Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

apologies and regrets

63.1

Reply to 对不起/對不起 duìbuqǐ by saying:

没事。 没关系。 不要紧。

沒事。 沒關係。 不要緊。

Méi shì. Méi guānxi. Bù yàojǐn.

It’s nothing. It’s not important. It’s not important.

63.1.2 apologizing for refusals: 不好意思 bù hFo yìsi

不好意思 bù hǎo yìsi acknowledges embarrassment on the part of the speaker. It is commonly

used when the speaker refuses an invitation or turns down a request for assistance.

王： 今天下午跟我去喝咖啡吧。

Wáng: Jīntiān xiàwǔ gēn wǒ qù hē kāfēi ba.

Wang: Have coffee with me this afternoon.

林： 不好意思。我今天下午有事。

Lín: Bù hǎo yìsi. Wǒ jīntiān xiàwǔ yǒu shì.

Lin: How embarrassing. This afternoon I’ve got something to do.

There is no formulaic response to 不好意思 bù hǎo yìsi.

C62.3

63.1.3 apologizing for mistakes or wrongs: 抱歉 bàoqiàn and 道歉 dàoqiàn

抱歉 bàoqiàn and 道歉 dàoqiàn acknowledge a wrong to another and acknowledge personal

responsibility for the wrong. Formal and written contexts often call for 抱歉 bàoqiàn or

道歉 dàoqiàn. Many speakers of Mandarin use these two words interchangeably. Here are

expressions in which these words are used.

抱歉。 抱歉。我来晚了。

抱歉。我來晚了。

Bàoqiàn. Bàoqiàn. Wǒ lái wǎn le.

I apologize. I’m sorry. I’ve arrived late.

真抱歉。 我向你道歉。

Zhēn bàoqiàn. Wǒ xiàng nǐ dàoqiàn.

I really apologize. I apologize to you.

(^) Note the use of the more formal preposition 向 xiàng ‘toward’ in the prepositional phrase 向你 xiàng nh ‘toward
you’ makes this structure more formal.

C 14

The appropriate response to 抱歉 bàoqiàn or 道歉 dàoqiàn is the same as the response to

对不起/對不起 duìbuqǐ:

没事。 没关系。 不要紧。

沒事。 沒關係。 不要緊。

Méi shì. Méi guānxi. Bù yàojǐn.

It’s nothing. It’s not important. It’s not important.