“Sorry” may be one word, but did you know that it holds many different meanings? Sorry may be an admission of wrongdoing, an empathetic appeal to someone who suffered a tragedy, or an attempt at repairing a damaged relationship — and that’s just in America. But whether you’re comforting a friend, or finally admitting to your wife that maybe, just this one time, you were at fault, everyone is comforted by a sincere apology.
No matter where your travels take you, “I’m sorry” is one of those phrases that is well known everywhere, so take a minute to learn a little bit more about how to say sorry in 50 different languages.
- Afrikaans: “Jammer”
- Albanian: “Më vjen keq”
- Arabic: “Maedhira”
- Armenian: “Nerets’yek’”
- Basque: “Barkatu”
- Bosnian: “Izvini”
- Catalan: “Ho sento”
- Chinese: “Bàoqiàn”
- Croatian: “Oprostite”
- Czech: “Promiňte”
- Danish: “Undskyld”
- Esperanto: “Pardonon”
- Estonian: “Vabandust”
- Filipino: “Paumanhin”
- Finnish: “Anteeksi”
- French: “Pardon”
- Galician: “Sentímolo”
- German: “Es tut uns leid”
- Reek: “Sygnómi”
- Haitian Creole: “Padon”
- Hawaiian: “E kala mai iaʻu”
- Hindi: “Maaf keejiye”
- Hungarian: “Sajnálom”
- Igbo: “Ndo”
- Indonesian: “Maaf”
- Irish: “Tá brón orm”
- Italian: “Scusate”
- Japanese: “Gomen’nasai”
- Kazakh: “Keşiriñiz”
- Latin: “Nos paenitet”
- Latvian: “Atvainojiet”
- Lithuanian: “Atsiprašome”
- Luxembourgish: “Entschëllegt”
- Malay: “Maaf”
- Maltese: “Jiddispjacini”
- Norwegian: “Beklager”
- Przepraszam: “Przepraszam”
- Portuguese: “Desculpa”
- Romanian: “Scuze”
- Russian: “Sozhaleyu”
- Samoan: “Faamalie”
- Spanish: “Lo siento”
- Sundanese: “Hampura”
- Swahili: “Samahani”
- Swedish: “Förlåt”
- Turkish: “Afedersiniz”
- Ukrainian: Vybachte”
- Vietnamese: “Lấy làm tiếc”
- Welsh: “Mae’n ddrwg gennym”
- Zulu: “Uxolo”
What’s another way to say “I’m sorry” in any language?” With an exquisite bouquet of flowers! No matter the reason, flowers add a personal touch to any occasion.
