Translation guide
The English word "minutes" can refer to a written record of a meeting, a unit of time, or a short period of time. This guide covers how to express each meaning naturally in Japanese.
To refer to the official written record of what was discussed and decided in a meeting.
The standard term for official meeting minutes. Used in business and formal contexts.
I will send the minutes.
Please check the minutes.
A less formal term, often used for informal meeting notes rather than official minutes.
Take simple minutes, please.
A more formal or literary term for meeting minutes, sometimes used in official documents.
To refer to a period of 60 seconds, as in telling time or measuring duration.
The standard counter for minutes. Used with numbers to express clock time or duration.
Please wait five minutes.
It's 3:10 now.
To refer to a brief, indefinite amount of time, often used in phrases like "a few minutes" or "in a minute."
A very common casual way to say "a short while" or "a minute." Often used when asking someone to wait briefly.
Wait a minute.
Do you have a few minutes?
A polite, formal way to say "a short while" or "a moment." Commonly used in business settings.
Literally "for a short time," used to refer to a brief period.
Please stay here for a few minutes.
Literally "a few minutes," used when you want to be more specific about the time being a small number of minutes.
The counter 分 (ふん/ぷん) is only for time. To refer to the written record of a meeting, use 議事録 (ぎじろく). Saying 会議の分 (かいぎのぶん) is incorrect.
ちょっと is casual and used in everyday speech. 少々 is formal and polite, often used in business or customer service. Both can mean 'a minute' or 'a short while.'
The minutes of the last meeting were approved.
I'll be ready in five minutes.
Can you spare a few minutes?
会議録は公開されています。
The minutes are publicly available.
少々お待ちください。
Please wait a moment.
I'll be back in a few minutes.