"I am sorry."
Translation:Lo siento.
138 Comments This discussion is locked.
- 24
That would be "I am I am sorry." "Lo siento" is very commonly used for "I am sorry." This is not a Duolingo oddity. ;)
Is it possible that the recently adpopted English slang phrase "I feel you", could be derived from the use of the idiom "Lo siento"? Might that be an observable growth of the English language due to borrowing and transformation?
Um, no. In the spanish language, two words can take the places of seven words in the english language. In this case, lo siento means " I am sorry", so you do not need "yo soy" in the sentence. That would be like saying, "I am I am sorry" (and yes, I meant to double my text)
- 12
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
Lo siento is called a reflexive verb. In Spanish they use them when the subject and object are the same. For example if you say "I call myself Hydrogyrum" you say "Me llamo Hydrogyrum" or "I wash myself" would be "Se lavar". I think at this point in your Spanish education they just want you memorize whole phrase not break it down.
- 9
- 3
In "lo siento", the subject is "yo" and the object is "lo", which do not refer to the same thing: it's not being used reflexively here. An example of reflexive usage would be "me siento mal".
perdon,whilst walking down a crowded bus isle,or interupting somebody to ask a question,,siento when a friends relative dies or if you drop a brick on a persons head?!. that's my kinda understanding but hey please don't quote me,if i'm wrong please corect me!
- 7
- 5
- 3
- 2
As far as I know, there are three common words: lo siento, perdón and disculpe. Lo siento is the most frequently used: to apologise, to offer condolences, when you aren't at fault (e.g. when someone's cat dies - unless you're responsible xD) and generally, wherever we'd use I'm sorry (except in formal cases) in English. Perdón is used formally, generally when you are at fault, e.g. being late, pushing someone accidentally and stuff. It's also used wherever we'd use 'pardon me' or 'excuse me' in English. Disculpe is the most formal of the lot, mostly used for 'pardon me' and 'sorry' in very formal situations. This is what I've learnt, anyway xD
- 25
- 15
- 10
- 9
My understanding is as follows: "Disculpe" is the "excuse me" that you would use to get someone's attention, like a waiter or a person on the street to ask for directions. If you are walking down a crowded aisle in a movie theater or bus, "Permiso" or "Con permiso" is the common way to say excuse me. "Lo siento" is a sympathetic "sorry" and "Perdon" is I am sorry typically if you are at fault.
Again this is only my understanding. I would love further clarification if anyone has any.
gracias for such good illustrated decription. i m learning spanish new and found it helpful. really thanks.
Because it's incomplete. Translates to "I feel". But what? Siento mal. I feel bad. Siento enfermo/a. I feel sick. You don't need the Yo. It's part of the verb. Lo siento is an idiomatic expression, roughly "I feel it" - that is, I feel the pain I caused you.
Perdón means "pardon/pardon me" or "excuse me." Thus, "yo soy perdón" translates to "I am pardon." Here's a good explanation of perdón and lo siento: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/103688/perdon-vs.-lo-siento
Can someone explain how I am supposed to know what lo means? Why isn't it Yo soy siento?
- 25
- 17
- 17
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 8
- 8
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 115
En realidad "lo siento" y "perdón" son básicamente lo mismo, ambos pueden ser usados en la misma clase de oraciones, lo que sucede es que quizá "lo siento" en un sentido se oye mas formal Really "lo siento" and "perdón" mean the same thing, the both can be used in the same kind of sentence, what happen is that maybe "lo siento" is more formal
No, you could not. That would be, "sorry am I."
In spanish it's confusing, because often the words are switched so they're back wards. But in some cases, they're in the same form. Yes, I was confused with that once.
- 9
- 9
- 6
- 4
In a strict linguistic technical sense, "lo siento" translates to "It feel-I." - because the -o ending is the "I"part in English, sient- is the conjugated stem of "feel" and "lo" is the direct object. So "sientolo" does not translate to "sorry am I", it translates morpheme for morpheme to "Feel-I it". Which is still wrong, but not for the reasons you're stating. The words in spanish aren't "backwards" - your implication is that English is "forwards". To someone learning English from Spanish, it is English that is backwards.
- 11
How about "lo lamento" and "discúlpame"? Basically they mean the same: I am sorry.
I dont get it if "I" is for "Yo" then it would be "I am sorry" speaking as yourself but instead its "Lo siento" which just means sorry i am realizing there is more than just one way of saying "Sorry" in spanish.
- 11
Sentir = to regret, to apologise. Lo siento, word for word, means: That I apologise.
"Lo siento" in english is "i am sorry" but where is the spanish word "suy" when "am" in the english word is suy in spanish... a little bit confused. Help pls