uketuke de sinsatuken wo dasitara, matiaisitu de matte kudasai to iwaremasita.

In both places, で marks the location where an action happens.

• 受付で = at the reception desk / at reception
• 待合室で = in the waiting room

Here, the actions are:

• 診察券を出す at the reception desk
• 待つ in the waiting room

This is different from に, which often marks a destination or point of existence.
So:

• 受付で診察券を出す = hand over the patient card at reception
• 待合室で待つ = wait in the waiting room

診察券 is the card you show at a clinic or hospital to identify yourself as a patient. It is often translated as:

• patient card
• clinic card
• hospital registration card

It is not the same as something like a health insurance card, although in real life you may also show that separately.

Because 診察券 is the thing being handed over / presented.

The verb 出す literally means to put out, to take out, or in many contexts to present/submit. At a clinic, 診察券を出す is a very natural expression meaning to hand over your patient card.

So:

• 診察券を出す = to present your patient card

The particle を marks 診察券 as the direct object of 出す.

出したら is 出す in the -たら form:

• 出す → 出した → 出したら

The -たら form often means:

• if
• when
• after

In this sentence, it is most naturally understood as when/after I handed over my patient card.

So the first part means something like:

• After I handed over my patient card at reception...
• When I handed over my patient card at reception...

It is not really a hypothetical if here. It describes something that actually happened.

No. 〜たら can mean different things depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• if
• when
• after

In this sentence, the action in the たら clause actually happened, so when/after is the best fit.

Compare:

• 雨が降ったら、行きません。
  = If it rains, I won’t go.
  hypothetical

• 駅に着いたら、電話してください。
  = When you arrive at the station, please call me.
  expected future sequence

• 診察券を出したら、〜と言われました。
  = After I handed over my patient card, I was told...
  completed event in a sequence

This is completely normal in Japanese.

In Japanese, subordinate clauses often use the plain form, even in otherwise polite sentences. The politeness usually appears in the main clause.

So here:

• 出したら = plain form inside the when/after clause
• 言われました = polite past in the main clause

This is a very common pattern.

For example:

• 家に帰ったら、寝ます。
• 時間があったら、行きます。

Even though the sentence is polite overall, the earlier clause does not need to be polite.

Because 待ってください is a request/instruction:

• 待ってください = please wait

The form is:

• 待つ → 待って (te-form)
• 待ってください = please wait

If it were 待ちます, it would mean I wait / will wait, which does not fit here. The speaker is reporting what someone told them to do, so it needs to be a command/request form.

と is the quotation particle.

It marks the content of what was said:

• 待ってください = please wait
• 待ってくださいと = please wait, someone said
• 待ってくださいと言われました = I was told please wait

In Japanese, direct and indirect speech are often followed by と before verbs like:

• 言う = say
• 思う = think
• 聞く = ask/hear

So と is connecting the quoted words to 言われました.

Because the sentence is focused on the speaker receiving the statement, not on the other person saying it.

• 言いました = said
• 言われました = was told

So:

• 受付の人が待ってくださいと言いました。
  = The receptionist said, “Please wait.”

• 待ってくださいと言われました。
  = I was told, “Please wait.”

Japanese often uses this passive form when the important point is what happened to the speaker.

It is the passive form of 言う:

• 言う → 言われる → 言われました

Here it works very naturally as was told.

This is one of the most common uses of the passive in Japanese. In English, I was told... is also very natural, so this is a good place where Japanese and English match pretty well.

It is probably the receptionist or clinic staff, but Japanese often leaves that out when it is obvious from context.

Since the sentence already says:

• 受付で診察券を出したら = after handing over the patient card at reception

the listener can easily infer that the person who spoke was someone at reception.

Japanese frequently omits subjects and agents when they are clear.

A fuller version could be something like:

• 受付の人に、待合室で待ってくださいと言われました。
  = I was told by the receptionist to wait in the waiting room.

But leaving it out sounds very natural.

待合室 means waiting room.

It is made up of:

• 待 = wait
• 合 = meet/join together
• 室 = room

You do not need to analyze the kanji every time, but it can help you remember the word.

Because the sentence contains someone else’s words.

The politeness inside 待ってください belongs to the receptionist’s instruction:

• 待ってください = please wait

Then the speaker reports that instruction politely with:

• 言われました = was told

So there are really two layers of politeness here:

1. the original instruction: 待ってください
2. the speaker’s narration: 言われました

That is why both parts are polite.

It is closer to a direct quote, because the quoted content appears as:

• 待ってください

Japanese often keeps the original wording before と言う / と言われる, even in places where English might prefer indirect speech.

So Japanese says something structurally like:

• I was told, Please wait in the waiting room.

In English, we might also say:

• I was told to wait in the waiting room.

Japanese often prefers the quoted-command style.

Yes, there is another common pattern:

• 待合室で待つように言われました。

This means:

• I was told to wait in the waiting room.

Compared with your sentence:

• 待合室で待ってくださいと言われました。

the ように version sounds a little more like indirect instruction, while the 〜てくださいと version feels closer to the exact words spoken.

Both are natural.

It breaks down like this:

• 受付で = at reception
• 診察券を出したら = when/after I handed over my patient card
• 待合室で = in the waiting room
• 待ってください = please wait
• と = quotation marker
• 言われました = I was told

So the structure is:

[After doing X], [I was told], [please do Y].

More abstractly:

Aたら、Bと言われました。
= When/after A happened, I was told B.

Because Japanese very often omits the subject when it is obvious.

Here, English naturally supplies I:

• After I handed over my patient card...
• I was told to wait...

But in Japanese, if the speaker is talking about their own experience, that I is usually left unstated.

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Japanese relies much more on context, and personal pronouns are often unnecessary.