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10 Ways To Say Sorry in French Beyond “Désolé”

10 Ways To Say Sorry in French Beyond “Désolé”

In French, “je suis désolé” is not the only way to say “sorry”. This post will explore ten useful ways of expressing “sorry” or regrets. Keep reading!

sorry

10 Ways To Say Sorry in French Beyond "Désolé"

Sorry in French

1) I’m so sorry

In French, the adverb tellement translates to both “so”.

2) I’m really sorry

You can also use vraiment to mean “really” sorry.

3) I’m sorry to

To express I’m sorry to, as in “I’m sorry to inform you”, use the following grammatical construction: Je suis désolé de + object pronoun + infinitive.

4) Sorry!

Another way to say sorry is simply “Pardon!”.

5) Forgive me

The verb pardonner translates to “to forgive”. Hence, the expressions “pardonnez-moi” and “pardonne-moi” both translate to pardon me, forgive me and I’m sorry.

6) Excuse me

Excuse me in French is excusez-moi (formal) and excuse-moi (informal).

7) To regret to

A formal way of saying sorry is être au regret de.

8) Using the word “navré”

In French, désolé and navré as synonyms. However, navré is much more formal.

9) To feel sorry

To express feeling sorry, use the verb regretter.

10) I’m sorry for your loss

To express that you’re sorry for a loss, use the expression: “Toutes mes condoléances”.

Related lessons

French phrases | Lessons by David Issokson

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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