Lesson 13
13. 미안해. I’m sorry. (casual)
죄송합니다. I’m sorry. (formal)
The basic expression you can say when you’re sorry is 미안해 in casual language, and 죄송합니다 in formal language. To respond to this, you can say 아니에요 literally meaning “No, it’s not,” but actually it means “No, it’s okay.” You can also say 괜찮아요, which also means “It’s okay.”
But even though 미안해 and 죄송합니다 mean “I’m sorry”, you can’t use 미안해 and 죄송합니다 when you want to say “I am sorry to hear that.” These expressions only mean “I apologize.”, “It was my bad.” It can never mean “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Sample Conversation
A: 죄송합니다. = I’m sorry.
B: 아니에요. 괜찮아요. = No, it’s okay.