| Risa: Welcome to Fun and Easy Japanese by JapanesePod101.com! |
| English: |
| Risa: What’s the best way to say sorry in Japanese? |
| Can you just say sumimasen? Or should you instead say Mōshiwake arimasen deshita and bow? |
| You’re about to find out. |
| Risa: こんにちは、りさです。 |
| Hi everyone! I’m Risa. |
| English: |
| And I’m (name.) |
| Risa: In this lesson, you’ll learn ten ways to say sorry in Japanese. |
| English: You’ll also learn when to use each one, and what kind of body language to use. |
| English: In particular, you'll learn... |
| Three formal ways to apologize, |
| Three extremely deep and polite ways to apologize, |
| And four informal ways to apologize. |
| Risa: Let’s start with three common ways to apologize formally. |
| English: You can use these at work, restaurants, shops, or other places of business. And you use them with people you’re not close to, or in situations where professional relationships exist, like between employees and managers, or customers and staff. |
| English: When using the following words, the common gesture to make is to place both of your arms and hands straight along your body, or place one of your hands in front of your lower belly, covering it with your other hand. You then slightly tilt down like when you bow. |
| English: With any of these, you should also make a "sorry" expression with your face and your head. |
| Please remember that body language is important; |
| if you don’t come across as sincere, you risk making the situation even worse. |
| Risa: Let’s now go over what to say. |
| The first way to say "sorry" is |
| すみません (Sumimasen) |
| "I’m sorry." |
| [SLOW] すみません |
| すみません |
| English: This is the most common way to say "sorry" in Japanese. It means "I’m sorry" or "Excuse me," but it can also mean "Thank you" in some cases. |
| This may be difficult to understand, but in Japan, when other people do us a favor, we feel sorry for using their time and effort, so we’re thankful for it. |
| Risa: You can say Sumimasen when you bump into someone on the street, or when you spill a glass of water and a waitress has to clean it up. |
| Let’s look at some examples. |
| Risa: すみません、水をこぼしてしまいました。 |
| (Sumimasen, mizu o koboshite shimaimashita.) |
| "I’m sorry, I spilled the water." |
| [SLOW] すみません、水をこぼしてしまいました。 |
| すみません、水をこぼしてしまいました。 |
| Risa: As an example of saying "excuse me," |
| すみません、切符はどこで買えますか。 |
| (Sumimasen, kippu wa doko de kaemasu ka?) |
| "Excuse me, where can I buy a ticket?" |
| [SLOW] すみません、切符はどこで買えますか。 |
| すみません、切符はどこで買えますか。 |
| Risa: And as an example of saying "thank you," |
| すみません、ポケットから落ちたのに気づきませんでした。 |
| (Sumimasen, poketto kara ochita no ni kizukimasen deshita.) |
| "Thank you, I didn’t notice it fell from [my] pocket." |
| [SLOW] すみません、ポケットから落ちたのに気づきませんでした。 |
| すみません、ポケットから落ちたのに気づきませんでした。 |
| Risa: The next way to say "sorry" is |
| すみませんでした (Sumimasen deshita) |
| "I am very sorry." |
| [SLOW] すみませんでした |
| すみませんでした |
| Risa: This is the past tense of Sumimasen, and it is considered more serious since it sounds more formal and polite. Unlike Sumimasen, this phrase doesn’t have the meaning of "Excuse me" or "Thank you." |
| Risa: Suppose you broke a glass at a restaurant. |
| You could then say |
| グラスを壊してしまい、すみませんでした。 (Gurasu o kowashite shimai, sumimasen deshita.) |
| "I’m sorry for breaking the glass." |
| [SLOW] グラスを壊してしまい、すみませんでした。 |
| グラスを壊してしまい、すみませんでした。 |
| Risa: And lastly, the third way is |
| 失礼しました (Shitsurei shimashita) |
| "I’m sorry (for my mistake)." |
| [SLOW] 失礼しました |
| 失礼しました |
| Risa: This is another formal way to say sorry. Shitsurei literally means "impoliteness, rudeness, or bad manners," and so the phrase means "I was rude" or "I had bad manners." |
| You can use it the same way as Sumimasen deshita, and if you want to say it more politely, you can use the more respectful itashimashita instead of shimashita. |
| Risa: For example, if you ordered miso ramen, but the waiter brought you the wrong dish, he might say, |
| 失礼しました、すぐに味噌ラーメンをお持ちします。 |
| (Shitsurei shimashita, sugu ni miso rāmen o o-mochi shimasu.) |
| "I’m sorry, I will bring Miso Ramen as soon as possible." |
| [SLOW] 失礼しました、すぐに味噌ラーメンをお持ちします。 |
| 失礼しました、すぐに味噌ラーメンをお持ちします。 |
| Risa: Or you might hear an employee at a store say, |
| 間違った商品の値段をお伝えしまして、失礼いたしました。(Machigatta shōhin no nedan o o-tsutae shimashite, shitsurei itashimashita.) |
| "I'm sorry that I told you the wrong price of the product." |
| [SLOW] 間違った商品の値段をお伝えしまして、失礼いたしました。 |
| 間違った商品の値段をお伝えしまして、失礼いたしました。 |
| Risa: Now, let's move on to part two: |
| Three of the deepest and most polite ways to apologize in Japanese. |
| Risa: These next 3 phrases are quite serious, and should be used when you’ve done something really bad. |
| In order to show seriousness and sincerity, adverbs such as hijō ni—"greatly," taihen—"terribly," or makoto ni—"truely," are often added in front of the following phrases as well. |
| English: When you say these, place both of your arms and hands straight along your body and bow 60 degrees forward, with your head and face down. If the situation is more serious, bow 90 degrees instead. |
| The angle of the bow shows the level of severity. |
| Risa: In the case of an extremely severe situation, you can express your seriousness by performing dogeza. Dogeza involves kneeling down on both of your knees with your hands placed on the ground—prostrating yourself with your forehead touching the floor. |
| Risa: In daily life, Dogeza is hardly ever used, unless you run over someone with your car and are going to apologize to the victim’s family. |
| Risa: The first phrase is |
| 申し訳ありませんでした (Mōshiwake arimasen deshita) |
| "I am terribly sorry. / I sincerely apologize." |
| [SLOW] 申し訳ありません |
| 申し訳ありません |
| Risa: The word mōshi comes from the honorific word mōsu, which means "to say" in the form of Kenjō-go, or humble language. When you say it, you lower your rank below that of the person you are speaking to. |
| Risa: Wake means "reason," arimasen means "there is no," and deshita marks the past tense. The phrase, therefore, literally translates to "There was no reason or excuse to say (for what I have done)." |
| Risa: Let’s use it in some examples. |
| To their boss, someone might say |
| 会議に遅刻してしまい、誠に申し訳ありませんでした。(Kaigi ni chikoku shite shimai, makoto ni mōshiwake arimasen deshita.) |
| "I am truly sorry that I came late for the meeting." |
| [SLOW] 会議に遅刻してしまい、誠に申し訳ありませんでした。 |
| 会議に遅刻してしまい、誠に申し訳ありませんでした。 |
| Risa: Or if you bought an item which you later found was broken, a store employee might say |
| 大変申し訳ありませんでした。新しいものに交換します。 (Taihen mōshiwake arimasen deshita. Atarashii mono ni kōkan shimasu.) |
| "I am terribly sorry. I will replace it with a new one." |
| [SLOW] 大変申し訳ありませんでした。新しいものに交換します。 |
| 大変申し訳ありませんでした。新しいものに交換します。 |
| Risa: The second very polite phrase is |
| 申し訳ございませんでした (Mōshiwake gozaimasen deshita) |
| "I am terribly sorry. / I sincerely apologize." |
| [SLOW] 申し訳ございませんでした |
| 申し訳ございませんでした |
| Risa: |
| This is similar to mōshiwake arimasen deshita, but it’s more polite and respectful. Gozaimasen is the negative form of gozaimasu, which means "there is" or "there are" in a very polite and respectful way. |
| Risa: Let’s picture this with an example. |
| If you’re responsible for a minor car accident, you could say |
| 大変申し訳ございませんでした。損害の賠償をします。 |
| (Taihen mōshiwake gozaimasen deshita. Songai no baishō o shimasu.) |
| "I am terribly sorry. I will compensate for the damage." |
| [SLOW] 大変申し訳ございませんでした。損害の賠償をします。 |
| 大変申し訳ございませんでした。損害の賠償をします。 |
| Risa: And the last phrase is |
| お詫び申し上げます (O-wabi mōshiagemasu) |
| "I deeply apologize" |
| [SLOW] お詫び申し上げます |
| お詫び申し上げます |
| Risa: This phrase is usually used after you apologize with mōshiwake arimasen deshita or mōshiwake gozaimasen deshita. The word O-wabi is a polite word for "apology," so the phrase directly translates to "I state apology," in a polite and respectful way. |
| Risa: Let’s have a look at how to use it: |
| 大変申し訳ございませんでした。お詫び申し上げます。(Taihen mōshiwake gozaimasen deshita. O-wabi mōshiagemasu.) |
| "We are terribly sorry. I humbly apologize." |
| [SLOW] 大変申し訳ございませんでした。お詫び申し上げます。 |
| 大変申し訳ございませんでした。お詫び申し上げます。 |
| Risa: And lastly, let’s go over informal apologies. |
| English: You can use these words with family, friends, and people you know very well. And they are used in situations where you did something wrong, but it wasn’t that bad. |
| You don’t need to use gestures for this kind of apology, but in some cases, for instance, people might casually put their palms together in front of their face. |
| Risa: The first informal way to say "sorry" is |
| ごめん (Gomen) |
| "Sorry" |
| [SLOW] ごめん |
| ごめん |
| Risa: The word gomen originally meant "forgive" or "pardon," and it was used when politely asking for forgiveness. Nowadays, it just means sorry—and if you want to say it in a cute or affectionate way, you add ne to the end, as in |
| ごめんね (Gomen ne) |
| "Sorry" (in a cute way) |
| [SLOW] ごめんね |
| ごめんね |
| Risa: Let’s look at an example involving a couple: |
| A (male): |
| ごめん。俺が悪かった。(Gomen. Ore ga warukatta.) |
| "Sorry. I was bad." |
| B (female): |
| ごめんね。私も。 (Gomen ne. Watashi mo.) |
| "Sorry. Me too." |
| Risa: The next word is |
| 失礼 (Shitsurei) |
| "Sorry / Excuse me" |
| [SLOW] 失礼 |
| 失礼 |
| Risa: Shitsurei is the short and casual version of Shitsurei shimashita from the beginning of this video. |
| This word can also be used as "Excuse me." |
| Risa: As an example, suppose you are passing through a group of friends. You could say |
| 失礼、通るよ。(Shitsurei, tōru yo.) |
| "Sorry, let me pass." |
| [SLOW] 失礼、通るよ。 |
| 失礼、通るよ。 |
| Risa: A third casual way to say "sorry" is with the word |
| 悪い (Warui) |
| "My bad" |
| [SLOW] 悪い |
| 悪い |
| Risa: It literally means "bad," but in this case, you can use it to mean "My bad!" |
| It sounds a little rough, so this word is used mainly by men. |
| Risa: Imagine a boyfriend is late for dinner at a restaurant. |
| He could say |
| 悪い、ちょっと遅れる。先に行って何か頼んでて。 |
| (Warui, chotto okureru. Saki ni itte nani ka tanonde te.) |
| "Sorry, I’ll be a bit late. You can go first and order something." |
| [SLOW] 悪い、ちょっと遅れる。先に行って何か頼んでて。 |
| 悪い、ちょっと遅れる・先に行って何か頼んでて。 |
| Risa: And lastly, we have |
| ごめんなさい (Gomennasai) |
| "I am sorry" |
| [SLOW] ごめんなさい |
| ごめんなさい |
| Risa: Gomennasai is a more polite version of Gomen. |
| It is considered informal, but in some cases, this phrase can be used in semi-formal occasions as well. |
| Risa: Here’s an example sentence: |
| ごめんなさい。お母さんのパソコン壊しちゃった。 |
| (Gomennasai. O-kā-san no pasokon kowashichatta.) |
| "I'm sorry. I broke mom’s computer." |
| [SLOW] ごめんなさい。お母さんのパソコン壊しちゃった。 |
| ごめんなさい。おかあさんおパソコン壊しちゃった。 |
| Risa: But if you want to offer a deep apology in an informal situation, you can add Hontō ni, or "truly," in front of Gomennasai. It also looks more polite and sincere when you hold your hands in front of your lower belly, or put your palms together in front of your face. |
| Risa: |
| 本当にごめんなさい。君に借りた本を失くした。 |
| (Hontō ni gomennasai. Kimi ni karita hon o nakushita.) |
| "I'm very sorry. I lost the book I borrowed from you." |
| [SLOW] 本当にごめんなさい。君に借りた本を失くした。 |
| 本当にごめんなさい。君に借りた本を失くした。 |
| Risa: And that’s it! |
| In this lesson, you learned ten ways to say sorry in Japanese—across all formality levels! |
| English: But, if you want to speak even more Japanese, and learn in the fastest, easiest and most fun way, go to JapanesePod101 dot com and sign up for your FREE lifetime account right now. Get our complete learning program with real lessons by real teachers. |
| That’s it for today! |
| English: Want to learn Japanese fast with PDF cheat sheets? You can get cheat sheets for all kinds of topics: travel, hobbies, love and much more… |
| …and you'll learn all of the must-know words and phrases for each. |
| Click the link in the lesson description and sign up for a free lifetime account to get them! |
| Risa: |
| See you next time! |
| またね！ |
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