Translation guide
The English word 'delay' can refer to a postponement, a period of waiting, or the act of making something late. In Japanese, different words and expressions are used depending on whether you are talking about a scheduled event being pushed back, a train being late, a response being slow, or intentionally stalling. This guide covers the most natural ways to express these nuances.
To say that something planned has been moved to a later time or date.
The most common word for postponing an event, meeting, or deadline. It implies a deliberate decision to reschedule.
The meeting has been postponed to next week.
I had to delay my trip.
To put something off, often with a nuance of procrastination. Used for tasks or decisions.
You shouldn't delay making a decision.
Formal term for delay, often used in official contexts like transportation schedules or project timelines.
The construction delay has become a problem.
To describe a situation where something is not on time, such as a train, a person, or a process.
The most common verb for being late or delayed. Can be used for trains, people, payments, etc.
The train is delayed by 10 minutes.
To experience a delay, often used for schedules or processes.
There is a delay in the work.
Formal noun for delay, often seen in transportation announcements.
To describe the act of deliberately causing a delay, often for strategic reasons.
To refer to the time between an expected event and its occurrence.
延期 (postponement) is used when an event is rescheduled to a later date. 遅延 is a formal term for delays, especially in transportation or official contexts. 遅れ is the most general and common word for being late or behind schedule.
The event was postponed.
Train delays are occurring.
To make up for the delay.
遅延 is a formal word. In everyday conversation, use 遅れる or 遅れ instead. Using 遅延 in casual speech can sound stiff or overly technical.
Sorry for the delay.
The flight was delayed due to bad weather.
We decided to delay the project.
He is always late for appointments.
We are currently experiencing train delays.
To buy time, to stall for time.
He asked a question to delay (buy time).
出発を遅らせた。
I delayed the departure.
There is a delay in communication.