Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Fun and Easy Italian by ItalianPod101.com!
Do you know in what situations you should apologize in Italian?
Stay tuned and we’ll tell you!
Ciao a tutti, sono Felice.
Hi everyone! I’m Felice.
And I’m Alisha.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say "I'm sorry" in Italian.
In Italy, there are different Italian words used to say "I’m sorry," and they depend on the circumstances and the people that you’re talking to.
Learning how to apologize is important because it’s a great way to create lasting relationships and help you make a good impression when making new friends in Italy.
In this video, we will discuss why "sorry" is a difficult word to translate. You’ll also learn a variety of ways to say "sorry" in Italian, and how to apologize to different people and in various situations.
Before we start, let’s discuss why "sorry" is a complicated word.
According to Harvard Business Review, "I'm sorry" is a complicated expression because it involves many cultural factors.
For example, in most Western cultures, what "I’m sorry" really means is "I’ve made a mistake, therefore I’m sorry."
While in a country like Japan, an apology doesn’t mean that the person is admitting that he or she is wrong. Instead, they usually do it in order to repair the relationship.
It’s more like, "I’m sorry that there’s this problem between us. Please, let’s fix it."
Italy has an individualistic society with strong familial ties, where honor still has some relevance, and as in many other Western cultures, saying "I am sorry" in Italian involves an admission of culpability.
But keep in mind, if you apologize insincerely or at inappropriate times, you might give the impression that you’re weak or being dishonest.
Let’s now discuss when to say "I’m sorry" in Italian.
"I am sorry" in Italian involves an admission of guilt, just like most other Western Countries.
You’re supposed to apologize in mainly three different situations:
First, when you’ve done something wrong, even if you haven’t done it on purpose.
Second, when you’re disturbing someone or something.
Third, when you’re lacking something.
Let's start by learning about what things that are considered wrong in Italy.
When you’ve done something that Italians consider wrong, you are expected to say sorry.
So here are some scenarios in which you’d be expected to apologize:
You forget an appointment or a birthday.
You offend someone, even if it’s not on purpose.
You make a mistake while working.
Or, you’re late to meet someone.
But you do have to remember that many Italians have a very flexible idea of punctuality, and if they arrive fifteen minutes late, they might not see the need to apologize.
You are also expected to apologize when you disturb someone .
This includes
interrupting someone who’s speaking.
needing someone to move in order to pass through.
and entering a room during a meeting or a private discussion.
And lastly, here are some moments where you need to apologize for lacking something:
When you invite someone to your home and you’re out of coffee, wine, or anything else your guest wants.
When someone talks to you in a language you don’t speak.
And when you don’t know something that you should know.
Now that we know when to apologize, let’s finally learn some Italian!
Here are a selection of different ways to say "sorry" in Italian:
Saying sorry in Italian depends on the situation, but the most commonly used phrase is
Scusa
"I’m sorry"
[SLOW] Scusa
Scusa
Although this word can also mean "I apologize," "excuse me," and "pardon," scusa and the following words all basically means "sorry" in Italian.
Scusa is an informal way to apologize, so you should avoid using it with someone you are not familiar with.
Here are some examples:
Sarò venti minuti in ritardo, scusa.
"I’ll be twenty minutes late, sorry."
[SLOW] Sarò venti minuti in ritardo, scusa.
Sarò venti minuti in ritardo, scusa.
Scusa per la fretta, ma ho poco tempo.
"I’m sorry for the rush, but I have little time."
[SLOW] Scusa per la fretta, ma ho poco tempo.
Scusa per la fretta, ma ho poco tempo.
Another word used to say "sorry" in Italian is,
Scusate.
[SLOW] Scusate
Scusate
The meaning of scusate is the same as scusa, but it should be used when apologizing to more than one person.
Here’s an example:
Scusate, ho dimenticato che dovevamo vederci tutti in pizzeria stasera.
"Sorry, I forgot that we were all supposed to meet at the pizzeria tonight."
[SLOW] Scusate, ho dimenticato che dovevamo vederci tutti in pizzeria stasera.
Scusate, ho dimenticato che dovevamo vederci tutti in pizzeria stasera.
You can also say
Mi scusi
[SLOW] Mi scusi
Mi scusi
This is like scusa, but it’s more formal.
It’s used when addressing someone with the formal third person singular pronoun lei, such as an older person you don’t know very well, a client, or a professor.
Here are some examples:
Mi scusi, vorrei avere delle informazioni sui vostri corsi di italiano.
"Excuse me, I’d like to have more information about your Italian courses."
[SLOW] Mi scusi, vorrei avere delle informazioni sui vostri corsi di italiano.
Mi scusi, vorrei avere delle informazioni sui vostri corsi di italiano.
Mi scusi, non parlo italiano.
"Sorry, I don’t speak Italian."
[SLOW] Mi scusi, non parlo italiano.
Mi scusi, non parlo italiano.
Another common informal way to say "sorry" is
scusami
[SLOW] scusami
scusami
and in formal settings, you’d say
Mi scuso
[SLOW] mi scuso
Mi scuso
Scusami and Mi scuso is like scusa, but with a more emphatic nuance.
Here are some examples:
Scusami, mi sono davvero comportato male ieri sera.
"I’m sorry, I behaved very badly last night."
[SLOW] Scusami, mi sono davvero comportato male ieri sera.
Scusami, mi sono davvero comportato male ieri sera.
Sono stato molto scortese, mi scuso.
"I’ve been very rude, I’m sorry."
[SLOW] Sono stato molto scortese, mi scuso.
Sono stato molto scortese, mi scuso.
Next we have
scusatemi.
[SLOW] scusatemi.
scusatemi.
This informal phrase is like scusami, but is used when addressing more than one person.
Here’s an example:
A causa del mio errore abbiamo perso un cliente, scusatemi.
"Because of my mistake we lost a client, I’m sorry."
[SLOW] A causa del mio errore abbiamo perso un cliente, scusatemi
A causa del mio errore abbiamo perso un cliente, scusatemi
Then we have
Mi dispiace.
[SLOW] Mi dispiace.
Mi dispiace.
This form of "I’m sorry" is used in a formal situation if you want to express your sympathy.
Here are two examples:
Non sapevo della tua perdita, mi dispiace.
"I didn’t know about your loss, I’m sorry."
[SLOW] Non sapevo della tua perdita, mi dispiace.
Non sapevo della tua perdita, mi dispiace.
Mi dispiace che tu non possa venire a Roma con noi.
"I’m sorry that you won’t be able to come to Rome with us."
[SLOW] Mi dispiace che tu non possa venire a Roma con noi.
Mi dispiace che tu non possa venire a Roma con noi.
Next is
Perdonami,
"Forgive me."
[SLOW] Perdonami.
Perdonami.
This word translates to "forgive me," and it’s used when talking to one person that you’re addressing with the informal second person singular pronoun tu.
For example,
Perdonami per averti fatto soffrire.
"Forgive me for making you suffer."
[SLOW] Perdonami per averti fatto soffrire.
Perdonami per averti fatto soffrire.
You can also say Perdonatemi,
"forgive me," to a group.
[SLOW] Perdonatemi
Perdonatemi
This is the same as perdonami, but is used when apologizing to more than one person.
For example,
Perdonatemi per tutti i problemi che ho causato con la mia disattenzione.
"Forgive me for all the problems I’ve caused with my carelessness."
[SLOW] Perdonatemi per tutti i problemi che ho causato con la mia disattenzione.
Perdonatemi per tutti i problemi che ho causato con la mia disattenzione.
Then we have
Ti prego di scusarmi
"Please, forgive me,"
[SLOW] Ti prego di scusarmi
Ti prego di scusarmi
Instead of scusarmi, you can also use perdonarmi, as in
Ti prego di perdonarmi.
These are used as stronger informal requests for forgiveness.
Here are examples:
Sono stato davvero sciocco a dire quelle cose, ti prego di scusarmi.
"I was really silly to say those things, please, forgive me."
[SLOW] Sono stato davvero sciocco a dire quelle cose, ti prego di scusarmi.
Sono stato davvero sciocco a dire quelle cose, ti prego di scusarmi.
Ti prego di perdonarmi per la mia arroganza.
"Please, forgive me for my arrogance."
[SLOW] Ti prego di perdonarmi per la mia arroganza.
Ti prego di perdonarmi per la mia arroganza.
Similarly, we also have
La prego di scusarmi
[SLOW] La prego di scusarmi
La prego di scusarmi
This is the same as the last phrase we talked about, but it’s more formal, so it’s used when talking to someone with the formal pronoun lei.
As before, it’s also possible to replace scusarmi here with perdonarmi, as in
La prego di perdonarmi.
Here’s an example sentence:
La prego di scusarmi per l'inefficienza.
"Please, forgive me for the inefficiency."
[SLOW] La prego di scusarmi per l'inefficienza.
La prego di scusarmi per l'inefficienza.
And lastly, we have
Vi prego di scusarmi
"Please, forgive me," to a group in a formal situation.
[SLOW] Vi prego di scusarmi
Vi prego di scusarmi
Similar to the previous phrases, you can use perdonarmi instead of scusarmi,
as in Vi prego di perdonarmi.
This phrase is the same as the formal La prego di scusarmi, but used when apologizing to more than one person.
For example:
Ho commesso un grave errore, vi prego di perdonarmi.
"I’ve made a big mistake, please, forgive me."
[SLOW] Ho commesso un grave errore, vi prego di perdonarmi.
Ho commesso un grave errore, vi prego di perdonarmi.
Now that you know several ways to say "I’m sorry" and "forgive me," let’s quickly learn how to say "Excuse me" or "Pardon" to someone you don’t know on the street.
It’s actually very easy. You just have to say
scusa
[SLOW] scusa
scusa
to younger boys and girls, or
scusi
[SLOW] scusi
scusi
to older people.
For example:
Scusa, dovrei scendere alla prossima fermata.
"Sorry, I should get off at the next stop."
[SLOW] Scusa, dovrei scendere alla prossima fermata.
Scusa, dovrei scendere alla prossima fermata.
Scusi, posso passare?
"Excuse me, could I pass?"
[SLOW] Scusi, posso passare?
Scusi, posso passare?
And that’s it!
But before you go, let’s check if you remember what you’ve learned.
Here’s a small quiz for you.
I will describe a situation, and you have to guess which word would be best to apologize with.
Ready?
Imagine, you were invited to your friend's birthday party last night, but you got a bad cold and you couldn’t make it.
Here’s a hint: The answer is like scusa, but with a more emphatic nuance.
How would you say "I’m sorry"?
[Pause 5 seconds.]
Scusami
Scusami per aver perso la tua festa ieri sera.
"I’m sorry for missing your party last night."
[SLOW] Scusami per aver perso la tua festa ieri sera.
Scusami per aver perso la tua festa ieri sera.
Now, let’s say you’re attending your Italian class. Your teacher asks you something, but you weren’t focused and couldn’t understand her.
Again, the hint is that the answer is like scusa, but it’s formal, and has a more emphatic nuance.
How would you apologize for not listening?
[Pause 5 seconds.]
Mi scusi
Mi scusi, non ho capito cosa ha detto.
"I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said."
[SLOW] Mi scusi, non ho capito cosa ha detto.
Mi scusi, non ho capito cosa ha detto.
Here is the last question!
Imagine you work at a pizza shop which is preparing a pizza for an Italian party. You’re the delivery person, but just after ringing the bell, you drop the pizza.
Someone then opens the door and you see a ton of disappointed faces.
How would you apologize for this?
[Pause 5 seconds.]
Vi prego di perdonarmi
Vi prego di perdonarmi.
"Please, forgive me," to a group in a formal situation.
[SLOW] Vi prego di perdonarci.
Vi prego di perdonarci.
And there you have it!
Could you get all the questions right?
In this lesson, you learned what makes "sorry" a complicated word, in what situations an Italian person would apologize, and then several different ways for how to say "sorry" in Italian.
Want to learn Italian fast with PDF cheat sheets? You can get cheat sheets for all kinds of topics: travel, hobbies, love and much more… …and you'll learn all of the must-know words and phrases for each. Click the link in the lesson description and sign up for a free lifetime account to get them!
That’s it for today! See you next time!
Alla prossima!

Comments

Hide