LLearn Japanese

When does 待って！ become 待った！

  • August 29, 2025

In two separate occasions I have heard someone shout 'MATTA!' instead of 'MATTE!' to mean 'WAIT!'

Is that a thing? Is there grammar behind it, or is it slang? Is it past tense somehow, and if so, how does that work? Is it from one particular area, or is it standard Japanese? Can it work for other words, or is it just for that one context?

by SamuraiGoblin

13 comments

  2. 待って is plain form of 待ってください meaning pleas wait >an order.

    待った is a past form meaning I waited.

  3. You can hear it from time to time, -ta form as a command.  Some other examples I heard include kaetta(go home) katta(buy).  Specifically, twice quickly, like “kaetta kaetta!”

  5. I’ve never seen it written only heard in speech (or writing dictating speech). I’m not positive but I believe its just slurred speech. Like うめえ instead of うまい.

  6. It is not slang. This is standard – but rare – meaning of た. See definition 6 here, for example:

    [https://www.weblio.jp/content/た](https://www.weblio.jp/content/た)

    It has pretty much fallen out of fashion except for some specific cases. The most common one for sure is まった！ You can hear it in the phrase まったなし but also just as a normal exclamation – Hold on! まった！

  7. You are correct in thinking that 待った is sometimes used to mean “wait” as a command. Unfortunately, I couldn’t explain the “when,” only that this is a valid (if not the most common) conjugation for this usage.

  8. This would be a question best suited for the Daily Thread pinned at the top, which would’ve given you a set of higher quality replies to begin with as majority of the replies are either misunderstanding your question or don’t know the command form of た.

  10. Sometimes a store clerk will ask if something is よろしかったですか？ even though it’s not past tense or a Japanese friend will ask かさ持った？　even though we haven’t left yet is that all related?

  11. I’ve often heard it used with repetition. For example, “帰った帰った!” or “乗った乗った!”.

    Using it twice in succession, often in a hurried tone of voice, seems to be a way of giving a command. I don’t know if it counts as slang but it is definitely something I’ve only heard used casually, and often from an older person to a younger one.

    I don’t really know what the explanation is but the way I think of it in my head is kind of like when in English we say something like “I need it done yesterday!”. That’s kind of how I rationalize the use of the past tense for a command.

    But I’m sure there is a better and more accurate explanation for why it occurs in Japanese.

  12. In order to intuit this meaning:

    Think about when a mother in English says “YOU WILL WAIT!” in an emphatic tone… if we look at this in an English learning beginner’s perspective they’ll say “WTF why is future tense used for a command!?”…

    It is a similar thing to intuit in Japanese, but instead of future tense it’s with the complete form (待った、帰った、歩いた、座った).

  13. I most commonly hear it shouted at concerts by fans before they reveal a surprise to the performers, usually right near the end of the encore.

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