Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
The usage of this word various from language to language and culture to culture. In the UK, for example, people say sorry a lot, even when someone else is at fault.
| Language | Sorry |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Jammer! |
| Albanian | Më fal! |
| Arabic (Egyptian) |
(aasif/a - m/f) آسف! |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
(āsif!) أسف |
| Armenian (Eastern) | Ներողությո'ւն: (Nerogh.utyun) Կներե'ք: (Knerek’) |
| Avar | ТIасалъугьа! (Tʼasałuha) |
| Azerbaijani | Bağışlayın / Məni bağışlayın / Üzr istəyirəm |
| Basque | Barkatu |
| Belarusian | Прабачце (Prabachtsye) Выбачайце (Vybachaytsye) |
| Bengali | দুঃখিত (dukkhito) মাফ করবেন (maf korben) |
| Bhojpuri | हमके माफ करा (hamake maf kara) |
| Bosnian | Oprostite! |
| Breton | Eskuzit ac'hanon! Digarez! |
| Bulgarian | Съжалявам! (Sãžaljavam) |
| Catalan | Perdó! Em sap greu |
| Chamorro | Dispensa yo' |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 對唔住 (deuim̀hjyuh) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 對不起 [对不起] duìbùqǐ 抱歉 bàoqiàn |
| Chinese (Shanghainese) | Tevéchi |
| Chinese (Taiwanese) | 失禮 (sit-le2) 歹勢 (phain2-se3) |
| Croatian | Žao mi je, Oprostite |
| Czech | Pardon! |
| Danish | Undskyld! |
| Dutch | Het spijt me! Sorry! |
| Esperanto | Mi bedaŭras! |
| Estonian | Andke andeks! |
| Finnish | Anteeksi |
| French | Désolé ! Je suis désolé !
Excusez-moi ! Je m'excuse ! Pardon ! Oh, pardon, excusez-moi ! Je vous demande pardon |
| Frisian (North) | Fertrüt me! |
| Frisian (West) | Pardon! |
| Friulian | Scuse! Pardon! |
| Galician | Síntoo! |
| Georgian | ბოდიში (bodishi) |
| German | Es tut mir leid! Entschuldigung! Ich bedaure! |
| Greek | Συγνώμη! (sygnómi) Λυπάμαι! (lypáme [lit. ‘I’m saddened’]) – more frm |
| Gujarati | મન્ને મફ કરો (manne maaf karo) |
| Hebrew | (slicha) סליחה! |
| Hindi | माफ़ कीजिये! (māf kījiye) |
| Hungarian | Bocsánat! |
| Icelandic | Því miður / Fyrirgefðu / Mér þykir það leitt (I'm sorry) |
| Ilocano | Pakawan, Dispensar |
| Indonesian | Maaf! |
| Inuktitut | ᐄᑯᓗᒃ (Iikuluk) ᐊᐃᑦᑖ (Aittaaq) ᓂᑲᔪᖅ (Nakujuq) |
| Irish (Gaelic) | Gabh mo leiscéal! Tá brón orm! |
| Italian | Scusa! (inf) Scusi! (frm) Mi dispiace |
| Japanese | ごめんなさい! (gomen nasai) |
| Jèrriais | J'ai r'gret |
| Kannada | ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿ! (kshamisi) |
| Kazakh | Кешіріңіз (Keşiriñiz) |
| Korean | 미안합니다! (mianhamnida) |
| Lao | ຂໍໂທດ (khãw thôht) |
| Latin | Ignosce mihi! |
| Latvian | Piedod! |
| Lithuanian | Atsiprašau! Atleiskite! |
| Low German | Nix för ungood! Deit mi leed! |
| Luxembourgish | Pardon |
| Macedonian | Жалам (Zhalam),
Жал ми е (Zhal mi e) Извинете (Izvinete) - frm, Извини (Izvini) - inf |
| Malay | Ma'af |
| Malayalam | ക്ഷമിക്കണം! (kṣamikkaṇam) പൊറുക്കണം! (porukkaṇam) |
| Maltese | Skużani! Jiddispjaċini! Ahfirli! |
| Manx | S'doogh lhiam! S'treih lhiam! S'olk lhiam! Gow my leshtal! |
| Māori | Aroha Mai / Mō Taku Hē |
| Mongolian | Уучлаарай (Uuchlaarai) |
| Norwegian | Beklager, Unnskyld |
| Occitan | Perdon! Desencusa! Desencusatz! |
| Persian | (moteassefam) متاسفم! |
| Polish | Przepraszam! |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Me desculpe! (frm) Desculpa! Desculpe-me! Lamento! Sinto muito! sinto mutÃssimo! |
| Portuguese (European) | Desculpe! (frm) Desculpa! (inf) |
| Romanian | Pardon! |
| Russian | Простите! (Prastite) - frm, Прости! (Prasti) - inf |
| Sardinian | Mi dispraghidu! |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gabh mo leisgeul! Tha mi duilich! |
| Scots | Sairy! |
| Serbian | Жао ми је (Žao mi je) Опростите (Oprostite) |
| Sesotho | Ntshwarele |
| Shona | Ndineurombo |
| Slovak | Pardón! |
| Slovenian | Oprostite (frm) Oprosti (inf) |
| Spanish | ¡Perdón! ¡Perdone! ¡Lo siento! |
| Swahili | Samahani |
| Swedish | Förlåt! |
| Tagalog | Ipagpaumanhin ninyo ako! Paumanhin (po)! |
| Tamil | என்னை மன்னிச்சிடுங்க (enna maniichudunga) |
| Telugu | మా క్షమాపణలు ! (maa kshamaapanalu) |
| Thai | ผม(ฉัน)เสียใจ (pǒm (chân) sěe-a jai) |
| Tongan | Fakamolemole |
| Turkish | Pardon (inf) Özür dilerim (frm) |
| Ukrainian | Вибачте! (Vybačte) |
| Urdu | (māf karna) معاف کرنا |
| Uzbek | Afu eting |
| Vietnamese | Xin lỗi |
| Võro | Andkõ andis! |
| Welsh | Mae'n ddrwg da fi/gen i! |
| Yiddish | (Zay moykhl!) זײַ מוחל! |
| Xhosa | Ndicela uxolo |
| Yorùbá | Pẹlẹ |
| 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
You can send me audio files in any format. If you don't know how to make recordings on a computer, you can send me recordings on audio cassette. Let me know if you want to do this and I'll send you my snailmail address. Or you can call me on Skype (omniglot) and I'll do the recording.
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Copyright 1998- Simon Ager