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もう少し (もうすこし) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

もう少すこし

も

う

す

こ

し

JLPTN5›Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

a bit more; a little longer

Used to express a small additional amount, degree, or time. Often appears in requests or when describing a slight insufficiency.

もう少すこしお茶ちゃをください。
Please give me a little more tea.

もう少すこし待まってください。

Please wait a bit longer.

Kanji

少few, little

Related words

もうちょっと
もうちょっと is the casual, spoken-language version of もう少し, used identically but sounding more informal.
もうちょい
もう少し is the neutral, standard way to say 'a little more', while もうちょい is a casual slang shortening used in relaxed speech.

Don't confuse with

少すこしN5
少し simply means 'a little' as a standalone amount, while もう少し means 'a little more' on top of an existing amount or state.
もっとN5
もっと asks for more in general with no implication of smallness, whereas もう少し specifically requests just a small additional bit.

Etymology

Compound of もう (more) and 少し (a little). The exact historical derivation is straightforward; the expression is a common modern collocation.