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!! |
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