Otesū Desuga (お手数ですが - I'm Sorry to Trouble You)

Otesū Desuga

When asking someone to do a task, we often use the phrase 'otesū desuga' (お手数ですが).

'O' (お) is a polite prefix, 'te' (手) mans "hand," 'sū' (数) means "number," and 'desuga' (ですが) is adversative conjunction.

Here, 'tesū' (手数) is an idiom, meaning effort/labor taking for someone else.

That is to say, 'otesū desuga' means something like "I'm sorry to trouble you, but..."

If you want to say it more politely, you can say 'otesū wo okake shimasuga' (お手数をおかけしますが) or 'otesū wo okake shite kyōshuku desuga' (お手数をおかけして恐縮ですが) instead.

お手数ですが

ビジネスシーンで仕事の依頼をするとき、「お手数ですが」という表現がよく使われます。

「お」は丁寧の接頭辞、「手」は "hand"、「数」は "number"、「ですが」は逆接の接続詞です。

ここで、「手数」は熟語で、「他人のためにかける手間」を意味します。

すなわち「お手数ですが」は、「手間を取らせてしまい恐縮ですが」のような意味となります。

より丁寧な表現としては、「お手数をおかけしますが」や「お手数をおかけして恐縮ですが」などがあります。

• When asking someone to do a task, we often use the phrase 'otesū desuga' (お手数ですが).
• When asking someone to do a task in a business setting, we often use the phrase 'otesū desuga' (お手数ですが).

• 'O' (お) is a polite prefix, 'te' (手) mans "hand," 'sū' (数) means "number," and 'desuga' (ですが) is adversative conjunction.
• 'O' (お) is a polite prefix, 'te' (手) means "hand," 'sū' (数) means "number," and 'desuga' (ですが) is an adversative conjunction.

• Here, 'tesū' (手数) is an idiom, meaning effort/labor taking for someone else.
• Here, 'tesū' (手数) is an idiom, meaning to labor/make an effort taking for someone else.

• That is to say, 'otesū desuga' means something like "I'm sorry to trouble you, but..."
• The English equivalent of 'otesū desuga' is something like "I'm sorry to trouble you, but..."

• If you want to say it more politely, you can say 'otesū wo okake shimasuga' (お手数をおかけしますが) or 'otesū wo okake shite kyōshuku desuga' (お手数をおかけして恐縮ですが) instead.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!