"Entschuldigung, wo ist die Toilette?"
Translation:Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
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I would say "sorry, where is the toilet" if someone had already said it and i didnt hear or wasnt listening
'Sorry', is apologising for the interruption, in order to ask the question. It is as common and as polite as it is to say, 'Excuse me'.
Americans usually say "bathroom" when they mean "toilet".
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/bathroom
In England if you were in a public building you would never ask for the bathroom unless you wanted a bath. "Excuse me where are the toilets please" is fine. We might also ask for the ladies or the gents.
In a "public building" you really would not expect to take a bath, and so to use the euphemism of "bathroom" for "toilet" is perfectly transparent, in the same way that in the US you could ask for the "rest room" and not be sent to a set of easy chairs and couches…
In the UK, you can ask for the "toilet", the "bathroom" and even usually ask "where can I wash my hands", since there is always a handbasin in the place with the toilets…
But the best, most colloquial usage for the UK would be to ask for "the Gents'" or "the Ladies'".
Just in case folks are planning to visit -- all of these work in the US, including the hand-washing one.
I think we all agree that noone would ever ask where the 'Water Closet' is! But you do see lots of WC signs around all over the world! :)
It's the same as the UK in Australia = "the ladies", "the gents", "the toilet" or if you want to be more discreet "the 'loo". Thanks to American TV and movies though you should be understood if you say"bathroom".
I have always said "Excuse me please, where ..." Please tell a humble German why he should be sorry in this situation.
Both 'excuse me' and 'sorry' are apologising for the interruption, in exactly the same way.
Why do you insist on translating 'Toilette' as 'bathroom'? Bathrooms necessarily contain a bath. Toilets do not. The proper English translation for 'Toilette' is 'toilet'. The proper German translation for 'bathroom' is 'Badezimmer'. 'Bathroom' in this context is a coy, largely American, euphemism. It is a misleading translation.
why is sorry not accepted?? It's what the word means and makes sense in English
Doesn't Entschuldigung means sorry?
I have read the comments but i can't understand why he translated Toilette for bathroom?
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Shouldn't "sorry, where is the bathroom" be accepted?
In Ireland, literally everyone would say sorry instead of excuse me. Excuse me sounds so unnatural.
I think this must be a generational difference; I'm certain that people in Ireland of my age would say "excuse me". But to keep with the contemporary use of the the term "bathroom" as well as the term "the toilets", both "sorry" and "excuse me" should be accepted as the equivalent of "Entschuldigung".
Yeah. In Canada, we often start a question with "Sorry, ..." rather then excuse me, as a more casual way of acknowledging our interruption.
Not to be rude, but I don't believe you. In what situation would the word "wo" mean when?
I don't think it's that unusual. In English, there's "at a time where".
I think its agreed you'll never hear anyone ask for the 'Water Closet'! Although you'll see lots of WC signs ;)
Re-reading this thread, I had a flashback to being 12 years old, and having to learn songs in German class; one being „Wir haben Hunger”.
(This site doesn't allow me to format the lyrics properly; there should be a line break at each comma.)
Wir haben Hunger Hunger Hunger, haben Hunger Hunger Hunger, haben Hunger Hunger Hunger, haben Durst.
Wo bleibt das Essen Essen Essen, bleibt das Essen Essen Essen, bleibt das Essen Essen Essen, bleibt die Wurst.
This uses the verb "bleiben", rather than "sein".