Learn how to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In today's lesson, we'll cover phrases used for apologizing. Now, as you haven't quite mastered Spanish, some of today’s phrases might come in quite handy. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| We'll start with "I'm sorry," which in Spanish is Lo siento. |
| Lo siento. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Lo sien-to. |
| And now, let's hear it once again, Lo siento. |
| The first word, lo, means “it.” |
| lo |
| This is followed by siento, which in Spanish is “I feel.” |
| siento |
| siento |
| One more time, siento. |
| So, together, we have, Lo siento. |
| Literally, this means “it, I feel,” which we translate as “I’m sorry.” |
| This phrase is mainly used in the following two types of situation: |
| 1. When you want to be excused for something you have, intentionally or unintentionally done or caused that was not intended. |
| For example: You were to step on someone, to drop someone’s belongings, to offend or hurt someone with a lie, a joke, an action. |
| 2. When you want to express your sorrow to someone about something that has happened to him or her that you are not responsible for. |
| Obviously, in this case, this is not an expression for apologizing, but Lo siento can be used in these situations too. When someone you know falls ill, when he or she has had some kind of misfortune, when he or she has lost his or her job. |
| Next, we’ll take a look at, Perdón. |
| Perdón. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Perdón. |
| And now, let's hear it again, Perdón. |
| Literally, this means “pardon” which we translate as “I’m sorry.” |
| This phrase is used in situations when you want to apologize for something you are responsible for, such as when you want to be excused for something you have intentionally or unintentionally done or caused that was not intended. |
| Now, what if someone apologizes to you? In the case that someone uses one of these expressions towards you, one proper response is No importa “It’s nothing.” |
| No importa. |
| No importa. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: No im-por-ta. |
| And now, let's hear it again, No importa. |
| This sentence literally means “It doesn’t matter.” |
| The phrase, perdón, always implies that you are asking for the listener’s forgiveness. However, there are times when you don’t need to wait for it. For example, supposed you stepped on someone in the underground. You will likely say perdón, but one won’t even wait for him or her to say, No importa. |
| However, if you lie to someone and you are sorry about it, you will probably say perdón and you would expect for him or her to say, Te perdono, which means “I forgive you.” |
| Te perdono. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Te per-do-no. |
| Once again, Te perdono. |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out today’s lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buena suerte, that means “good luck” in Spanish. |
| Okay, here we go! |
| "I'm sorry" - Lo siento. |
| Lo siento. |
| Lo siento. |
| "I'm sorry" - Perdón. |
| Perdón. |
| Perdón. |
| "It's alright." - No importa. |
| No importa. |
| No importa. |
| “I forgive you.” - Te perdono. |
| Te perdono. |
| Te perdono. |
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