How to say correctly: I'm sorry or I apologize
Correctly write the word “Sorry”, you can often find another spelling “Sorry”. Judging by the comments, this mistake annoys many people, and people consider it an indicator of a person's literacy. Although there is nothing difficult in writing this word. This is an unstressed vowel, which is checked with the help of stress, for example with the word “apology” and others. The root comes from the word "wine".
This word has another form, which causes irritation for many people who know the rules of the Russian language.
The meaning of the word and the rules for its use in speech
In S.I. Ozhegov’s explanatory dictionary, the word “I apologize” is explained as “The same as excuse(s) (see excuse in 3 meanings) (colloquial).”
- Sorry). An expression of regret for the concern or inconvenience caused, as well as a form of politeness when asking or asking a question. Sorry, I accidentally pushed you. Sorry, let me pass. Excuse me, can you tell me what time it is? It turns out that this is just a colloquial analogue of the word “sorry.”
In explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, for example, Ozhegov’s dictionary, the word “I apologize” has the mark colloquial. (spoken)
History of the word "sorry"
Watching the changes in words, forms of speech, and other changes in any language is very interesting. Over time, some words and expressions change beyond recognition. It happens that an expression loses its original meaning and acquires the exact opposite meaning, so it is not always worth using old reference books and dictionaries to find out how to correctly use a particular word in the present time.
It is better for non-professionals of the Russian language to turn to people or reference publications; philologists deal with these issues professionally. They know how words were formed, how they changed and how they adapted to modern Russian speech. Only by taking into account all these aspects can one say with confidence how a particular word is correctly written, read, pronounced and used.
And sometimes, before correcting a person, it is worth thinking about, because, most likely, the person says this because he wants to ask for forgiveness, and not because he wants to show the level of his literacy.
So is it possible or not to say “I’m sorry”?
However, many, including some linguists, view this word negatively. Their explanation: when a person says “I’m sorry,” he seems to be acting impolitely, not asking the other to forgive himself, but doing it himself in advance. It turns out to be some kind of pseudo-apology, a favor. In other words, to say “I apologize” after an unsuccessful action means to commit another tactlessness, rudeness, as if to say “I, in general, am to blame, but I don’t need your forgiveness” or “I apologize to myself for the inconvenience caused to you.”
When a person says “sorry,” he is asking another to forgive him. “I apologize” seems to mean “I apologized to you, but I don’t care whether you accepted it or not .
What does the word "SORRY" mean?
Not every person knows that by uttering such a phrase, he offends his interlocutor even more and, one might say, is insolent to him. The best recommendation is not to use it at all, because the word “I’m sorry” is equivalent to the phrase “I see that I hurt you, but I don’t need you to forgive me.”
But despite all this, it is often found in some works of famous classics. This fact can be explained by the fact that the writers used it together with others, which ultimately acquired a completely different meaning, for example, “accept a thousand apologies.” But there is no need to use the same technique of using words as the classics did, because today it is no longer relevant and can be perceived as rudeness spoken out of place.
The history of the appearance of this word in Russian
It is believed that the notorious word “sorry” has come into use in our country since the First World War, when the country was filled with refugees from Poland. Allegedly, this colloquial expression was a tracing-paper from the Polish “I’m calling.”
Moscow this autumn was full of refugees from Poland. Shops, coffee shops, theaters were full, and everywhere a newborn word could be heard: “I’m sorry.”
A. N. Tolstoy “Walking through torment”
However, this is contradicted by the fact that “I apologize” is found in many classics of the 19th century: A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, I. A. Goncharov, etc. Therefore, it is obvious that this word arose in the Russian language much earlier.
The word “I apologize” is found already in the works of classics of the 19th century
Verb control
“I beg your pardon” or “forgiveness”? As we found out above - forgiveness. But is it? The verb “to ask” works with two cases: accusative and genitive. This is good, of course, but what should we do? Which one do we need? Let's turn to the good old rules of the Russian language. What are they talking about? About the fact that if a verb is accompanied by a specific noun, then they will be assigned the accusative case.
What is our noun? Abstract. Such nouns include those that define various abstract phenomena and emotions. For example, beauty, coldness, forgiveness. If the verb “to ask” is used with an abstract noun, then the case is genitive. So we answered the question of interest: “I apologize” or “forgiveness.”
Expert recommendations on this issue
Most philological experts advise avoiding the word “I’m sorry” in your speech, and replacing it with more unambiguous “sorry” and “excuse me.”
It is better to replace the word sorry in speech with “sorry” or “forgive me”
If you really want to use this expression, then you need to do it carefully, appropriately, for example, if you made a very minor mistake that did not directly affect other people (you misspoke and immediately corrected yourself). This will sound more like a form of polite address rather than a request for forgiveness. If the mistake is more significant (they crushed someone’s leg in a vehicle), then you should say “sorry” or “excuse me” and under no circumstances say “I’m so sorry.”
Back to writing
“I beg your pardon” or “forgiveness” - how should we write? Let's remember the cases. We taught it a long time ago, probably in fifth grade. We will not list the names, because it is unlikely that anyone could forget them. We need two cases: genitive and accusative. Which is more correct: asking for something or asking for something?
And here a dead end arises. Please what? Forgiveness. Logical? Quite so. We will say and write “I apologize to you.” But will this be correct according to spelling? Anyone remember about verb control? If not, then let’s remember now - it doesn’t matter.
Example sentences
There are plenty of examples to highlight:
- Sorry I'm late for class! I'll try to be on time.
- Sorry, Olga Ivanovna, please, I didn’t think about what this could lead to.
- Sorry, can you tell me what time it is?
- Excuse us, we accidentally made a mistake.
- Will you ever forgive her? She did such a bad thing.
- Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the nearest pharmacy?
- Sorry, could you please put your bag away?
- Excuse me, but we hardly know each other. You shouldn't have asked questions like that.
- I really regretted not apologizing immediately.
- Please excuse me, I didn't do it on purpose.
The following proverb will also help you remember the spelling of a word: “I humbly apologize, I ask promptly.”
If you wish, you can create your own, easy-to-remember phrases containing this word or its derivatives, which will serve as an example for writing.
Similar article “Collect” or “collect”: how to write correctly?
How to check yourself?
In this case, checking yourself is simply simple: have you been to the market? How do you ask a potato: “Weigh me two kilos of potatoes , ” or “Weigh me two kilos of potatoes ” ? Because the meaning of the genitive case is in origin from someone or something, in the generation of someone or something else by someone or something. To give the buyer a share of the selling potatoes, you need to select some of them from the general heap or choose from a bag. And in order to receive forgiveness, you need to have it given, produced from yourself and transferred to you. The mass of marketable potatoes, through the seller, generates the quantity that you put in the bag; the desire of the one who is asked to forgive, to respond to the request of the petitioner, gives rise to forgiveness itself.
How to choose the right test word
Sometimes, to dispel doubts, it is enough to simply write on a piece of paper the first cognate words that come to mind: “guilt”, “guilty”, “you’ll apologize”
. Based on them, a similar spelling of the desired expression should be remembered.
In this case, this method will mislead few people, since there is no alternation of vowels in the root “vin”, and the letters “e” and “i” do not change depending on the perfective or imperfective aspect.
However, sometimes even such words as “guilt” and “guilty” present difficulties for the writer. Fortunately, “sorry” is not a dictionary expression in the sense that it can only be memorized and thoughtlessly applied. On the contrary, we can check his spelling at any time with a test word in which the emphasis falls on the problematic letter.
The main thing here is not to make the mistake of accidentally using a homonym and falsely checking the “apology” through the “wine” (glass). Fortunately, there are already enough good test words.
Among them are words such as “guiltless”, “innocent”
and the “innocence” derived from the latter, then the expressions “to confess” (to court, to the ruler), “to bear military service” (usually military service), which have already begun to become outdated and become a thing of the past.
One may also recall the striking proverb: “the sword does not cut off a guilty head.”
Let's summarize
What is our goal in this article? Tell the reader how to correctly spell and say “I beg your pardon” or “forgiveness.” In addition, it was explained what the difference is between an apology and forgiveness.
Main aspects of the article:
- When we ask for forgiveness, we admit our guilt and repent of what we did. When we apologize, we are trying to justify ourselves, we hope that they will understand and take pity on us. We accidentally did something bad, without a second thought.
- Why do we write “I’m sorry”? Because “forgiveness” is an abstract noun. The verb "to ask" paired with an abstract noun controls the genitive case.
Meaning of the word apologize
Examples of the use of the word apologize in literature.
Yazev smiled softly, even a little apologetically: “Abe Chuta is an intelligence officer who went through a special school and spent a long time preparing for work in Russia.”
Tom Gridley approached her and said apologetically, “Of course, Mr. Rawlins could wait until I install the panels in Faulkner’s aquarium.”
The father, as Art remembered him, was a quiet, defeated man with a faint apologetic smile on his lips.
But the graduate student indirectly betrayed him when she began to apologize: this strange leader made a stand right then.
“So you’ll be the one apologizing to some Barthelemy,” remarked another refugee who came up at the end of the conversation.
No, the demon took him with her, sir,” Lisa said apologetically.
“I’m not usually very intuitive,” Randy apologizes, “but I spent thirteen hours on the plane.”
This dog bravely looked him straight in the eyes, something Briseis had never done before, then jumped to the floor and in two elegant swings, in no way similar to the movements of Zina’s baggy, always apologetic old companion, flew out of the train.
When they reached the picnic area, Briseis was waiting there, desperately apologetic but adamant.
But you see,” I added, as if apologizing, “the point is that I didn’t send the nuts for approval, but the proposal itself.”
There’s no need, there’s no need to apologize,” Gindin interrupted him, apparently overjoyed, “what’s the use of remembering the old things?”
I bowed to my noble mother-in-law, cursing her in my heart and thinking with disgust about how I would have to apologize to her for my rudeness back then in June.
If it weren’t for Willie,” Mercedes van Dellen said apologetically, “he would have died without us.”
“He was drunk, forgive him,” she answered in an apologetic voice, probably worried about the fate of the jazz player’s lips and for her own needs.
Lina at the airport, a pervasive bespectacled student, demonologists in the shadow of a portal, a sliding airplane toilet with huge mirrors on the walls, an apologetic loudspeaker, disputants in the front seats, nature transformers in the back and a couple on the right, a stunning radiogram, a telepath, and then an amazing choir from -behind the walls in the hotel, a disconnected talking telephone, a business trip agronomist in shorts, fixing an iron and philosophizing about the pseudo-magic of numbers, and, finally, the new Lina-Polina in the form of a cashier, capable of stopping a bus with a glance.
Source: Maxim Moshkov library
Which is correct to spell: “sorry” or “excuse me”?
Correct spelling of words is an indicator of literacy and high intellectual level. If you have any doubts about spelling, we can always turn to a spelling dictionary. But what if he is not nearby?
In our case, the second vowel in the word “sorry” causes difficulty. However, in order to finally remember the spelling of the word, we will analyze it visually. It is a verb in the second person plural. It reflects an action in the form of a request, a wish addressed from one person to another, that is, it is in the imperative mood. It is identified with the concept of guilt. By pronouncing this word, we ask the interlocutor to take us out of a certain state, to relieve us of guilt.
The morphemic composition of the verb is as follows: “iz” is a prefix, “vin” is a root, “it” is a suffix, “e” is an ending.
Sorry
That is, the unstressed vowel that needs to be checked is at the root of the word. There are two ways to check the correct spelling of verbs with an unstressed vowel:
- selection of a test cognate word;
- inflection.
Using the first method, it is easy to select words that are related in meaning and have the same root for the following examples:
- marine - sea;
- luxurious - luxury;
- to be sick is pain.
However, in our case it does not give the desired result, since in all possible cases the controversial sound “and” is also in an unstressed position. For example, “guilt” - stress on “a” or “guilty” - stress on the sound “o”.
By changing the form of the verb, we find test words. These are, for example, innocence, guilt, guilty, innocent, innocent.
We conclude that we write the verb exclusively with the letter “ and ” in the root.
