"对不起！"

Translation: Sorry!

[Andrew-Lin]

對不起！
Other ways to express sorry:
抱歉/抱歉 (bàoqiàn)
不好意思/不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi), this means "excuse me" but can also be used as "I am sorry."

[ArundeepRa]

Please break down meaning of each character!! I didn't understood it's meaning

Thank you in advance

[cameron2710]

Just click them

[Diana981954]

Bu hao yi si is usually said if you want to ask something to someone, it can be like an "I'm sorry excuse me"

[Marloezzz]

And how would 不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) compare to 劳驾 (láojià)?
Could the two be used interchangeably, or are there some differences?

[jytou]

Could someone kindly explain to me why there is bu which means "no" in "sorry"? I can't make the connection... probably a litteral explanation of the characters and the context in which they are used could help me.

[Marloezzz]

From the Han trainer online, for the separate characters I get the following:

对 (dùi) = correct, versus, facing, for, to oppose, pair,
as regards of, right
不 (bù) = not, no, negative
起 (qĭ) = to raise, to rise, from, start, to establish,
to appear, to get up, to set up, beginning

And while you should probably be careful in attributing meaning to character combinations simply based on the meaning of all the separate characters, it can be helpful sometimes.
Like here, with a little imagination you could use this as a mnemonic for something like "Ow, don't start (to thank me)"

[rev.bisch]

I found this to be a useful breakdown https://www.thoughtco.com/dui-bu-qi-saying-sorry-2278549

[rev.bisch]

对 in this case means "to face" rather than "right/correct", 起 usually means "to rise" but can also mean "to be able", giving a full translation with 不 of "unable to face (you)", i.e. out of shame of having done something worthy of an apology - the link gives a bit more detail

[GeorgeAnfi]

It's very frustrating that duolingo doesn't give you the pinyin alongside the English when you click on the characters for help. You only see the pinyin once at the start of a lesson and then you have to guess based off the audio in future questions. Not useful for learning in my opinion.

[1MOiipQU]

I agree!

[BryceColwe]

ABSOLUTLY! glad to hear someone else thinks this. i cant understand for the life of me why the pinyin isnt that as well. its a fault for sure. its like they made duolingo and the creators have gotten bored and tired with it, its great but it could be so much better.

[Iceeblaze]

So true

[Powers92638]

This is a sincere, deeper sorry than just, "Sorry!" It's really, "I'm sorry."

[RohanSoni8]

Someone kindly provide the literal translation.

[maartendoc]

对 (duì) = to face

不 (bù) = not

起 (qǐ) = to be able to

对不起 (duì bù qǐ) = I'm not able to face it = sorry

[Ellis930361]

As he's saying this, the Duolingo voice sounds so matter-of-fact and happy.

[malkeynz]

Yeah I think you have to try and leave that mindset behind when interpreting Chinese, because the tones could be deceptive in that regard.

[Hsn626796]

What do you mean "matter of fact ?

[GregoryDon7]

Duolingo, why have you introduced 3 characters (这，爸，and 爱) in this Phrases lesson that you have not translated? I am at the end of the 4th level in this lesson, FYI. These characters have been used in 2 different rounds of the matching exercise.

[rev.bisch]

Posted in a reply but this link is a useful breakdown of meaning by character - https://www.thoughtco.com/dui-bu-qi-saying-sorry-2278549

[hihihiHAHAHAA]

Its so funny cuz i have clothes on duo part time and i took them off for a bit and i was like whoa he is naked when he poped up

[E.L.I.5000]

对不起=sorry

[lily6008]

Sis: I L-O-V-E duo ♡♡♡
Me:。。。