Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
Useful foreign phrases |
Numbers |
Colours |
Kinship |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs |
Other multilingual pages
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! |
| Amharic | አዝናለሁ። (aznallehu) |
| Arabic (Egyptian) |
(aasif/a - m/f) آسف! |
| Arabic (Lebanese) |
Esef (m) Esfe (f) |
| Arabic (Modern Standard) |
(āsif!) أسف |
| Armenian (Eastern) |
Ներողությո'ւն: (Nerogh.utyun) Կներե'ք: (Knerek’) |
| Armenian (Western) |
Ներողութիւն (Neroghootyoon); Կը ներես (Guh neres) inf Կը ներէք: (Guh nerek) frm |
| Assamese | মই দুঃখিত (moi ḍukkhita) |
| Asturian | Perdón |
| Avar | ТIасалъугьа! (Tʼasałuha) |
| Azeri | 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 |
| Cebuano | Ikasubo ko |
| 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-lé) 歹勢 (pháiⁿ-sì/phái-sè) 對不起 (tùi-put-khí) |
| Corsican | Mi dispiace |
| 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 (Modern) | Συγνώμη! (sygnómi) Λυπάμαι! (lypáme [lit. ‘I’m saddened’]) - more frm |
| Gujarati | મન્ને મફ કરો (manne maaf karo) |
| Haitian Creole | Dezole! / Mwen regret sa! / Padon! |
| Hausa | Sannu barka / Yi hak'uri |
| Hebrew | (slicha) סליחה! |
| Hindi | क्षमा कीजिए (kṣama kījiye) माफ़ कीजिये (māf kījiye) |
| Hungarian | Bocsánat! |
| Icelandic | Því miður / Fyrirgefðu / Mér þykir það leitt (I'm sorry) |
| Iloko | 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!) |
| Khmer | សុំទោស (sohm toh) |
| Korean | 미안합니다! (mianhamnida) |
| Lao | 미안합니다! (mianhamnida) |
| Latin | Ignosce mihi! |
| Latvian | Piedodiet! (frm)
Piedo! (inf) Atvainojiet! (frm) Atvaino! (inf) |
| Lithuanian | Atsiprašau! Atleiskite! |
| Low Saxon | 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) |
| Maldivian | Ma-aafu kurey |
| Maltese | Skużani! Jiddispjaċini! Ahfirli! |
| Manx (Gaelic) | S'doogh lhiam! S'treih lhiam! S'olk lhiam! Gow my leshtal! |
| Māori | Arohaina mai / Mō Taku Hē |
| Mongolian | Уучлаарай (Uuchlaarai) |
| Navajo | Dooládó’ dooda da |
| Norwegian | Unnskyld, Beklager |
| Occitan | Perdon! Desencusa! Desencusatz! |
| Papiamento | Sori |
| Pashto | (zeh mutaasif yum) زه هتاسف يم |
| Persian (Farsi) | (moteassefam) متاسفم! |
| Polish | Przepraszam! |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Me desculpe! (frm) Desculpa! Desculpe-me! Lamento! Sinto muito! sinto mutÃssimo! |
| Portuguese | Desculpe! (frm) Desculpa! (inf) |
| Punjabi | ਖਿਮਾ/ਮਾਫ਼ ਕਰੋ ਜੀ। / معاف کرو جی۔ (kimā/māf karō jī) |
| Quechua | Pampachaykuway |
| Romanian | Pardon! |
| Romansh | I ma displacha |
| Russian | Простите! (Prastite!) - frm, Прости! (Prasti!) - inf |
| Samoan | Fa'amalie atu |
| Sardinian (Logudorese) |
Mi dispiaghet (meda) |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gabh mo leisgeul! Tha mi duilich! |
| Scots | Sairy! |
| Serbian | Жао ми је (Žao mi je) Опростите (Oprostite) |
| Sesotho | Ntshwarele |
| Shona | Ndineurombo |
| Sicilian | Mi scusassi |
| Sinhala | මට සමාවෙන්න (mata samāvenna) කණගාටුයි (kan'agāṭuuyi) |
| Slovak | Pardón! |
| Slovenian | Oprostite (frm) Oprosti (inf) |
| Somali | Waan ka xumahay |
| Spanish | ¡Perdón! ¡Perdone! ¡Lo siento! |
| Swahili | Samahani |
| Swedish | Förlåt! |
| Swiss German | Es duet mr leid |
| Tagalog | Ipagpaumanhin ninyo ako! Paumanhin (po)! |
| Tamil | என்னை மன்னிச்சிடுங்க (enna maniichudunga) |
| Tatar | Ğafu ütínem |
| Telugu | మా క్షమాపణలు ! (maa kshamaapanalu) |
| Tetum | Deskulpa! |
| Thai | ขอโทษ (kŏr tôht) |
| Tibetan | ཀོང་དགས་། (gawn-da) |
| Tigrinya | ይቅሬታ! (Yiqreta!) |
| Tok Pisin | Mi sori (tumas) |
| Tongan | fakamolemole |
| Tswana | Ke kopa tshwarelo |
| Turkish | Pardon (inf) Özür dilerim (frm) |
| Ukrainian | Вибачте! (Vybačte) |
| Urdu | (māf karna) معاف کرنا |
| Uzbek | Afu eting |
| Venetian | Scuxéme (pl) Scùxeme (sg) El me scuxa |
| Vietnamese | Xin lỗi |
| Võro | Andis |
| Welsh | Mae'n ddrwg da fi/gen i! |
| Wolof | Baal ma |
| Yiddish | (Zay moykhl!) זײַ מוחל! |
| Xhosa | Ndicela uxolo |
| Yorùbá | Pẹlẹ |
| Yucatec Maya | Ma'taali'teeni' |
| Zazaki | Qusır de seyr meke |
| 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