Saying Sorry in Japanese (Part 1)

すみません means:

a) ‘excuse me’

b) ‘thank you’

c) ‘sorry’

…All in one word. You can use it when asking people to move to get on/off a train, the lead in to asking someone something, for catching someone’s attention, or when you didn’t catch something someone said and want to ask them to repeat it (like this):

すみませんが、もう　いちど？・sumimasen ga, mou ichido?

OR:

すみませんが、もう　いちど　ゆっくり

The が at the end of すみません acts as ‘but’. The もう= again, and the いちど=once …therefore you get ‘Sorry, but once more?’ or ‘Sorry, but can you repeat that?’

The  ゆっくり = slow (pace). You can tag that at the end to ask someone to repeat something…but slower. You’re going to want to know that phrase (trust me =P )

To be more polite, just add ‘please’:

すみませんが、もう　いちど　ゆっくり　おねがいします・mou ichido onegaishimasu