How to Say ‘I’m Sorry’ in Korean

When living in a foreign country, you are bound to make cultural faux pas, mistakes, and other general errors.

Embarrassing!

Therefore, learning how to say ‘I’m sorry’ in Korean will be very useful to know if you plan on spending any amount of time in Korea.

Not only will it help you smooth out mistakes and misunderstandings, but it will also show what great manners Mom taught you.

Here we go!

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Formal ‘I’m Sorry’ in Korean

죄송합니다 (choe-sohng-ham-ni-da)

미안합니다 (mee-an-ham-ni-da)

Although the title of this article is ‘how to say ‘I’m sorry’ in Korean’, when speaking, the ‘I’ part is omitted. In Korean, it is obvious that you are the person who is sorry. Therefore, you just need to say the word for ‘sorry’.

Secondly, like saying ‘thankyou’ in Korean, there are two different words for sorry.

The first one, 죄송합니다, is slightly more respectful, and this word would be the one that we recommend using if you only feel like learning one word for ‘sorry’. Remember to use your body language and voice tone to help convey your message. Face the person you are saying sorry to and slightly bow your head a little bit when saying sorry to acknowledge that you have made a mistake.

The second one (미안합니다) will also work well, so choose which one you like better!

Standard ‘I’m Sorry’ in Korean

죄송합해요 (choe-sohng-hey-yo)

미안해요 (mee-an-hey-yo)

This is the standard level of politeness. In this case, both words can be used interchangeably.

When saying sorry, like saying thank you, people often use a level of politeness higher than they would normally. Therefore, often it is better to say 죄송합니다 rather than 죄송해요.

Informal ‘I’m Sorry’ in Korean

미안해 (mee-an-hey)

When speaking to people of a similar age who are close to you, use 미안해. If you are in a relationship with a Korean, then learn this word now as it can save your relationship! Note that 죄송해 isn’t used.

Using ‘I’m Sorry’ in a Sentence

(at the end)
-아/어서 죄송합니다 (a/eo-seo cheo-sohng-ham-ni-da)

If you want to say I’m sorry that I am … then you can use the above structure. For example:

늦어서 죄송합니다 (nuh-jeo-seo choe-sohng-ham-ni-da)
– I’m sorry that I am late

바빠서 죄송합니다 (pappa-seo choe-sohng-ham-ni-da)
– I’m sorry that I am busy

(at the start)
죄송하지만… (choe-sohng-ha-jee-man…)
죄송한데… (choe-sohng-han-dae…)

Alternatively, you can put the word ‘sorry’ at the start of the sentence. For example:

죄송하지만 못 가요 (choe-song-hajiman moht ga-yo)
– I’m sorry but I can’t go.

This can also be used when asking for a favor, for example:

죄송한데 사진 좀 찍어 주시겠어요? (choe-sohng-han-de sa-jin jom jjik-eo joo-shi-gess-eo-yo?)
I’m sorry but could you take a picture for me please?

Now that you know how to say sorry in Korean, you can start using it. Remember that its usage is slightly different from how the word ‘sorry’ is used in English, so listen to Koreans, watch Korean dramas, and try to see how the word ‘sorry’ is used naturally in everyday Korean.

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