Reserved - for seats how would you write?

[Scoobyqueen]

I need to put a note up to indicate some seats are reserved for a Chinese delegation. What are the common words used to say this in Chinese?

For example: Reserved for delegation

Thanks in advance.

Edited November 4, 2009 at 02:52 PM by Scoobyqueen

[in_lab]

One way to translate this would be to write the name of the people/group the seats are reserved for, rather than using the word "reserved".

[leeyah]

The usual phrase seen on restaurant tables is 此位预定

[xiaocai]

How about 代表预留席? 此位已预定 is indeed used in restaurants but might be not very appropriate in a conference and such. And I agree with in-lab that it might be better to write their names down instead of just "reserved", if you do know their names.

[leeyah]

Yes, 代表预留席 sounds just right. 多谢指教 xiaocai! (I just knew there must be something nice with 留席)

Do you think adding 团员 to 代表 would also be ok, or perhaps not？

[xiaocai]

不客气，彼此学习！

Actually I am not very sure if it is really a good translation or not, and you might not want trust the Chinese of a science student who hasn't been writing formally for almost four years, apart form all the lab reports.

I think 席 is just a fancier way to say 位, if you want to flatter your guests a bit. And I think 团员 can be optional here since 代表 itself can mean delegate as well.