Later - what word do you use?

[Christa]

When I say "later" in Chinese, I tend to say "晚一點" (wǎnyīdiǎn). Do other people use this or is it just me?

 

I was prompted to ask this following our recent discussion of 一點 (yīdiǎn) and was just wondering, is this what you tend to hear/use for "later". As in, "I'll do it later", "I'll make dinner later" and so on?

 

Please let me know what you think...

 

 

Christina

[889]

一会儿就回答。

[陳德聰]

待會(兒)

等(一)下

晚(一)點

[edelweis]

回头

[Jim]

回头见！ Or maybe you don't mean that sort of "Later""

 

ETA Ninja'd by @edelweis :shakes fist:

[edelweis]

:bows:

[Kathy Lu]

in Mandarin, we use 待会儿 or 过一会儿。

 

晚一点 actually means you will do it at night, but Mandarin speakers don't use 晚一点..if they use it, usually means they will do it at night not later. You will hear 晚一点 mostly in Southern China or Taiwan. Northern China not many people would say 晚一点。

 

等一下／maybe Taiwan Chinese or Southern China) is not precise, actually means hold on, it doesn't mean that you are committed, you are basically asking them to wait or hold-on

 

回头 means 下一回， it doesn't specify any time frame, it could be next time, months or years. not precise.

 

 

I think this is a good topic to talk about, maybe I will ask my husband to do a video on this topic. I hope the answer helps.

[yueni]

待（一）会儿

等（一）会儿

之后再（说/做……） (but this one implies that there's something happening first that all parties involved are aware of)

 

[abcdefg]

13 hours ago, Christa said:

When I say "later" in Chinese, I tend to say "晚一點" (wǎnyīdiǎn). Do other people use this or is it just me?

 

Depends on how much later you mean. I would never say 晚一点 to mean later, as in your example sentences.  I might use that construction to mean "later than originally planned."

[Flickserve]

2 hours ago, abcdefg said:

I would never say 晚一点 to mean later, as in your example sentences.  I might use that construction to mean "later than originally planned."

 

You mean like at the airport as in asking if there is a delay in the scheduled time of plane taking off?

 

[889]

Yes, and it's the term the railway uses for late trains:

 

“本查询仅提供过去1小时和未来3小时内列车正晚点信息。”

 

http://www.12306.cn/mormhweb/kyfw/lczwdcx/

 

Not to mention, "同学们，我们来得太晚了。“

[Christa]

Wow, that is really interesting and a very rich vein of knowledge. I think 晚一點 for later is something I picked up in Taiwan. I wondered why I never really heard it in the mainland. Over there I mainly heard 过一会儿.

 

[DavyJonesLocker]

Or 再说 as 一会儿再说

Talk about it later ->which often means avoiding the conversation.

[Xiao Kui]

过一会儿 is what my Chinese friends usually say

[陳德聰]

17 hours ago, Kathy Lu said:

等一下／maybe Taiwan Chinese or Southern China) is not precise, actually means hold on, it doesn't mean that you are committed, you are basically asking them to wait or hold-on

Literally none of these are precise, that’s the point.

 

我們等一下要去哪裡吃飯呢？ This does not mean “hold on” or “wait,” it means “where are we going to eat later?”

[Kathy Lu]

@陳德聰 等一下 in Mandarin (普通话）is in fact means hold-on, we usually say 我们过一会儿去哪吃饭呢？or 我们待一会儿去哪吃饭呢？However, you can use 等一下 in mainland China and people might still understand you because nowadays we hear this from Taiwan Drama a lot all the time, so we know what they mean by 等一下。 This does not means it's proper Mandarin, because Mandarin speakers do not use 等一下 as later。the direct translation is actually wait a second or minute. I disagree with you on none of these are precise, because Chinese or Mandarin can be precise. I think for a non-native speaker, it is crucial to let them know the differences and be as precise as possible. just my thoughts

[ChTTay]

Not sure what you mean that 等一下 is Southern Chinese or Taiwanese. I live in Beijing and you hear it regularly. And I’m not just surrounded by Southern Chinese people. 

 

I would agree that more common is 等一会儿 

 

and also its generally wait wait a minute or hold on

[Kathy Lu]

Well, I know for a fact that Northern Chinese don't say 等一下 as later. I verified by asking my husband, who is a native Beijinger, and his friends and family that are Beijingers, my friend from Shandong before I wrote the comment in this post. they all confirmed that 过一会儿, 一会儿 is equivalent to later not 等一下。 等 in Chinese is literally means wait， so they tend to use it as wait a minute or hold on. Given my background, I am from Southern China, so I hear the phrase 等一下 or 等一会 more than 过一会儿。If my comment bothers you in any way, just see it as Beijinger do not use the phrase 等一下. Again, just trying to be helpful to the community here, everything I post here I verified through multiple sources. Afterall, I am not saying 等一下 is wrong，if people around you can understand and know what you mean, then by no means use it. However, noted that it is not Standard Mandarin that a northern Mandarin speaker would use as later. 

[ChTTay]

Wow, this a sensitive topic for you? 

 

As I said above, I agree it means wait a minute or hold on! 

 

I didn’t agree it’s not used here. I asked my girlfriend who’s from Beijing, her family and all her friends too.  

 

[Flickserve]

In the end, it all depends on the sentence and situation to which one may be better.