Learn how to apologize
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| Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Hi everybody! I’m Laura. |
| Welcome to GermanPod101.com’s “Deutsch in 3 Minuten”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn German. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the phrase Entschuldigen Sie, sprechen Sie Englisch? "Excuse me, do you speak English?" We mentioned the word Entschuldigen Sie, which means "excuse me" in formal German. |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use Entschuldigen Sie and other words when apologizing in German. |
| We should use Entschuldigen Sie in formal situations, such as when we are ordering something in bars or restaurants. For example: |
| Entschuldigen Sie, einen Kaffee bitte. "Excuse me, a coffee please." |
| We can also use it when asking a question: |
| Entschuldigen Sie, wo ist der Ausgang? "Excuse me, where is the exit, please?" |
| Sometimes we also hear people say bitte, which means the same thing when you want to draw somebody's attention. We always use this phrase in formal speech. |
| [slowly] Bitte. |
| The informal way to say "excuse me" is Entschuldige |
| [slowly] Entschuldige. |
| Just like Entschuldigen Sie, we can use Entschuldige when asking a question, or when apologizing. |
| We can also use the word Entschuldigung if You are not sure whether to use the formal or informal way. |
| All of these phrases can be used for either “excuse me” or “I’m sorry.” But if you really want to apologize for something, it might be better to use a different phrase. |
| That phrase is Es tut mir leid. It means “I am sorry.” and can be used in both formal and informal situations. |
| [slowly] Es tut mir leid. |
| First we have Es, or “It”. Next, we insert the German word for “to do” tun. When this is conjugated for es in German, it is tut. Mir is the dative form of the reflexive verb tun. In this case it’s oneself, so You use mir. If it was You, one would say Dir. |
| Finally we have leid, literally meaning "sorrow." |
| Es tut mir leid. |
| Now it’s time for Laura’s Insights. |
| Please remember that in Germany if you accidentally bump into someone, we don’t say “I am sorry,” es tut mir leid; instead we say Entschuldigen Sie, Entschuldige or Entschuldigung for both cases. |
| Are you are able to count in German? In the next lesson we will learn the numbers in German from one to ten! |
| I'll be waiting for you in our next Deutsch in 3 Minuten” lesson. |
| Bis bald zur nächsten Lektion!! |
Comments
HideHi Alex!
Deine Frage ist großartig! 😊 "Entschuldigen Sie. Wo ist der Ausgang?" bedeutet auf Englisch "Excuse me. Where is the exit?" Das ist eine sehr nützliche Frage, wenn du dich in einem Gebäude oder einem unbekannten Ort befindest.
Wenn du weitere Fragen hast, lass es uns bitte wissen.
Vielen Dank!
Team GermanPod101.com
Entschuldigen Sie. Wo ist der Ausgang?
Hi Christina Wilke!
Es freut uns zu hören, dass du anfängst, Wörter in den Sätzen zu erkennen! 😊 (We are pleased to hear that you are starting to recognize words in the sentences!)
Dein Satz "Entschuldigen Sie, Wo ist der Ausgang bitte?" ist fast perfekt! (Your sentence "Excuse me, where is the exit, please?" is almost perfect!)
Hier ist ein kleiner Tipp: "Wo" sollte klein geschrieben werden, da es nicht am Satzanfang steht. (Here is a small tip: "Wo" should be written in lowercase as it is not at the beginning of the sentence.)
If you have any questions in your language learning journey, please let us know.
Vielen Dank!
Team GermanPod101.com
Entschuldigen Sie, Wo ist der Ausgang bitte?
Starting to recognise words in the sentences beispiels.
Hi Joakim!
Tolle Frage! 🚪 In German, you asked, "Entschuldigen Sie. Wo ist der Notausgang?" which translates to "Excuse me. Where is the emergency exit?" in English. This is a very useful phrase to know, especially when traveling.
If you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to let us know!
Vielen Dank (Thank you),
Team GermanPod101.com
Entschuldigen Sie. Wo ist der Notausgang?
Hi nehal,
Thank you for posting. Good question. 👍
"Entschuldigung" or even better "Ich bitte um Entschuldigung" are not wrong when apologizing
for something but, firstly they are very formal (especially the second one), and secondly, because
Entschuldigen Sie bitte / Entschuldigung are used in so many other situations, it might not be perceived
as sufficient when trying to make up for a mistake you made.
"Es tut mir leid" does truly express the feeling that you ARE SORRY for something you did or said. 😉
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Yours sincerely,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
why we don't use "es tut mir leid" if we did something wrong o , and use " entschuldigun" ? i feel lost again :(((
Hello Min,
Thank you for posting.
"bitte" in the sense of this lesson is used the same way as "excuse me" in English. The "please" is an
added formality. It works the same way in German.
The examples above are maybe a little confusing because they use the "Entschuldigen
Sie" together with the "bitte". They are otherwise quite well chosen and representative for this topic. You will
hear the following sentences a lot:
Einen Kaffee, bitte. "Excuse me, a coffee please."
Wo ist der Ausgang, bitte? "Excuse me, where is the exit, please?"
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Yours sincerely,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Could you please explain the following sentence in detail and provide some examples?
Sometimes we also hear people say bitte, which means the same thing when you want to draw somebody's attention. We always use this phrase in formal speech.
Hello Aahana,
Thank you for posting.
You seem a hard worker. 😄
Please allow me to make a few tiny little changes to your sentence
in order to aid your learning:
Entschuldigen Sie, wo ist der Ausgang?
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.😉
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Enschudigen Sie, Wos ist dier Ausang!
Hi Kania,
Thank you for getting back to us.
Homework well done! 👍
Please allow me to make a few tiny little changes to aid your learning:
Entschuldigen Sie, was sagen Sie?
You could also say "Entschuldigen Sie, was haben Sie gesagt?" 😉
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Entschuldigen Sie, Was sagen sie?
Hi Dan,
Thank you for getting back to us.
That's a great question and you are right, Leid on its own is a noun. 👍
The reason it is written lower case above is that there we use the compound verb "leidtun" (feel sorry for),
and as with many compound verbs you can separate the "leid" from the the rest and it will stay
the way it is. 😉
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Hello,
I'd like to know why "leid" is not capitalized if it means "sorrow" and it's a noun.
Thank you!
Hi Kimberly,
Thank you for posting.
Well done! Keep up the good work. 👍
(One little detail: "wo" instead of "woe"!) 😉
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Es tut mir leid.
Formal: Entschuldigen Sie, woe ist der Ausgang?
Informal: Entschuldige, woe ist der Kaffe?
Hi Mohammed Ali,
Thank you for posting.
Practice makes perfect. 👍
Please allow me to make a few tiny little changes to your sentence in order to aid
your learning:
Entschuldigung Sie (bitte). Wo ist der Ausgang? 😉
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Entschuldigung,sie
Wo ist der Ausgang