"不好意思，我有一个约会。"

Translation: I'm sorry, I have an appointment.

[Cinnamon5230]

Bad example. 约会 almost always means "date". One should use 约定 here.

[DereckStJohn]

约会 is a high frequency, general word that can mean 'date' or 'appointment' depending on context. As a result, Chinese learners of English often confuse the English words and say things like "I have a date with my boss" or "I have an appointment with my girlfriend".

[MaryEllen24]

"Sorry, I have a date." was accepted 3 Jan 2022.

[ChrisLons]

Why are we apologizing for having an appointment?

[maartendoc]

I'm using 100% of my imagination atm, and I'm thinking of a situation where I just told someone that I can't come with them today. After saying that, I feel kind of sorry for them, so I kindly tell them "Sorry, I have an appointment. I would LOVE to come with you but I just can't right now. Would you guys want to go out and sip some tea tomorrow?"

[fibojoly]

You just entered the office and the receptionist looks very busy but you've an appointment right now and would like to catch her attention.

[zorrosombra]

I was asking the same to myself too. Where's the context of this sentence? Or is this just some sort of pleasantry.

[WendyZhou1]

It's a pleasantry. It's more like "excuse me" than "I'm sorry". (Or like "sorry for disturbing you" kind of sorry.)

[maartendoc]

约 (yuē) = to make an appointment/to invite
会 (huì) = can/will/to assemble/to meet
约会 (yuēhui) = appointment/engagement/date

We saw 约 before in:
纽约 (niǔyuē) = New York

[WoyenSan]

To invite is 请 right?

[maartendoc]

Yes

请 (qǐng) = to ask/to invite/please (do sth)

[DaleinKansas]

Someone said it but why isn't "meeting" accepted as well as "appointment"

[Karoliina765050]

'I'm sorry, I have a meeting' was rejected and corrected to 'date'...

a) 'meeting' and 'appointment' are mostly interchangeable

b) there is no context that would specify, whether we are talking about meeting/appointment or a date

[Kanayuki_Chan]

Well not really...

Meeting is usually translated
as 会议 (huì yì). Or 开会 (kāi huì) which means holding/starting/in a meeting.

[SofiPira]

If you write this in chinese characters the answer marks wrong?
I dont understand...
http://duolingo.clickableimage.top/wdhbqw8w

[JohnHartma2]

I'm having the same problem.

[X_scissor]

i put "pardon me" and it said i had to put "excuse me" which i would usually have put but that translation feels slightly off

[LeToan03]

Meeting and appointment should be the same thing

[FirstUntakenName]

Aren't they different in English? I don't go to a meeting at the dentist.

[Nonhlanhla580166]

Why can't we say meeting?

[MaryEllen24]

Flag it as "My answer should be accepted." if you think the database needs to be updated. But, I agree with FirstUntakenName, I don't go to a meeting at the dentist, so I agree a meeting is not necessarily an appointment.

[student3162]

I was thinking that a better English translation for this might be, "Unfortunately, I have an appointment."