

If you didn’t hear what someone said, use this to ask them to repeat it. This is the simplest way to apologize for something you did wrong. This is a fancy phrase that you can use if you want to express shock or surprise. We’ll cover those in detail in the tables below, but you need to know the difference between them from the start. Here are a few more expressions to apologize that you may have already heard. A good rule of thumb is that “sorry” is used to ask for forgiveness (for example, if you did something wrong), and “excuse me” is used to ask for permission. It’s important to distinguish between these two expressions because using the wrong one could make you sound rude in certain situations. In this guide, we’ll explore useful expressions to apologize in English.Īlthough most people think that I’m sorry and excuse me are the only ways to apologize in English, there are actually several different ways to say sorry depending on the situation.įor example, if you did something wrong, you’d use “ I’m sorry,” but if you want to get past someone blocking the way on the street, saying “ excuse me” is a better choice.

And depending on the circumstances, there are different ways to say sorry in English. Learning how to properly apologize in every situation will help you strengthen your relationships with other people despite your mistakes and become a better communicator overall. In some situations, saying sorry is necessary and even inevitable! Unfortunately, even though most of us know what to say in our native language when we need to apologize, that might not be the case if you’re still learning English. Sometimes, it’s because we’ve unintentionally bumped into someone on the street, and other times, it’s because we came late to a business meeting.Īpologies are an important part of being a functional, polite member of society. We all say sorry for one reason or another.
