In this lesson we’ll explore seven ways to say excuse me in French (excusez-moi). The modern French verb excuser comes from excusare in Latin.
How to say excuse me in French
1. Excusez-moi
Excusez-moi
excuse me (formal and plural)
Excusez-moi is the single most common way of saying excuse me in French. Use this phrase in all situations where you’d normally say excuse me in English. Note, however, that this is the vous (plural and formal) form of the verb.
2. Excuse-moi
The next most common way of saying excuse me is excuse-moi. This form is used address a single person who you already know or a younger person.
Excusez-moi, où est la gare, s’il vous plaît? Excuse me, where is the train station please?
Excuse-moi, je t’ai coupé la parole. Sorry, I interrupted you.
3. Excusez-moi de + infinitive
To express “excuse me for + verb”, use the construction: excusez-moi de + infinitive. Both the formal excusez-moi and informal excuse-moi can be used for these sentences. For example:
Excusez-moi de vous déranger.
Excuse me for bothering you.
4. Excusez-moi pour + noun
When apologizing “for” a specific action, you may use the structure, excusez-moi pour + noun.
Excusez-moi pour le retard.
Sorry for being late.
6. Pardon
The next most common way to say excuse me is pardon (pronounced paʀdɔ̃).
Pardon, je n’ai pas compris. Répétez, s’il vous plaît.
Excuse me, I didn’t understand. Repeat please.
In addition to the interjection, “pardon”, you can also use the variant: “pardonnez-moi”, which is a bit more formal. You can also also use “pardonne-moi” when speaking to somebody you already know or a child.
pardonnez-moi, pardonne-moi
excuse me
One more usage of pardon is to express the felling of begin annoyed or displeased.
Pardon! C’est la dernère fois que je vous dérange avec ce problème!
Excuse me! That’s the last time I’ll bother you with this problem.
When asking for forgiveness, you may use the more formal:
Je vous (te) demande pardon.
Please forgive me.
7. S’il vous plaît
S’il vous plaît and s’il te plaît both translate to please. However, you can use s’il vous plaît to mean excuse me.
S’il vous plaît, où sont les toilettes ? Excuse me, where are the bathrooms?
S’il te plaît, pourrais-tu m’expliquer ce mot ? Excuse me, could you explain this word to me?
Here’s another common usage of s’il vous plaît in the context of excuse me.
S’il vous plaît mesdames et messieurs, on va commencer.
Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to to start.
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