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 (Modern Standard) | (aasef!) أسف |
| Arabic (Egyptian) | (aasif/a - m/f) آسف! |
| Armenian (Eastern) | Ներողությո'ւն: (Nerogh.utyun) Կներե'ք: (Knerek’) |
| Avar | ТIасалъугьа! (Tʼasałuha) |
| Azerbaijani | Bağışlayın / Məni bağışlayın / Üzr istəyirəm |
| Belarusian | Прабачце (Prabachtsye) Выбачайце (Vybachaytsye) |
| Bosnian | Oprostite! |
| Breton | Eskuzit ac'hanon! Digarez! |
| Bulgarian | Съжалявам!
|
| Catalan | Perdó! Em sap greu |
| Chamorro | Dispensa yu |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 對唔住 (deuim̀jyuh) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 對不起 [对不起] duìbùqǐ 抱歉 bàoqiàn |
| Chinese (Shanghaiese) | 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!
|
| 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) |
| 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
Извинете |
| 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! |
| Mongolian | Уучлаарай (Uuchlaarai) |
| Norwegian | Beklager, Unnskyld |
| Occitan | Perdon! Desencusa! Desencusatz! |
| Persian | (motaasef) !متاسف! |
| 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!
|
| Sardinian | Mi dispraghidu! |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gabh mo leisgeul!
|
| Scots | Sairy! |
| Serbian | Жао ми је (Žao mi je) ????????? (Oprostite) |
| Sesotho | Ntshwarele |
| Shona | Ndineurombo |
| Slovak | Pardón! |
| Slovenian | Oprostite (frm) Oprosti (inf) |
| Spanish | ¡Perdón! ¡Perdone! ¡Lo siento! |
| Swahili | Samehani |
| Swedish | Förlåt!
|
| Tagalog | Ipagpaumanhin ninyo ako! Paumanhin (po)! |
| Tamil | மன்னிக்கவும்! (mannikkavum) |
| Thai | ผม(ฉัน)เสียใจ (pǒm (chân) sěe-a jai) |
| 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 |
| Zulu | Uxolo! |
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of any of these phrases, please send them to
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Welcome | Hello | How are you? | Long time no see | What's your name? | Where are you from? | Pleased to meet you | Good morning | Good afternoon | Good evening | Good night | Good bye | Good luck | Cheers/Good health | Have a nice day | Bon appetit | Bon voyage | I don't understand | Please say that again | Please speak more slowly | Can you please write it down? | Do you speak ...? | Excuse me | How much is this? | Sorry | Thank you | Where's the toilet? | This gentleman/lady will pay for everything | Would you like to dance with me? | I love you | Get well soon | How do you say ... in [your language]? | Leave me alone! | Help! | Call the police! | Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year | Happy Easter | Happy Birthday | Idioms | It's all Greek to me | It's raining cats and dogs | As easy as falling off a log | A sandwich short of a picnic | When pigs fly | 'Useful' phrases | My hovercraft is full of eels | Tongue twisters | Proverbs, quotations and sayings about language | One language is never enough | Stop the world, I want to get off! | Days of the week
Copyright 1998- Simon Ager