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- "すみません！"
"すみません！"
Translation:Excuse me!
55 Comments
ごめんなさい is more ,,I'm sorry,'' and すみません is more ,,Excuse me.'' すみません can also me used as a more formal ごめんなさい at times.
Does it have a specific meaning when used as a "thank you"? Is it an apolotegic thank you, one would use if someone else was e.g. forced to help with one's work?
They use it as thank you when, for example you hold the door open for them. At times, they'll say sumimasen instead of arigatou as a polite thanks.
as a native speaker i see it more polite than apologetic. as for a specific meaning, it refers to the troubles the person took to help you, however trivial.
"Night" can mean "Good Night", but if you are learning/teaching you will use the correct form. They wont correct that, because すみません is "Excuse me" and not "I'm sorry". Probabilidade because of that he got so many dislikes.
Sumimasen and Gomennasai both mean sorry. Sumimasen is more formal however and can also be used as an Excuse me.
The ん character often sounds like an M sound to me. Like a soft hum at the end of a word. Is this right, or am I just hearing it incorrectly? Thanks
I read that theres an "-N" sound, "-M" sound, or "-NG" depending on different things like what sound comes next.
"Sumimasen" is more formal, a way of apologizing to a stranger.If you use "gomenasai", it either sounds like you're being very childish or that you just did something that requires a sincere apology. "Gomen" on the other hand is more natural when speaking with a friend or family member. (^‿^✿)
gomennasai is used in more casual situations, while sumimasen is used in either casual or formal situations. Sumimasen can also be used to mean "excuse me".
すめません means excuse me, and I'm sorry, it's literal translation is, "forgive me im am being rude."
It's "すみません" and the literal translation is "(I) haven't finished." This is a bit like "Oh, I did something very rude, and now I feel so regret, I must do something to compensate, but I didn't, so I cannot calm down!!!" Well, kind of like this XDD
Okay so at school someone bumped into me and I just screamed. 's u m i m a s e n' and now I'm dying
So it seems like in many cases (and as I've read in comments here) that ません is used for a negative connotation while ます is used for a positive. Does this mean that there is a positive version of すみません? Would you ever say すみます? And if so, what is the translation for すみ in this context?
I found this while searching for an answer: "The etymology of "sumimasen" is interesting. During the Edo period, there was a lot of trouble over money among people; purchasing and paying, loaning and returning, and so forth and so on.
When everything was paid back and cleared, it was expressed by the verb "sumu" (done 済む). In other words it was finished, cleared.
When something remained in debt, it was "sumanu" or "sumanai", which became "sumimasen". Now, however, most situations involving sumimasen are not related to money trouble. Money trouble today cannot be remedied by merely saying "sumimasen"." source: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=9155
TL;DR: There is not a positive version of phrase すみません (sorry), but there is a positive version of the verb すみません (to not finish), that is to say, すみます (to finish).
Bonus: すみます, when spelled 住みます, means to reside in [a country, city, etc]. Ex. アメリカに住みます (I live in America)
So at the root, 'sumimasen' means something like 'I'm in your debt' or 'I owe you one'?
Or 'forgive me' in the sense of 'forgive my debt,' sorta...
Thanks!
すみません is also used to get someone’s attention, as in a store or boutique when you have a question or need help. You can use this to initiate contact. “すみません。。。” and you ask your question. Like すみません、これはいくらですか。You’ll generally do it with a bow, and even if they don’t understand or hear your “すみません”, a Japanese will always bow back out of reflex, and you can continue with your question or interruption.
I've also heard すまなかた (I'm not 100% sure its written this way but it at least sounded like this for me). It is also a kind of "pardon me", but does anyone have a clue what is the difference between this and すみません ?
[10/01/18] I don't have any clue about that, but it's written すまなかった. The sound is almost the same, but with a double "t".
Going off of たのしかった(tanoshikatta), it might denote that the apology is for something in the past. So, something along the lines of "I'm sorry about that", when talking about something that was in the past. Japanese tends to be context-bound anyway, afaik. Don't take me up a 100% on this through, since this is just going off of one thing to the other and thus might be wrong.
Sumimasen and Gomennasai - They mean sorry, but Sumimasen is more formal and can mean excuse me. Sumimasen can also mean Thank you.
I noticed that there a capital excuse (Excuse) and a lowercase excuse (excuse). Does anyone know if you pick the lowercase, does that count as wrong?
the question right before this one translates "please excuse me" to sumimasen. and this one just lists it as 'SORRY!' please maybe be more flexible with what is correct or multiple meanings.
It's somewhat of an apologetic 'Thank you!' for something that another has gone to the trouble of doing for you. If somebody helps you find something you lost for example, you can use it. Saying どうもすみません pretty much intensifies the phrase and also, from the native usage I've seen, conveys explicitly that 'Thank you' nuance.
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Duolingo, this is not accurate in the way that Japanese people use this word. Sumimasen is much more, excuse my interruption or excuse some slight offense that is necessary. Gomenasai is "Sorry!" much more aligned with Japanese. PLEASE fix ro remove. It is teaching the wrong usage!
The word that every pervert says after having "accidentally" bumped into someone's breas
So when using どうもすみません , it is used as a "Please excuse me". But どうも means "Thanks" as well? Sorry, but I'm confused...
This is one of the few Japanese words that I recognize- I only know what it means because me and my family would watch James May: Our Man In Japan and he would turn to the camera before every activity and say it as an, "I'm sorry you have to see this." because he was so bad at every activity.
