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Mind the Gap

Variants in Japanese

The following are some variants on the Japanese announcement 'Mind the Gap'. They fall into three types:

1. 'There are places where there is a wide gap between the train and the platform'.

2. Variations on 'watch your step'.

3. Omission of no de and separation into two sentences.

1. "There are places where there is a wide gap between the train and the platform". 電車とホームとの間が広く空いているところがございます。
Densha to hoomu to no aida ga hiroku aite iru tokoro ga gozaimasu.
電車とホームとの間が広く空いている箇所がございます。
Densha to hōmu to no aida ga hiroku aite iru kasho ga gozaimasu.
Comment: These two sentences are a slight refinement of the original.

所 tokoro or 箇所 kasho (formal) = 'place'.
が ga = subject particle
ございます gozaimasu = elevated polite form of ありますarimasu 'to exist, to be'.

Note that tokoro or kasho 'place' is modified by the whole clause that comes before, i.e. tokoro (place) where densha to hōmu to no aida ga hiroku aite iru (there is a wide gap between the train and the platform). The modifying verb, in this case iru, is put in the plain form, not the -masu form.
2. Variations on "watch your step" 足下にご注意願います
Ashimoto ni go-chūi negaimasu.
'Please watch your step'
Substitutes 願います negaimasu 'to request' for ください kudasai. Slightly more formal but not necessarily more polite.
足下お気をつけください
Ashimoto ni o-ki o tsuke kudasai.
'Please watch your step'
The honorific form of the normal request 気をつけてください ki o tsukete kudasai 'please take care'. Ki o tsukeru is a fixed expression meaning literally 'attach care/attention/spirit'.
お降りの際はご注意ください
O-ori no sai wa go-chūi kudasai.

'Please take care when you alight'.
お降りo-ori = noun form meaning 'alight' derived from honorific お o and the verb 降りる oriru ('to alight').
の no = connecting particle
際 sai = 'occasion'
は wa = topic particle
3. Omission of no de 電車とホームとの間が広く空いております。足元にご注意ください。
Densha to hōmu to no aida ga hiroku aite orimasu. Ashimoto ni go-chūi kudasai.
Since no de is functionally little more than a polite link, it is quite possible to omit it and use two separate sentences.

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