Useful foreign phrases |
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Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
There are two main uses of this phrases: to ask for something/attract somebody's attention (marked 1 below), and to ask somebody to move out of the way so that you can get by (marked 2 below).
| Language | Excuse me |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Verskoon my! Ekskuus! |
| Albanian | Më fal! |
| Alsatian | 's düet mir Leid |
| Amharic | ይቅርታ (yiqirta) |
| Arabic (Egyptian) |
('an iznak/iznik/izniku - m/f/pl) عن إزنك! |
| Arabic (Lebanese) |
3an eznak |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
to attract attention - (min faḍlak/ik)
من فضلك! to ask someone to move (al-ma'dirah) المعذرة! |
| Arabic (Moroccan) |
(smeh līya) اسمح لي! |
| Armenian (Eastern) |
Ներողությո'ւն: (Nerogh.utyun) Կներե'ք: (Knerek’) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Ներողութիւն (Neroghootyoon); Կը ներես (Guh neres) inf Կը ներէք: (Guh nerek) frm |
| Assamese | খ্যমা কৰিব (khyoma koribo) |
| Azeri | Üzr istəyirəm / Bağışlayın |
| Basque | Barkatu |
| Belarusian | Даруйце (Daruytsye) Перапрашаю (Pyeraprashayu) |
| Bengali | শুনুন। (shunun) এই যে। (ei je) |
| Bhojpuri | माफ करा (maf kara) |
| Breton | Digarezit ac'hanon! Eskuzit ac'hanon! |
| Bulgarian | Извинете! (Izvinete) Извинете ме! (Izvinete me) Извинявам се! (Izvinjavam se) Пардон (Pardon) Прощавайте! (Proštavajte) Простете! (Prostete) Моля за извинение (Molja za izvinenie) |
| Catalan | Dispensi! Perdoni! |
| Chamorro | Dispensa yo' |
| Chipewyan | ʔarélá! |
| Chinese (Cantonese) |
請問 (chéngmahn) 唔該 (m̀hgòi) 失陪 (sàtpùih) |
| Chinese (Hakka) |
請問 (ts'iang3mun5) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) |
(1) 請問 [请问] qǐngwén (2) 對不起 [对不起] duìbùqǐ |
| Cornish | Gav dhymm! |
| Corsican | Scusatemi |
| Croatian | Oprostite! Ispričavam se! |
| Czech | Promiňte! |
| Danish | Undskyld mig! |
| Dutch | Neem me niet kwalijk Neemt u mij niet kwalijk Excuseert u mij |
| Esperanto | Pardonu! |
| Estonian | Vabandage! |
| Faroese | Orsaka meg! |
| Finnish | Anteeksi! |
| French | Excusez-moi ! Pardon ! Pardonnez-moi ! |
| Frisian (North) | Ferschånke! |
| Frisian (Sater) | Ferschoonenge! |
| Frisian (North) | Ferjaan! |
| Friulian | Us domandi perdon |
| Galician | ¡Perdoe! ¡Desculpe! |
| Georgian | ბოდიში (bodishi) |
| German | Entschuldigung! Entschuldigen Sie! Verzeihung! |
| Greek (Modern) | Με συγχωρείς!
(Me sinhorís) - inf Με συγχωρείτε! (Me synhoríte) - frm |
| Gullah | 'Scuze me! |
| Gujarati | મફ કર્જો (māf karjo) |
| Hawaiian | E kala mai iaʻu! |
| Haitian Creole | Eskize mwen / Eskize m |
| Hebrew | בבקשה! (1), סליחה רגע! (2) |
| Hindi | क्षमा कीजिए! (kṣama kījie) माफ़ कीजिये! (māf kījiye) ज़रा सुनिये! (zarā suniye) |
| Hungarian | Elnézést! |
| Icelandic | Afsakið! Fyrirgefðu! |
| Indonesian | Maafkan saya |
| Inuktitut | ᐄᑯᓗ (Iikuluga) |
| Iñupiaq | Pisaraluarnak / Pisanritchikpin Pisaŋŋitkikpiñ / Tusaaŋŋisiqtuŋa |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Gabh mo leiscéal! |
| Italian | Permesso (let me through) Scusa! Scusami! (inf) Scusi! Mi scusi! (frm) (pardon) |
| Japanese | すみません! (sumimasen) |
| Jèrriais | Extchûthez-mé, Pardonnez-mouai |
| Kannada | ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿ! (kshamisi) |
| Kazakh | Кешіріңіз! (Keşiriñiz!) |
| Khmer | សុំទោស (sohm toh) |
| Kinyarwanda | Imbabazi / Ndasaba inzira |
| Korean | 실례하겠습니다! (shillehagessumnida) |
| Ladino | Ekskuza! |
| Lakota Sioux | Émičiktuŋža yo/ye / po/pe |
| Lao | ຂໍໂທດ (khãw thôht) |
| Latin | Me excusa (sg) Me excusate (pl) |
| Limburgish | Verekskezeer! (inf) Verekskezeert! (frm) Perdóng! |
| Latvian | Piedodiet! (frm)
Piedo! (inf) Atvainojiet! (frm) Atvaino! (inf) |
| Lithuanian | Atsiprašau! |
| Luxembourgish | Entschëllegt? Pardon |
| Macedonian | Прocтeтe!
(Prostete) = Please forgive me / I'm sorry Извинете (Izvinete) - to ask to get by |
| Malay | Tumpang lalu / Maafkan saya |
| Malayalam | ക്ഷമിക്കണം (kshamikkanam) |
| Maldivian | Ma-aaf kurey |
| Maltese | Skużi! Skużani! |
| Manx (Gaelic) | Gow my leshtal! Jean my leshtal! |
| Māori | Arohaina mai |
| Marshallese | Jolok bwir! |
| Mongolian | Өршөөгөөрэй (Örshöögöörei) |
| Nepali | माफ गनुस् (maapha ganus) |
| Norwegian | Unnskyld!, Unnskyld meg! |
| Occitan | Perdon? Desencusa? Desencusatz? |
| Papiamento | Despensa mi / Disculpami |
| Persian (Farsi) | (mazerat mikham) معذرت ميخوام (bebakhshid) ببخشيد! |
| Polish | Przepraszam! |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Por favor! Com licença! Desculpe! Perdão! Desculpa (inf) Escuse-me |
| Portuguese | Com licença! Desculpe! Perdão! (frm) Desculpa (inf) |
| Punjabi | ਵੇਖੋ ਜੀ। / ویکھو جی۔ (vēkhō jī) ਦੇਖੋ ਜੀ। / دیکھو جی۔ (dēkhō jī) |
| Quechua | Pampachaway / Dispinsaykuway |
| Romanian | Scuzaţi-mă! |
| Romansh | Perdunai |
| Russian | Извините! (Izvinite) - frm, Извини! (Izvini) - inf |
| Samoan | Tulou lava |
| Scots | Ho ye! |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gabh mo leisgeul! |
| Serbian | Извините! (Izvinite!) Опростите! (Oprostite!) |
| Sesotho | Ntshwarele / Ntsoarele |
| Shona | Pamusoro (sg) Pamusoroyi (pl) |
| Sicilian | Scusassi |
| Sinhala | සමාවත්ත (samāvena) අචසර (avasara) - to priests |
| Slovak | Prepáčte! |
| Slovenian | Oprostite (frm) Oprosti (inf) |
| Somali | Iga raali ahow |
| Spanish | ¡Perdón! ¡Perdone! ¡Discúlpe! |
| Swahili | (1) Samahani nipishe (2) Samahani |
| Swedish | Ursäkta! |
| Swiss German | Entschuldigung / Exgüüsi |
| Tagalog | Ipagpaumanhin ninyo ako! |
| Tahitian | E'e / Auē ho'i e |
| Tamil | மன்னிக்கணும் (mannikkanum) |
| Tatar | Ğafu it(egez) |
| Telugu | క్షమించండి ! (kshamiṅchaṅdi!) |
| Tetum | Kolisensa / Deskup pelici / Desku pihcih |
| Thai | ขอโทษ (kŏr tôht) |
| Tibetan | དགོངས་དག བཟོད་དུ་གསོལ། ཐུགས་རྗེ་གཟིགས། |
| Tigrinya | ይቅሬታ ግበረለይ! (Yiqreta Gbereley!) m/sg ይቅሬታ ግበርለይ! (Yiqreta Gberiley!) f/sg |
| Tok Pisin | Skius |
| Tongan | kātaki / tulou |
| Tswana | Intshwarele |
| Turkish | İzninizle / Pardon, geçebilir miyim? (to get past) Pardon, bakar mısınız? (to get attention) |
| Ukrainian | Перепрошую! (Pereprošuju) |
| Urdu | (mā'zarat) معزرت! (māf kījiye) معاف کيجۓ! |
| Uyghur | Kechürüng! Кехүрүң! !كةچۈرۈڭ! |
| Uzbek | Uzr / Kechirasiz |
| Venetian | Scuxéme (pl) Scùxeme (sg) El me scuxa |
| Vietnamese | Xin lỗi |
| Võro | Andkõ andis / Pallun vabanda |
| Welsh | Esgusodwch fi (frm) Esgusoda fi (inf) |
| Wolof | Baal ma! |
| Xhosa | Uxolo! Ndixolele! |
| Yapese | Siro / Siroeq |
| Yiddish | (Zayt moykhl) זײַט מוחל! (Zayt mir moykhl) זײַט מיר מוחל! |
| Yorùbá | Ẹ ̣se fun mi / Ẹ jọwọ, ẹ gbọ mi |
| Zazaki | Qaytê qısuri mebên |
| Zulu | Uxolo! |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please
contact me. If you can provide audio recordings
of any of these phrases, please send them to
Welcome | Hello | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | How are you? | Long time no see | Please | Thank you | Excuse me | Sorry | Goodbye | Bon voyage | Pleased to meet you | What's your name? | Where are you from? | I (don't) understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Please write it down | Do you speak English? | Do you speak ...? | Speak to me in ... | How do you say ... in ...? | I don't know | Go away! | Leave me alone! | Help! Fire! Stop! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Good luck | Cheers! | Bon appetit | Would you like to dance? | How much is this? | Have a nice day | Where's the toilet? | Get well soon | I love you | I miss you | My hovercraft is full of eels | One language is never enough