Sorry!
We owe you a little apology, so we thought: what better way to say sorry, than with a lesson on how to say sorry in Italian?
Find out why we’d like to say sorry and learn how Italians say sorry to each other in this episode of 5 minute Italian.
Psst – If you caught the last lesson on how to say “I like” in Italian, you’ll notice an interesting similarity!
To make sure you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
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Bonus Materials
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Today’s Italian words
Quando dici “mi dispiace” di solito? = When do you normally say sorry?
Quando = when
Dici = you say
Mi dispiace = I’m sorry (literally, “it displeases me” or “to me, it displeases”)
Di solito = usually
Quando non ho moneta = when I don’t have change
Quando = when
Non ho = I don’t have
Moneta = change
Oppure quando qualcuno mi racconta un accaduto triste = or when someone tells me about a sad event.
Oppure = or
Quando = when
Qualcuno = someone
Mi racconta = tells me
Un accaduto = an event/occurance
Triste = sad
Take the Quiz!
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to say sorry in Italian
Italian flashcards
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
- Download the flashcards: How to say sorry in Italian
- Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian, I’m Katie.
Matteo: And I’m Matteo.
K: In today’s lesson, you’ll be learning how to say sorry in Italian.
M: This theme is very timely because we’d like to start by saying sorry!
K: Yes, we’re sorry we haven’t been publishing regular episodes recently, that’s because we’ve been busy renovating our new apartment in Milan. The good news is, we’ve now moved in and we’ve got a guest room, which we’ll soon be renting out to you guys to come and learn Italian with us for a few days here in Italy. If you’d like to know more about that, sign up to our mailing list and we’ll send you an email with the details as soon as we’ve got everything up and running. You’ll find the link is in the show notes.
For now, let’s move on to today’s lesson.
M: First, ascoltiamo la conversazione, let’s listen to the conversation, then we’ll go through it step by step.
K: Matteo, quando dici mi dispiace di solito?
M: Quando non ho moneta. Oppure quando qualcuno mi racconta un accaduto triste.
K: So you just heard:
M: Quando dici “mi dispiace” di solito?
K: When do you usually say sorry, or “mi dispiace”? Literally:
M:
- Quando = when
- Dici = you say
- Mi dispiace = I’m sorry
- Di solito = usually
K: In Italian, to say sorry, we say mi dispiace. The literal translation is something like: “it displeases me”, or word for word: “to me, it displeases”. And you might notice that it’s actually the negative version of a phrase we learnt last week: mi piace, which means I like, and can be literally translated as “it pleases me” or “to me, it pleases”
So let’s hear Matteo’s answer: when do you say sorry?
M: Quando non ho moneta.
K: Quando non ho moneta. “moneta” literally means “coin”, but it also means “change”, as in “I haven’t got any change to pay for the parking meter. So what do you think “quando non ho moneta” means?
…
“When I don’t have change”.
M:
- Quando = when
- non ho = I don’t have
- moneta = change
K: Matteo uses mi dispiace I’m sorry, in situations when he doesn’t have change. For example, if he only has a 20 euro note to pay for a 1 euro coffee.
Here are some other examples of situations in which you’d use mi dispiace in Italian:
When your friend asks you if there’s any coffee left, but you’ve already drank it all
M: Mi dispiace
K: When your teacher asks if you’ve done your homework, but you haven’t.
M: Mi dispiace
K: If someone stops you in the street and asks you for directions, but you can’t help them.
M: Mi dispiace
K: Next, let’s hear the other kind of situation Matteo mentioned:
M: Oppure quando qualcuno mi racconta un accaduto triste.
K: Or when someone tells me about a sad event. Literally:
M:
- Oppure = or
- Quando = when
- Qualcuno = someone
- Mi = to me
- Racconta = tells
- Un accaduto = an event/occurrence
- Triste = sad
K: If someone tells you about something bad that happened to them, for example, if they lost their job, or their dog died, and you want to express sympathy, you can say mi dispiace, “I’m sorry”, much the same as you would in English.
M: Italians actually have another way to say sorry, “scusa”, which is sometimes, but not always interchangeable with mi dispiace. Next week, we’ll talk about when to use mi dispiace and when to use scusa, so you’ll be able to say sorry in Italian like a local.
K: That’s it from us for today, to practice what you learnt, you can find transcripts from today’s show, as well as bonus materials like a quiz and flashcards by going to our website – www.joyoflanguages/italianpodcast and scrolling down to episode 47. Alternatively, click on the link in the show notes to go straight there. And remember, if you like the idea of learning Italian with us for a few days in Milan, sign up to the mailing list in the show notes and we’ll send you through an email with the details as soon as everything’s ready.
Ciao for now, or as we say in Italian.
M: Alla prossima!
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