Sorry in Different Languages
Discover 'Sorry' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Sorry
Afrikaans jammer | ||
Albanian me falni | ||
Amharic አዝናለሁ | ||
Arabic آسف | ||
Armenian ներողություն | ||
Assamese দুঃখিত | ||
Aymara p'ampachawi | ||
Azerbaijani bağışlayın | ||
Bambara hakɛto | ||
Basque barkatu | ||
Belarusian прабачце | ||
Bengali দুঃখিত | ||
Bhojpuri माँफ करीं | ||
Bosnian izvini | ||
Bulgarian съжалявам | ||
Catalan ho sento | ||
Cebuano pasensya na | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 抱歉 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 抱歉 | ||
Corsican scusa | ||
Croatian oprosti | ||
Czech promiňte | ||
Danish undskyld | ||
Dhivehi މަޢާފަށް އެދެން | ||
Dogri माफ करो | ||
Dutch sorry | ||
English sorry | ||
Esperanto pardonu | ||
Estonian vabandust | ||
Ewe babaa | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) sorry | ||
Finnish anteeksi | ||
French pardon | ||
Frisian sorry | ||
Galician perdón | ||
Georgian ბოდიში | ||
German es tut uns leid | ||
Greek συγνώμη | ||
Guarani chediskulpa | ||
Gujarati માફ કરશો | ||
Haitian Creole regrèt | ||
Hausa yi hakuri | ||
Hawaiian e kala mai | ||
Hebrew מצטער | ||
Hindi माफ़ करना | ||
Hmong thov txim | ||
Hungarian sajnálom | ||
Icelandic fyrirgefðu | ||
Igbo ndo | ||
Ilocano pasensya | ||
Indonesian maaf | ||
Irish tá brón orm | ||
Italian scusa | ||
Japanese ごめんなさい | ||
Javanese nuwun sewu | ||
Kannada ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿ | ||
Kazakh кешіріңіз | ||
Khmer សុំទោស | ||
Kinyarwanda mumbabarire | ||
Konkani माफ करचें | ||
Korean 죄송합니다 | ||
Krio sɔri | ||
Kurdish bibore | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ببوورە | ||
Kyrgyz кечириңиз | ||
Lao ຂໍໂທດ | ||
Latin paenitet | ||
Latvian atvainojiet | ||
Lingala bolimbisi | ||
Lithuanian atsiprašau | ||
Luganda nsonyiwa | ||
Luxembourgish entschëllegt | ||
Macedonian извини | ||
Maithili माफ क दिय | ||
Malagasy miala tsiny | ||
Malay maaf | ||
Malayalam ക്ഷമിക്കണം | ||
Maltese jiddispjaċini | ||
Maori aroha mai | ||
Marathi क्षमस्व | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯣꯏꯈ꯭ꯔꯦ | ||
Mizo tihpalh | ||
Mongolian уучлаарай | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) တောင်းပန်ပါတယ် | ||
Nepali माफ गर्नुहोस् | ||
Norwegian beklager | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) pepani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଦୁ sorry ଖିତ | ||
Oromo dhiifama | ||
Pashto بخښنه | ||
Persian متاسف | ||
Polish przepraszam | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) desculpa | ||
Punjabi ਮਾਫ ਕਰਨਾ | ||
Quechua llakikunim | ||
Romanian scuze | ||
Russian извиняюсь | ||
Samoan malie | ||
Sanskrit क्षम्यताम् | ||
Scots Gaelic duilich | ||
Sepedi ke maswabi | ||
Serbian извињавам се | ||
Sesotho masoabi | ||
Shona ndine hurombo | ||
Sindhi افسوس | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සමාවන්න | ||
Slovak prepáč | ||
Slovenian oprosti | ||
Somali raali ahow | ||
Spanish lo siento | ||
Sundanese punten | ||
Swahili samahani | ||
Swedish förlåt | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pasensya na | ||
Tajik бахшиш | ||
Tamil மன்னிக்கவும் | ||
Tatar гафу итегез | ||
Telugu క్షమించండి | ||
Thai ขอโทษ | ||
Tigrinya ይሓዝን | ||
Tsonga ku tisola | ||
Turkish afedersiniz | ||
Turkmen bagyşlaň | ||
Twi (Akan) kafra | ||
Ukrainian вибачте | ||
Urdu معذرت | ||
Uyghur كەچۈرۈڭ | ||
Uzbek uzr | ||
Vietnamese lấy làm tiếc | ||
Welsh sori | ||
Xhosa uxolo | ||
Yiddish אנטשולדיגט | ||
Yoruba ma binu | ||
Zulu ngiyaxolisa |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "jammer" can also be used as a noun meaning "pity" or "regret". |
| Amharic | "አዝናለሁ" is said to derive from the root verb "ዘነ" meaning "lament" or "be sad". |
| Arabic | The word "آسف" can also mean "sad" or "unhappy" in Arabic, highlighting the connection between regret and sadness in the language. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "bağışlayın" can also mean "forgive me" in Azerbaijani, as it is derived from the word "bağışlamak", which means "to forgive". |
| Basque | The Basque term "barkatu” means "forgive" in its original sense, but is now most commonly used in the sense of “excuse me” or “sorry". |
| Belarusian | Прабачце' also means 'forgive' in Belarusian, similar to its Russian cognate 'простите' |
| Bengali | "দুঃখিত" is derived from the Sanskrit word "duhkha-hita," which literally means "one who is distressed." |
| Bosnian | ''Izvini'' can also mean 'forgive me', as it originates from the verb 'izviniti'. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "съжалявам" also means "regret." |
| Catalan | The Catalan word 'ho sento' is a calque of the Italian 'mi dispiace' (literally 'it displeases me') and thus retains its original meaning despite the different way of expressing apologies in Catalan. |
| Cebuano | "Pasensya na" in Cebuano can also mean "please" or "excuse me". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 抱歉 (bàoqiàn) can also mean to expose a flaw or to make a mistake. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 抱歉's second meaning of 'show affection' derives from the word '拋' (бросить). |
| Corsican | The Corsican "scusa" can also mean "excuse" or "forgiveness" |
| Croatian | "Oprosti" is formed by *o-* prefixed to the verb stem which is the cognate of Polish prościć – "beg", "implore", "ask pardon of" |
| Czech | "Promiňte" comes from the verb "prominout," which means "to forgive" or "to absolve from blame". |
| Danish | The word “undskyld” stems from a phrase meaning “not having an argument to give” (i.e. admitting fault), with its usage evolving from “excuse” to “apology”. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word 'sorry' is derived from the Old English word 'sari', meaning 'pain' or 'grief', and has the same meaning in Dutch. |
| Esperanto | "Pardonu" is derived from the French word "pardon", a false friend meaning "forgiveness" rather than apology. |
| Estonian | "Vabandust" is related to the Latin verb "venire" (to come): it literally means "a coming". |
| Finnish | The word 'anteeksi' originates from the verb 'antaa', meaning 'to give', and implies giving forgiveness or asking for it. |
| French | The French word "pardon" comes from the Latin word "perdonare", which means "to give up" or "to forgive". |
| Frisian | In Frisian, "sorry" can also refer to a heavy, wet, dampening mist. |
| Galician | Originally the word "perdón" meant in Galician "allow" or "let (someone) pass". |
| German | In German, “Es tut uns leid” literally translates to “It does us grief” or “It pains us”. |
| Greek | The word "συγνώμη" originates from the Greek words "συν" (with) and "γνώμη" (knowledge, judgment), so it originally meant "to understand someone's perspective or to forgive someone's mistake." |
| Gujarati | "માફ કરશો" derives from the Persian "maafi khaastan," meaning "to forgive" or "to pardon," a concept borrowed from the Islamic faith. |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'regrèt' in Haitian Creole comes from the French word 'regret' and means 'sadness' or 'disappointment'. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word 'yi hakuri' ('sorry') is also used to express gratitude or ask forgiveness. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian phrase "e kala mai" can also mean "excuse me" or "pardon me" in English, which is a reflection of how Hawaiian culture emphasizes respect and politeness. |
| Hebrew | "מצטער" (sorry in Hebrew) also means "to wait". |
| Hindi | माफ़ करना's origin is in the Arabic word 'mu'aafa', meaning 'to pardon' |
| Hmong | Literally translates to "to miss the mouth", referring to the feeling of regret after speaking carelessly. |
| Hungarian | "Sajnálat" was originally a noun meaning "regret" or "loss", but it has evolved into an adverb meaning "unfortunately" or "regrettably". |
| Icelandic | The word "fyrirgefðu" in Icelandic comes from the Old Norse word "fyrirgefa", which means "to pardon" or "to forgive". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "ndo" may also be translated as "an exclamation of surprise or fear" or "a greeting to an important person" |
| Indonesian | The word "Maaf" in Indonesian is derived from the Arabic word "ma'afu", which means "forgiven". |
| Irish | The Irish phrase "tá brón orm" can also mean "I am ashamed" or "I have sympathy for you." |
| Italian | In addition to "sorry", "scusa" can also mean "excuse me" or "forgive me". |
| Japanese | "ごめんなさい" is also used euphemistically for "thank you" in some cases. |
| Javanese | Nu(l) and wu(l) are also present in other Javanese words like nulung (help) and wuluh (to become), signifying 'effort'. The word sewu is derived from the Sanskrit Sahasra (thousand), suggesting that an apology involves a thousand efforts to restore the relationship. |
| Kannada | The origin of the Kannada word "ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಿ" ("sorry") can be traced back to a Sanskrit origin "छमा" ("forgiveness") suggesting its connection to the concept of forgiveness. |
| Kazakh | The word “кешіріңіз” in Kazakh also means “to let go”, “to forgive”, and “to excuse”. |
| Khmer | The word "សុំទោស" can also be used as a polite way to ask for something, such as a favor or permission. |
| Korean | 죄송합니다 literally means 'I have sinned against you' and can be used as a synonym for 'help' or 'thank you' depending on the context. |
| Kurdish | It’s possible that the word is derived from the Middle Persian word "bebarr" which means "burden" or "burdened". |
| Kyrgyz | "Кечириңиз" is a Kyrgyz word that is ultimately derived from the Persian word "بخشیدن" (bakhshid), which means "to forgive". It can also be used in a more general sense to mean "excuse me" or "I'm sorry". |
| Lao | The Lao word "ຂໍໂທດ" comes from the Sanskrit word "kṣāma" meaning "to bear with patience" or "to forgive". |
| Latin | The Latin "paenitet" means repentance, but its original meaning in Ancient Greek was a debt to be paid. |
| Latvian | The word "atvainojiet" comes from the archaic word "atvainot", meaning "to correct one's sin before taking Communion". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "atsiprašau" is a calque from the German "ich bitte um Verzeihung," meaning "I ask for forgiveness." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "entschëllegt" is derived from the Old French word "escouter" meaning "to listen", and has the alternate meaning of "excuse me". |
| Macedonian | The word “извини” originates from the old Bulgarian word “извинѫти”, which has multiple meanings, including but not limited to “to justify”, “to exempt”, and “to let go”. |
| Malagasy | Miala tsiny, meaning "to ask for forgiveness", is derived from the verb mia "to give" and the noun tsiny "a fault or mistake." |
| Malay | The word "maaf" can also mean "forgive" or "pardon" in Malay, and is derived from the Arabic word "maghfirah". |
| Malayalam | "ക്ഷമിക്കണം" literally means "excuse me" in Malayalam and can also be used in more formal or polite contexts compared to "sorry". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "jiddispjaċini" comes from the Italian "dispiacere," meaning "to displease" or "to cause displeasure." |
| Maori | The word "aroha mai" can also mean "love" or "compassion" in Māori.. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "क्षमस्व" (kshamaasva) has its roots in Sanskrit, where "kshama" means "pardon" or "forgiveness", and "asva" means "to be", suggesting a request for pardon or forgiveness. |
| Mongolian | The word "уучлаарай" can also mean "please excuse me" or "I apologize" in Mongolian. |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "माफ गर्नुहोस्" not only means "sorry" but also implies the speaker seeks forgiveness of the listener |
| Norwegian | "Beklager" is derived from the Old Norse word "at biðja" meaning "to ask" or "to pray", and the suffix "-lig" indicating "worthy of". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Nyanja, "Pepani" also means "to be pitiful" or "to be in a state of sorrow or regret." |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "بخښنه" can also refer to forgiveness, pardon, or mercy. |
| Persian | The word "متاسف" in Persian can also mean "sad" or "regretful", and is derived from the Arabic root word "أسف", meaning "grief" or "sorrow". |
| Polish | The word "przepraszam" is derived from the Old Polish verb "przepraszać", meaning "to ask for forgiveness" or "to beg for mercy". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Despite its common meaning of "sorry" in Portuguese, "desculpa" is derived from the Latin phrase "de culpa," meaning "out of fault". In this sense, it signifies an acknowledgement of responsibility before offering an apology. |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word for 'sorry', 'ਮਾਫ ਕਰਨਾ', can also be translated as 'forgive' or 'pardon'. It carries the connotation of seeking mercy or forgiveness for a wrong or mistake. |
| Romanian | The word scuze derives from the Greek term exousía, meaning permission. |
| Russian | The word "извиняюсь" can also mean "I am excused" or "I beg your pardon". |
| Samoan | The word 'malie' can also mean 'to feel ashamed' or 'to be humble', implying a sense of regret or remorse. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word “duilich” can also refer to a type of weed. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "извињавам се" literally means "I apologize myself". |
| Sesotho | The etymology of "masoabi" is uncertain, but it may be derived from the verb "soa" meaning "to err" or "to be wrong". |
| Shona | The word "ndine hurombo" in Shona can also mean "I regret" or "I apologize". It is derived from the verb "kurova", which means "to break" or "to destroy", and the noun "hurombo", which means "sorrow" or "regret". Therefore, "ndine hurombo" literally means "I have broken my heart" or "I have caused myself sorrow". |
| Sindhi | The word "افسوس" in Sindhi can also be used to express regret or disappointment. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "සමාවන්න" comes from the Pali word "samavāyati" meaning "to pardon" or "excuse." |
| Slovak | The word "Prepáč" also means "sieve" in Slovak and is related to the Old Church Slavonic word "prěpačiti" meaning "to sift" or "to strain". |
| Slovenian | The word "oprosti" (sorry) in Slovene also means "exonerate" or "release" in a legal context. |
| Somali | The word 'raali ahow' in Somali can also be used to express relief or gratitude. |
| Spanish | "Lo siento" also means "I feel it," capturing the empathetic nature of apologizing. |
| Sundanese | Punten is also used as a polite way to attract someone's attention or to ask for something. |
| Swahili | "Samahani" is derived from the verb "samaha," meaning "to forgive" or "to make light of a wrong," and is used in both formal and informal contexts to express regret, apology, or sympathy. |
| Swedish | "Förlåt" literally translates to "for forgiveness", and can also be used to ask for forgiveness or excuse oneself. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Filipino, the phrase "pasensya na" can also express resignation, acceptance, or tolerance. |
| Tajik | The word "бахшиш" in Tajik can also refer to a bribe or tip. |
| Telugu | The word "క్షమించండి" is derived from the Sanskrit word "kshama", which means "forgiveness" or "patience". |
| Thai | "ขอโทษ" (khǒotòot) is derived from the Sanskrit "kṣamā" meaning "forgiveness" and is often used in polite conversation to convey regret, apology, or sympathy. |
| Turkish | "Afedersiniz" (sorry) is derived from Arabic "afw" (forgiveness) and Persian "-id" (a noun suffix). |
| Ukrainian | The word "вибачте" derives from the Old Russian verb "видати," meaning "to see, to perceive". |
| Urdu | The word "معذرت" in Urdu can also mean "excuse" or "apology". |
| Uzbek | The word uzr in Uzbek is derived from the Persian word |
| Vietnamese | "Lấy làm tiếc" comes from the Vietnamese word "lấy" meaning "to take" and "tiếc" meaning "to regret". |
| Welsh | The word "sori" can also be an adjective in Welsh meaning "sad" or "wretched." |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "uxolo" can also mean "peace". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "אנטשולדיגט" can also mean "excused" or "forgiven". |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word "ma binu" can also mean "forgive me" or "please don't be angry". |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'ngiyaxolisa' ('sorry') also means 'I have forgiven' or 'I will forgive', reflecting the interconnectedness of apology and forgiveness in Zulu culture. |
| English | The word 'sorry' originates from the Middle English word 'sori,' meaning 'painful' or 'grieving,' and has evolved over time to express regret, sympathy, and apology. |