How to say 等一下

  • Traditional characters: 等一下
  • Pinyin (Taiwan standard): děng yí xià
  • Zhuyin (bopomofo): ㄉㄥˇ ㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
  • Meaning: wait a moment / hold on

Hear it in a Taiwan accent:

等一下 in example sentences

Real lines from CiaoSpeak’s graded stories, each with pinyin, an English translation and Taiwan-accent audio.

等一下…今天！對！可以！

děng yí xià jīn tiān duì kě yǐ

Wait… today! Right! I can!

From the story 再說一次！ (Say It Again!)

欸！等一下！

éi děng yí xià

Hey! Wait!

From the story 再說一次！ (Say It Again!)

這裡沒有公車站…等一下，你在哪一家郵局？

zhè lǐ méi yǒu gōng chē zhàn děng yí xià nǐ zài nǎ yì jiā yóu jú

There's no bus stop here... wait. Which post office are you at?

From the story 哪一家郵局？ (Which Post Office?)

大衛啊…等一下，我看一下手機。

Dàwèi a děng yí xià wǒ kàn yí xià shǒu jī

David... hang on, let me check my phone.

From the story 訂錯了 (Booked Wrong)

等一下，你剛剛不是說「那還考慮什麼」嗎？

děng yí xià nǐ gāng gāng bú shì shuō nà hái kǎo lǜ shén me ma

Hang on — didn't you just say 'what's there to think about'?

From the story 要不要換工作 (Should I Change Jobs?)

Where 等一下 is taught

  • Unit level: TOCFL Novice 2 (CiaoSpeak’s placement, not the official TOCFL word list)
  • Unit: Everyday Phrases
  • Lesson: Everyday Reactions
  • Taught just before: 好的
  • Taught just after: 真的假的