Learn how to apologize
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| Marḥaban, ʾanā Carole! Hi everybody! I’m Carole. |
| Welcome to ArabicPod101.com’s Al ʿarabiyyah fi ṯalāṯi daqāʾiq. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Arabic. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the phrases Hal tatakallamu al-ʾinklīziyyah? “Do you speak English” and Hal biʾimkānika al-takallum bil ʾinklīziyyah? “Could you speak English?" And we mentioned the word min faḍlika?, which means "please" in Arabic. |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use al-maʿḏirah or ʿafwan and ʾanā ʾāsif and other words when apologizing in Arabic. |
| We should use al-maʿḏirah or ʿafwan when we want to say “excuse me”, such as when we are ordering something in a bar or a restaurant. For example: |
| al-maʿḏirah/ʿafwan, qahwah min faḍlika. "Excuse me, a coffee please." |
| [slowly] al-maʿḏirah/ʿafwan, qahwah min faḍlika. |
| We can also use it when asking a question: |
| al-maʿḏirah/ʿafwan, aina al-maḥattah? "Excuse me, where is the station?" |
| [slowly] al-maʿḏirah/ʿafwan, ʾayna al-maḥattah? |
| Sometimes we also hear people say min faḍlika or “please” to draw somebody's attention. |
| [slowly] min faḍlika! |
| If the person is a woman, we replace the ending with ki so it becomes Min faḍliki! |
| In case you want to use "excuse me" to apologize instead of asking something, you should say ʿuḏhran. |
| It can be used if you accidentally bump into someone on the street. |
| [slowly]ʿuḏhran |
| Just like ʿuḏhran, we can use ʾanā ʾāsif when apologizing. It literally means ”I’m sorry”or “Pardon me”. As we |
| learned in the last lesson ʾanā means “I”,so the adjective that follows should be modified according to the gender. So if you’re a woman you should say ʾanā ʾāsifah instead of ʾanā ʾāsif. |
| All of these phrases can be used for either “excuse me” or “I’m sorry.” But if you really want to apologize for something, it might be better to use a different phrase. |
| That phrase is the verb sāmiḥnī. It can be translated as “forgive me” in English, it is a bit stronger but it can be used in both formal and informal situations. |
| Again, since sāmiḥnī means that you are asking for the other person’s forgiveness, it should be changed according to the gender. |
| [slowly] sāmiḥnī |
| So it becomes sāmiḥīnī if the other person is a female, by adding the letter ī between the ḥ and the n. |
| [slowly] sāmiḥīnī |
| Now it’s time for Carole’s Tips. |
| Please remember that in most of the Arab countries, if you accidentally bump into someone, you don’t say “forgive me,” sāmiḥnī which is for a more serious annoyance; instead we say ʿuḏhran or ʾanā ʾāsif, "excuse me" or, "I am sorry". |
| Are you are able to count in Arabic? In the next lesson we will learn the digits in Arabic from one to ten! |
| I'll be waiting for you in our next Al ʿarabiyyah fi ṯalāṯi daqāʾiq lesson. |
| ʾilā al-liqāʾi fi al-marrati al qādimah! |
Comments
HideHi Listeners! Let's practice in the comments!
Hi Vishnu,
It will be understood, but it is not spoken.
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Hi Andrew,
No, this series is in Modern Standard Arabic.
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Hi Khadijah,
That makes us very happy!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
I love all the lessons with Carole. I find that I can pick up the vocab & understand the language faster with this method of imparting knowledge...after which I just need to go through the lessons again & again to help my memory storage. (I am almost 70). I would not want to take too long to be fluent in Arabic😊
Regards
Khadijah
Hi Nurilya,
Thank you for posting!
Should you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ArabicPod101.com
عفواٍ، قهوة من فضلك.
Hi Hafiz,
Thank you for your message.
This current series doesn't have a [Vocabulary] section, however, please check out our other series in the Lesson Library:
https://www.arabicpod101.com/lesson-library/absolute-beginner
Please check out the [Take quiz] in the [Vocabulary] tab. There are review and writing questions so you can check out your progress on each lesson.
We have Grammar Quizzes available as well but only for Premium Plus members. If you’re interested in more information on that, please check out these pages:
https://www.arabicpod101.com/member/member_upnewapi.php
https://www.arabicpod101.com/myteacher
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ArabicPod101.com
Merhaba
I wanted to ask that how many lessons do I have to go through before I get some worksheet or a task to check what I have learned? I am on lesson 6.
Shukran
Hi Mahima,
Great to have you here!
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ArabicPod101.com
thank you 👍
Hi Thibaut,
عفواً!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Great, thank you for your answer!
Hello Thibaut,
The "Get Started with ArabicPod101" pathway has a special selection of lessons of different series. You can check out its lesson summary here
https://www.arabicpod101.com/lesson-library/get-started-with-arabic-pod-101/
Instead, if you wish to study only our "Master Standard Arabic with 3-Minute Video Lessons", please check out:
https://www.arabicpod101.com/lesson-library/master-standard-arabic-with-3-minute-video-lessons1/
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any questions.👍
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ArabicPod101.com
Hello,
I'm following the "Get started with Arabic Pod 101" set of lessons. The previous lesson was the video lesson #2 and this is #5. How can I see the videos #3 and #4?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Hassan,
If you want to learn Arabic used in daily conversation, you might want to check our Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic lessons. Search "Egyptian" or "Morroccan" in the lesson search!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
I am told that the arabic I learn here is not used on the streets, that it is arabic used on TV , is it possible to teach or stress the ordinary arabic used informally?
Hi Tafseer,
Shukran! Where are you from?
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
This indeed a fun way to learn arabic
Hi Wafa,
Thank you so much for your kind words :D And Carole is awesome indeed!
Good luck and feel free to ask us about anything :)
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
salamahlaykum ya Nora ,
thank you I'm gonna start the verbs thanks to your wonderful site !! iv tried to learn Arabic mainly with books, but having videos are just perfect, they are very clear, we can hear the pronunciation perfectly, (big up for Carole haha !!)
shukrane
ma3asalama