Learn how to apologize
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| Cześć! Jestem Joanna. Hi! I’m Joanna. |
| Welcome to PolishPod101.com’s “Polski w 3 minuty”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Polish. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the phrase |
| Przepraszam, czy mówisz po angielsku? "Excuse me, do you speak English?" We mentioned the word Przepraszam, which means "excuse me". |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn how to apologize in Polish. It’s very easy! |
| First of all good news! We don’t differentiate between “I’m sorry” and “excuse me”. In Polish we have just one word przepraszam, which can be used in both situations, when we want to apologize or draw someone’s attention. |
| There’s also no difference between formal and informal situations. It’s always the same przepraszam. |
| Let’s go through some situations in which przepraszam can be used: |
| If you want to draw someone’s attention, just put przepraszam in front of the question. For example: |
| Przepraszam, czy to miejsce jest wolne? |
| Excuse me, is this seat occupied? |
| or |
| Przepraszam, jak dojść do dworca? |
| Excuse me, how can I get to the train station? |
| In such a case you can modify the question by adding Panią, if you address a lady, or Pana if you talk to a man. For example: |
| Przepraszam Panią, jak dojść do dworca? |
| Excuse me, how can I get to the train station? |
| The meaning is exactly the same as before, we just emphasize the gender of a person who we talk to. You can choose whatever version you like better, both are correct and polite. |
| The other situation in which we use przepraszam is when we apologize. |
| As I mentioned before, we have only this one word for making an apology. |
| We can use it both in formal and informal situation. |
| If you want to make your apology more complex you could use this phrase: |
| Jestem Ci winien przeprosiny. |
| [slowly] Jestem Ci winien przeprosiny. |
| Please note that this is spoken by a man. |
| Women would say: |
| Jestem Ci winna przeprosiny. |
| [slowly] Jestem Ci winna przeprosiny. |
| This phrase means “I owe you an apology”. |
| Usually after saying this, you’re expected to explain what you did wrong, or the reason why you think you owe someone an apology. |
| There’s one colloquial word used to apologize among young people. It’s almost the same as English Sorry. We say: |
| Sory. |
| [slowly] Sory. |
| It’s ok to say it to your friends, but only in case of a small mistake, something not very serious, for example, when you step on your friend’s foot, when you want to refuse going out, etc. |
| Now it’s time for Joanna’s Insights. |
| Making an apology in Polish is very easy, it’s enough to just say przepraszam. Here you don’t have to worry about speaking formally or informally, or the age and gender of the person you’re talking to. |
| Do you know how to count in Polish? In the next lesson we will learn the numbers in Polish from one to ten. |
| I’ll be waiting for you in our next “Polski w 3 minuty” lesson. |
| Do zobaczenia! |
Comments
HideHi David
'Przykro mi' means also 'I'm sorry', but not as an apology, more as a way to say 'I feel sorry for you'. You can use it when you want to comfort somebody: Przykro mi, że twój chomik nie żyje -'I am sorry your hamster is dead' (sorry for cruel example!) - you do not apologize then, you are expressing your feelings. You wouldn't use 'Przykro mi' if you wanted to apologize, but to express the sympathetic feelings ('Przykro mi' can be a part of apologies, for example when you want to stress that you regret doing something: 'Przykro mi, że się spóźniłem' but to apologize you need to add 'przepraszam').
I hope that helps, but if not, please just let me know.
Cheers:sunglasses:
Basia
Team PolishPod101.com
Cześć Joanna,
I thought this phrase also meant I'm sorry?
Przykro mi - I'm Sorry!
Pozdrawiam
Dave
Hello JP Brzechwa,
Great to know that you're enjoying our website!
Please stay tuned! Every week we have new lessons for you!
Cheers,
Mélanie
Team PolishPod101.com
Hello there,
just want want to let you know how much I am enjoying this course. Concise, lively, saying the essential in a very educational way; only one word "świetnie", excellent! So much better than the 'survival Phrases' course, at least from my point of view.
"Absolutnie niesamowite" - not sure about that one? - absolutely remarkable.
Dziękuję bardzo i do zobaczenia.
Janusz Brzechwa.