In this spoken English lesson you will learn to use the word ‘sorry’ in many ways in the English language . The different ways to use the word sorry are as follows:
‘Sorry’ as pardon me – The word sorry can be used to replace the expression ‘pardon me’ when you can’t hear someone or want someone to repeat what they just said .
For ex: Instead of saying “Pardon me , I could not hear you.” You can simply replace ‘pardon me’ with ‘sorry’ and say ,
“Sorry, I could not hear you.”
’Sorry’ as excuse me – You can use the word ‘sorry’ instead of ‘excuse me’ if or when you bump into someone accidentally .
For ex: So instead of saying “Excuse me , I did not see you .” You can just say “sorry”.
‘Sorry’ as an apology – The basic meaning of sorry is ‘I apologise’.So you can use ‘sorry’ to apologise to someone .
For ex : ” I am sorry if I hurt you .”
‘Sorry’ as condolence – You can use to express your condolences or to express empathy for someone’s loss .
For ex: ” I am sorry to hear about your grandmother’s passing.”
‘Sorry’ to describe a facial expression – ‘Sorry’ can be used to describe a sad facial expression .
For ex: ” It was heartbreaking to see the sorry faces of the poor children.”
‘Sorry’ to express hopelessness or despair – ‘Sorry’ can be used to express describe a situation in which there is no hope anymore or to express extreme despair .
For ex: ” The newspapers are nothing but a confirmation of the sorry state of affairs in our country today.”
‘Sorry’ as regret – ‘Sorry’ can be used to express one’s regret about something . In this case the word denotes regret and not apology .
For ex: “I am sorry that things did not work out between us.”
‘Sorry’ in order to forbid – ‘Sorry’ can be used to forbid someone to do something , to express strictness . In a way ‘sorry’ can be used to replace the expression ‘no way!”
For ex: A mother telling her children ; “Sorry , no ice cream before dinner.”Here ‘sorry’ is being used to forbid the children from having ice- cream before dinner .
‘Sorry’ to express pity – ‘Sorry’ can be used to express one’s pity or sympathy for someone.
For ex: “I felt sorry for the children in the orphanage.”
