20 Ways To Say “Sorry” In English

Today you’re going to learn 20 different ways to say “sorry” in English.今天，你会学习到20种不同的方式用英语说"对不起"。

Why should you learn all these different expressions? Because they’re used in different situations.为什么要学习所有这些不同的表达方式？因为它们用于不同的情形。

There are many different times we might want to say “sorry,” but we’d use different words depending on whether we spilled some coffee, or hurt someone’s feelings, or made a mistake at work. Some of these phrases are more informal and casual, and others are more serious.有很多不同的情况，我们可能想说"对不起"，但我们会使用不同的词，这取决于我们是洒了一些咖啡，或伤害别人的感情，或在工作上犯了一个错误。其中一些短语更非正式和随意，而另一些则更正式。

This means you’re not just learning a bunch of equivalent ways to say the same thing – you’re learning what you would say in different situations, so that you can be more fluent. 这意味着你不只是学习一堆相同的方式来说同一件事 —— 你要学会在不同的情况下会说些什么，这样才能更流利。

Sorry about that

✏️“Looks like I gave you the wrong phone number. Sorry about that.”"看起来我给了你错误的电话号码。很抱歉。

We can use “Sorry about that” for minor mistakes, things that are less serious, and easily fixed. We would not use this phrase for something that really hurt someone or caused them major inconvenience. 我们可以在犯了一些小错误的时候用"Sorry about that"，那些不太严重，而且很容易修复的事情。在伤害到别人或给他们带来重大不便的事情的时候，我们不会用这句话。

I’m so sorry.

✏️“I lost the book you lent me. I’m so sorry!“"我弄丢了了你借给我的书。我很抱歉！

When the problem is more serious, we often say something like “I’m so/very/really/terribly sorry” to show that we understand we caused a problem or did something more serious.当问题更严重时，我们经常说"我非常/真的/非常抱歉"，以表明我们明白我们造成了问题或做了更严重的事情。

Oops/whoops

✏️“Oops / whoops – I just spilled some coffee. I’ll clean it up.”"哎呀 / 哎呀 — — 我刚洒了些咖啡。我会清理它。

We use oops and whoops to admit minor accidents – small things that don’t cause too much harm.我们用’Oops’和’Whoops’来承认小事故 — — 不会造成太多伤害的小事。

My bad

✏️“Oh, I sent you the wrong link. My bad.”"哦，我发了你错误的链接。我的错。

My bad (informal) and my mistake are used to admit you did something wrong, but it was relatively minor.“Mya bad”（非正式的） 和”My mistake”被用来承认你做错了什么， 但相对是一些小错。

It was my fault

✏️“It was my fault that we didn’t get to the airport on time.”"我们没及时到达机场是我的错。

You can say “it was my fault” for admitting you were responsible for something a little more serious.你可以说 "It was my fault"， 承认你负责一些更严肃的事情。

I take full responsibility

✏️“I take full responsibility for failing to train the employees properly.”"我为未能对员工进行适当培训承担全部责任。

“I take full responsibility” is a much more formal phrase; this would be use in business or professional situations where you need to admit you caused the problem."I take full responsibility"是一个更正式的短语; 这将用于商务或职场情况下， 你需要承认你造成了问题。

I messed up/I screwed up

✏️“I can’t believe I forgot your birthday. I messed up.“"我不敢相信我忘了你的生日。我搞砸了。

The expressions “I messed up / I screwed up” are informal ways to say you did something wrong."I messed up/I screwed up " 的表达是非正式的方式说你做错了什么。

My apologies for

✏️“My apologies for keeping you waiting. I’m running a little late today.”"很抱歉让你等。我今天有点晚了。

It’s common to say “My apologies for” or “I apologize for” in business or professional contexts.

在商务或职场环境中， 通常说 "My apologies for" 或 "I apologize for" 。

I owe you an apology

✏️“I owe you an apology. I said some horrible things to you.”"我欠你一个道歉。我说了一些可怕的事情给你。

The phrase “I owe you an apology” is often used to open or to begin the conversation. It shows the other person that you know an apology is necessary, and you are going to do that now. "I owe you an apology"这句话经常用来开始谈话。向对方表明，你知道道歉是必要的，你现在要这样做。

I should have/I shouldn’t have

✏️“I shouldn’t have taken your camera. I should have asked you first.”"我不应该拿你的相机。我应该先问你。

You can say “I should have” and “I shouldn’t have” to talk about what the correct/right action would have been (which you didn’t do).你可以说"I should have"和"I shouldn’t have"来谈论正确的事是什么（但你没有这样做）。

That was wrong of me

✏️“I gave you the silent treatment, and that was wrong of me.”"我没有搭理你， 这是错误的。

You can say “It was wrong” or “That was wrong of me” to express that your action was not morally correct.你可以说 "That was wrong" 或 "It was wrong" 来表达你的行动在道德上不正确。

I’m ashamed of my behavior

✏️“I haven’t been helping you around the house at all. I’m ashamed of my behavior.”"我在家里一点都没有帮你。我为自己的行为感到羞愧。

You can say you’re ashamed of what you said, or ashamed of your actions/behavior, to show you feel bad about it.你可以说你为自己说的话感到羞愧，或者为你的行为感到羞耻，以表明你为此感到难过。

I truly/really/ regret

✏️“I truly regret my offensive comments.”我真的后悔我的冒犯性评论。

Saying “I truly/really/sincerely regret” is another way to express that you feel very bad about what you did, and you wish you had behaved differently. 说"I truly/really/sincerely regret"是另一种表达你对自己的所作所为感到很不好的方式，你希望你本该应该有不同的举动。

We sincerely apologize

✏️“Our website is not working properly. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”"我们的网站无法正常工作。对于给您带来的不便，我们深表歉意。

In business English, we often use phrases like “We sincerely apologize” or “Please accept our apologies.” 在商务英语中，我们经常使用"我们真诚地道歉"或"请接受我们的道歉"等短语。

I won’t do it again / It won’t happen again.

我不会再这么做了/下次不会再发生了

We can use these phrases to promise that we will behave differently in the future.我们可以用这些短语来保证我们将来会表现不同。

How can I make it up to you?

✏️“I’m sorry I had to work late, and missed our date. How can I make it up to you?“"对不起，我不得不工作到很晚，错过了我们的约会。我怎样才能弥补你？

When you ask “How can I make it up to you?” – you are asking what you can do to “compensate” for your mistake and make the other person feel good again. 当你问"我怎样才能补偿你？你在问你可以怎么做来 "补偿" 你的错误， 让对方再次感觉良好。

I hope you can forgive me.

✏️“I know that what I did was wrong. I hope you can forgive me.“"我知道我做错了什么。我希望你能原谅我。

Saying “I hope you can forgive me” expresses your desire for the other person to forgive you and not stay angry or upset. You can also ask more directly, “Will you forgive me?”说"我希望你能原谅我"表达了你渴望对方原谅你，而不是保持愤怒或不安。你也可以更直接地问，"你会原谅我吗？

sorry并不总是用来道歉的   

There are other times we say “Sorry” when it’s not necessarily that we did something wrong. For example:有时，当我们不一定做错事时，我们会说"Sorry"。例如：

表示”打扰一下“，相当于excuse me

Saying “Sorry” to get someone’s attention – like if someone’s reading a book at a cafe, and there’s an extra chair at their table, and you want to take it, you could say:说"Sorry"来引起别人的注意——比如有人在咖啡馆看书，他们的餐桌上还有一把额外的椅子，你想拿它，你可以说：

✏️“Sorry – is anyone sitting here?”"打扰一下， 有人坐在这里吗？

We could also use “Excuse me” in this case.在这种情况下，我们也可以使用"Excuse me"。

“Excuse me – is anyone sitting here?”

表示“能再说一下吗？”相当于pardon

当你没有听清或明白别人说什么的时候，也可以说"sorry?"

✏️A lot of students also say “Sorry?”when they don’t understand something the other person said. As an alternative, you could say: 很多学生没有听懂别人说的话时，也会说"Sorry?”，也可以说：

“Pardon?”

Or more informally, “What?” or “I didn’t catch what you said.” "什么？"或是“我没有明白你在说什么”

表示对别人遭遇的同情

Finally, we often use “Sorry” to express our sympathy for someone going through a hard time, or when someone’s relative has died. In these situations, we can use these phrases: 最后，我们经常用"抱歉"来表达我们对某人经历艰难时光的同情，或者某人的亲属去世时表示同情。在这些情况下，我们可以使用这些短语：

✏️“I’m so sorry for your loss” – is a good one to use whenever someone’s relative or friend has died."我为你的损失感到抱歉" — — 当某人的亲戚或朋友去世时， 我都可以使用。

You can also say “My condolences” – this is a little more formal.

你也可以说"节哀"——更正式一点。

✏️“I’m sorry to hear that / I’m sorry that happened to you.” – these phrases are for expressing sympathy in other situations, like when someone loses their job, or has a car accident, or goes through an unfortunate situation.

"我很遗憾听到发生在你身上的事“。这些短语用于在其他情况下表示同情，例如某人失业、或发生车祸或经历不幸情况时。

Now you know a whole bunch of different ways to say “Sorry” in English – for minor things and major problems, in formal situations and informal situations, and at times when you want to get someone’s attention or express sympathy.

现在，你知道了很多不同的方式用英语说"对不起"——对于小事情和重大问题，在正式的情况和非正式的情况下，有时你想得到别人的注意或表示同情。