Learn how to apologize
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| Salut, je m'appelle Ingrid. Hi everybody! I’m Ingrid. |
| Welcome to FrenchPod101.com’s “Le français en 3 minutes”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn French. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the phrase excusez-moi, est-ce que vous parlez anglais? "Excuse me, do you speak English?" We mentioned the word excusez-moi, which means "excuse me" in formal French. |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use excusez-moi and other words when apologizing in French. |
| We should use excusez-moi in formal situations, such as when we are ordering something in bars or restaurants. For example: |
| Excusez-moi, un café s'il vous plaît. "Excuse me, a coffee please." |
| [slowly] Excusez-moi, un café s'il vous plaît. |
| We can also use it when asking a question: |
| Excusez-moi, où est la Tour Eiffel? "Excuse me, where is the Eiffel Tower?" |
| [slowly] Excusez-moi, où est la Tour Eiffel? |
| Sometimes we also hear people say s'il vous plaît, which means the same thing when you want to draw somebody's attention. We always use this phrase in formal speech. |
| [slowly] S'il vous plaît. |
| The informal way to say "excuse me" is Excuse-moi |
| [slowly] excuse-moi. |
| Just like Excusez-moi, we can use Excuse-moi when asking a question, or when apologizing. |
| We can also use the word pardon. You might hear this phrase translated as “forgive me” in English, but it’s not formal or strong at all. French people use it in very casual situations. |
| 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 je suis désolé. It means “I am sorry.” and can be used in both formal and informal situations. |
| [slowly] je suis désolé. |
| First we have the familiar je, or “I”. Next, we insert the French word for “to be,” être. When this is conjugated for je in French, it is suis. Finally we have the adjective désolé, meaning "sorry." |
| je suis désolé. |
| Now it’s time for Ingrid’s Insights. |
| Please remember that in France if you accidentally bump into someone, we don’t say “I am sorry,” je suis désolée; instead we say excusez-moi, "excuse me" or pardon, "forgive me." |
| Are you are able to count in French? In the next lesson we will learn the numbers in French from one to ten! |
| I'll be waiting for you in our next Le français en 3 minutes lesson. |
| À bientôt! |
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