候片刻shāo hòu piàn kè
wait briefly

Similar words

等一下děng yí xià: A casual request for a brief pause before things start again.
稍等shāo děng: A respectful way to ask someone to wait a little.
等一会儿děng yí huìr: Waiting for a somewhat longer short period.
等待děng dài: Waiting for a particular time or condition, even over a long period.

Definition in Chinese

表示请对方在短时间内停止当前行动并等待，语气正式且礼貌，多用于通知或请求中。biǎo shì qǐng duì fāng zài duǎn shí jiān nèi tíng zhǐ dāng qián xíng dòng bìng děng dài yǔ qì zhèng shì qiě lǐ mào duō yòng yú tōng zhī huò qǐng qiú zhōng

Word origin

稍候 (shāohòu, "wait briefly") joins 稍 (shāo, "a little") with 候 (hòu, "wait"), so the word presents waiting as lasting only a short time.

Usage tips

In conversational Chinese, this word can sound official or service-oriented, while ordinary speech usually uses a more casual expression for the same situation.