Different Ways of Saying “Sorry” in Korean - Clozemaster

If you ever need to say sorry in Korean, 미안해요 is the one that can be used in most situations, so you should familiarize yourself with this ... Skiptocontent Weusetheword‘sorry’insomanydifferentwaysinEnglish.Themostcommonwayistoapologizeforsomethingwehavedone,butwealsosaysorrytoexpresssympathy,disappointment,andalsotopolitelyasksomeonetorepeatwhattheyhavesaid.Fortunately,‘sorry’inKoreanisn’tasmulti-functional.Nevertheless,thereareanumberofdifferentwaysofsayingsorryinKorean,andinthisarticle,we’llguideyouthroughallthedifferentwaysofsaying‘sorry’inKoreansothatyoucansay‘sorry’appropriatelyineverysituation. “Sorry”inKoreanisaverb SorryinEnglishisanadjective,sotosay‘sorry’,weusetheverb‘tobe’andsay‘Iamsorry’.However,inKorean‘sorry’isaverb. 미안하다(mi-an-ha-da) 미안하다isaverbthatmeans‘tobesorry’,andthisismadeupofthenoun미안(mi-an)whichmeans‘sorry’andtheverb하다(ha-da),whichmeans‘todo’. Whenwesay‘I’msorry’inKorean,wedon’tusethepronoun‘I’.Ifwe’resayingsorryonsomeoneelse’sbehalf,thenweneedtosaywhowe’resayingsorryfor.However,ingeneral,thecontextmakesitobviousthatit’sthespeakerthat’sapologizing,sowecanjustusetheverb미안하다. 미안하다isthebaseform,sowecanconjugatethisverbintothreelevelsofformality. Theformalformof“sorry”inKorean 미안합니다(mi-an-ham-ni-da) Weusetheformalform미안합니다inveryformalsituations,suchaswhenyou’reapologizingtoseniorpeopleatyourworkplace,orwhenyou’reapologizingtomucholdermembersofthefamily.Generally,theformalformisnotcommonlyusedineverydayspeech. Thepoliteformof“sorry”inKorean 미안해요(mi-an-he-yo) Thepoliteformiswhatyouwillusethemostineverydaylife.Whenyouaccidentallybumpintopeople,whenyousteponsomeone’sfootaccidentally,andwhenyouknockoversomeone’scoffee,youcansay미안해요.Weuse미안해요topeoplewearenotfamiliarwith,andwithpeoplewhoareolderthanusandinmoreseniorpositionthanus. IfyoueverneedtosaysorryinKorean,미안해요istheonethatcanbeusedinmostsituations,soyoushouldfamiliarizeyourselfwiththisexpression. Thecasualformof“sorry”inKorean 미안해(mi-an-he) Casualexpressionsaremainlyusedwithtwotypesofpeople–closefriends,andclosefamilymembers.However,it’simportantthattheclosefamilymembersareofsimilaragetoyouasyoushouldn’tsay미안해tofamilymemberswhoareolderthanyou.Ingeneral,wewouldusethecasualformtooursiblingsandourcousins. Honorificformof“tobesorry’”inKorean SometimesinKorean,wehaveanentirelydifferentformofthesameword,whichweusetobeevenmorerespectfulthantheformalformoftheoriginalword.Forexample,thecommonverbfor‘togive’is주다(ju-da),butthehonorificformis드리다(deu-ri-da),andthecommonverbfor‘tosleep’is자다(ja-da),butthehonorificformis주무시다(ju-mu-shi-da). Now,similarly,thecommonverbfor‘tobesorry’is미안하다,butthehonorificformis… 죄송하다(jwe-song-ha-da) Like미안하다,죄송하다ismadeupofthenoun죄송(jwe-song),whichmeans‘sorry’,andtheverb하다whichmeanstodo. 죄송하다isthebaseform,andwecanconjugatethisintoformalandpoliteforms. Formal–죄송합니다(jwe-song-ham-ni-da) Polite–죄송해요(jwe-song-he-yo) Weusetheformalform죄송합니다ifwe’reinveryformalsituations,suchasinjobinterviews,andpeoplewhoworkintheserviceindustryregularlyusethisformalformwhenapologizingtothecustomers. Weusethepoliteformwhenwe’reapologizingtopeoplewhoareolderthanusorareinamoreseniorpositionthanusinorganizations.Wealsouse죄송해요whenapologizingtopeoplewhowe’vemetforthefirsttime. Differencebetween미안하다&죄송하다 Toillustratethedifferencesbetween죄송해요and미안해요,ifa40-year-oldmanaccidentallystepsona16year-oldkid’sfoot,thenthemanwouldsay미안해요toapologizeaseventhoughtheboyismuchyoungerthantheman,themanstillneedstomaintainpolitenessashedoesn’tknowtheboy. Ontheotherhand,ifthesamemanaccidentallystepsonanotherman’sfoot,whoseemsaboutthesameage,thenthemanwilllikelyapologizebysaying죄송해요,asnotonlydotheynotknoweachother,thereisthepossibilitythattheothermanisolderthanhim,sothemanhastouserespectfullanguage.Infact,inthissituation,themanmayevenapologizebyusingtheformalform죄송합니다. Whatifwe’re“reallysorry”? Moreoftenthannot,wedon’tjustsay‘I’msorry’,weoftensaythingslike‘I’msosorry’or‘I’mreallysorry’toemphasizehowsorryweare.AndalthoughtheKorean미안하다and죄송하다aren’tadjectiveslike‘sorry’,wecanstillusemodifierstohighlighthowsorryweare.First,wecansay‘I’mreallysorry’,likethis. Formal–정말미안합니다.(jung-malmi-an-ham-ni-da) Polite–정말미안해요.(jung-malmi-an-he-yo) Casual–정말미안해.(jung-malmi-an-he) Theworld정말(jung-mal)means‘really’anditcanbeusedtomodifyallthreeformsofsorry,미안하다.Wecanalsouse정말withtheformalandpoliteformsof죄송하다,sowecansay… Formal–정말죄송합니다.(jung-maljwe-song-ham-ni-da) Polite–정말죄송해요.(jung-maljwe-song-he-yo) InKorean,therearetwowordsfor‘really’,정말and진짜(jin-jja),andyoucanuse진짜insteadof정말inallthesephrases. “I’msosorry”inKorean Tosay‘I’msosorry’,wecansay: Formal–너무미안합니다.(neo-mumi-an-ham-ni-da) Polite–너무미안해요.(neo-mumi-an-he-yo) Casual–너무미안해.(neo-mumi-an-he) 너무(neo-mu)canmean‘so’or‘too’,andwecanusethemtofurtherhighlighthowsorryweare.Wecanalso너무withtheformalandpoliteformof죄송하다,sowecansay… Formal–너무죄송합니다.(neo-mujwe-song-ham-ni-da) Polite–너무죄송해요.(neo-mujwe-song-he-yo) “Apology”and“Apologize”inKorean We’vealreadylearnedtwonounsthatmeanssorry,미안and죄송.However,ThereisanotherwordinKoreanthatmeansapology,andit’s사과(sa-gwa).사과isalsothewordfor‘apple’inKorean,butit’sothermeaningisapology.Theverbthatmeans‘toapologize’is사과하다(sa-gwa-ha-da).Ifwewanttoasksomeonetoapologize,thenwecansay… Formal(Pleaseapologize)–사과하세요.(sa-gwa-ha-se-yo) Polite(Pleaseapologize)–사과해요.(sa-gwa-he-yo) Casual(Apologize)–사과해.(sa-gwa-he) Allthreesentencesmeaneither‘Pleaseapologize’or‘Apologize’, Honorificformof“toapologize”inKorean Similartohowtherewasanhonorificformof미안하다,whichwas죄송하다,thereisalsoanhonorificformof사과하다.However,insteadofchanging사과withanothernoun,wechange하다tothehonorificformoftheverb‘togive’드리다(deu-rida),whichwesawearlierinthisarticle. Weuse사과드리다whenwetalkaboutapologizingtosomeonewhoweneedtoberespectfulto.Soifwe’retalkingaboutapologizingtosomeonemucholderorinamuchmoreseniorpositionthanus,thenwewoulduse사과드리다insteadof사과하다. Toasksomeonetoapologizeinarespectfulway,weconjugatethe사과드리다inthefollowingway. Formal(Pleaseapologize)–사과드리세요.(sa-gwa-deu-ri-se-yo) Polite(Pleaseapologize)–사과드려요.(sa-gwa-deu-ryeo-yo) Casual(Apologize)–사과드려.(sa-gwa-deu-ryeo) Animportantpointtonoteisthatwedon’tusethehonorificform사과드리다toasksomeonetoapologizetous,butweusetheseexpressionswhentheotherpersonneedstoapologizetosomeonetheyneedtoberespectfulto. WrapUp! Sointhisarticle,welookedatallthedifferentwaysofsaying‘sorry’inKorean.Thestandardverbfor‘tobesorry’is미안하다,anditcanchangeintothreelevelsofformality. Formal–미안합니다(mi-an-ham-ni-da) Polite–미안해요(mi-an-he-yo) Casual미안해(mi-an-he) Thehonorificformis죄송하다andwecanconjugatethisintothreelevelsofformality. Formal–죄송합니다(jwe-song-ham-ni-da) Polite–죄송해요(jwe-song-he-yo) Thenwelearnedtousemodifiers정말&진짜meaning‘really’and너무meaning‘so’with미안하다and죄송하다,sowecanthenlikethis. Formal–정말미안합니다(jung-malmi-an-ham-ni-da) Polite–너무미안해요(neo-mumi-an-he-yo) Finally,welearnedthatthenoun‘apology’is사과andtheverbtoapologizeis사과하다.Andthehonorificformof‘toapologize’is사과드리다.Toasktheotherpersontoapologize,wecansay: Formal(Pleaseapologize)–사과하세요.(sa-gwa-ha-se-yo) Polite(Pleaseapologize)–사과해요.(sa-gwa-he-yo) Casual(Apologize)–사과해.(sa-gwa-he) Andtoasktheotherpersontoapologizetosomeonetheyneedtoberespectfulto,thenwecansay: Formal(Pleaseapologize)–사과드리세요.(sa-gwa-deu-ri-se-yo) Polite(Pleaseapologize)–사과드려요.(sa-gwa-deu-ryeo-yo) Casual(Apologize)–사과드려.(sa-gwa-deu-ryeo) Nowthatyou’velearnedallthedifferentexpressionstosay‘sorry’inKorean,it’stimetoputintopracticewhatyoulearnedinthisarticleinreallifesituations.However,ifthat’snotpossible,thenpracticetheseexpressionswiththeClozemasterapp. 오늘도수고하셨어요!Greatjobtoday!Seeyounexttime. LearnKoreanincontextwithClozemaster Clozemaster hasbeendesignedtohelpyoulearnthelanguageincontextbyfillinginthegapsinauthenticsentences.With featuressuchasGrammarChallenges,Cloze-Listening,andCloze-Reading,theappwillletyouemphasizeallthecompetenciesnecessarytobecomefluentinKorean. TakeyourKoreantothenextlevel.ClickheretostartpracticingwithrealKoreansentences! Postnavigation ←PreviousPostNextPost→ 2thoughtson“DifferentWaysofSaying“Sorry”inKorean” Greatpost Reply Thisisamazing,Ilearnalotherethankyouuuu😊 Reply LeaveaCommentCancelReplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*Typehere..Name* Email* Website Savemyname,email,andwebsiteinthisbrowserforthenexttimeIcomment. Δ Searchfor: AboutClozemasterisagametorapidlyexpandyourvocabularyinanotherlanguage.Thisiswherewewriteaboutlanguagelearningaswellaspostusefulresources. Play>Subscribe StayuptodateonthelatestfromClozemasterandtheClozemasterblog. 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