すみません・すいません・sumimasen/suimasen = excuse me
You can use this to say:
- Excuse me
- I'm sorry
"Sumimasen" and "Suimasen" are the same words, but more often, people use "Suimasen" because it's easier to pronounce. just like when you say "I wanna" instead of "I want to".
EXAMPLES
I'm sorry
(Keiko-san, mō kuji-han yo!)
(Sumimasen, nebō simasita.)
Excuse me
(Suimasen, kore mittsu kudasai.)
(hai, mittsu desune. dōmo arigatō gozaimasu.)
A tip
"Sumimasen/Suimasen" are most commonly used when you want to grab someone's attention, so naturally, you use this at the beginning of a conversation.
To express "I'm sorry", you may consider always using "ごめんなさい・gomen nasai"instead of "sumimasen".
"Sumimasen" is a bit more formal than "gomen nasai". For instance, you seldom use "sumimasen" amongst friends.
On the other hand, You can use "gomen nasai" to anybody. More casual forms are, "gomen", or "gomen ne", but these are very casual (good friends level).
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