等等
dang2 dang2
The English phrase "one moment please" is translated into Cantonese as 等等 (dang2 dang2).
等等 is used to ask someone to wait for a short period of time. Another common expression is 等陣, which can mean "wait a moment" or indicate that an action will occur "in a moment".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 等等 literally means "wait a bit" or "wait a little".
How does it change in a sentence?
To make your request sound more natural and less abrupt than just saying 等等, you can add 一下 (jat1 haa5) to the verb 等 (dang2) to form 等一下.
How do you pronounce it?
dang2 dang2
Did you know?
- If you use 等等 at the end of a list of items in Cantonese, it changes meaning entirely to 'and so on' or 'etcetera'.
- The word 等 (wait) is also used in Cantonese to mean 'equal' or 'equivalent', which is why the phrase for 'the same' is 相等.
- In Cantonese, repeating a verb like 等 (wait) to make 等等 creates a 'reduplicative' form that softens the command and makes it sound more casual or tentative.
Example conversation
Tsi Kin is looking for a document while talking to Ka Yan.
- 子健 Tsz Kin嘉欣，等等我。ga1 yan1, dang2 dang2 ngo5.Ka Yan, wait for me a moment.
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan你有冇搵到？nei5 jau5 mou5 wan2 dou2?Did you find it?
- 子健 Tsz Kin請等等，喺呢度。ching2 dang2 dang2, hai2 ni1 dou6.One moment please, it's right here.
- 嘉欣 Ka Yan好，我哋行啦。hou2, ngo5 dei6 hang4 laa1.Okay, let's go.
