saying sorry in German

Question

I would like to say that I am very sorry for a situaton that is not my fault but is causing serious trouble to someone, and I would like it to sound firm but not too formal as the personal context is also important:

Ich bitte um Verzeihung fur diese Situation.

Is this sentence ok? Thanks for any help.

Have a look at http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/7031/how-should-we-apologize-in-german — äüö, Oct 02 '13 at 11:48
Thanks, would it be ok then to say Es tut mir Leid fur die Situation? — wojtek, Oct 02 '13 at 11:54
@wojtek Besides my answer, you can also say: "Die Situation tut mir sehr leid." to adopt your example. — insertusernamehere, Oct 02 '13 at 12:11

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 02 '13 at 12:06

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You could use:

"Ich bedauere deine/Ihre/diese Situation (sehr)." (informal/formal/without any personal address)

Which means: "I'm (very) sorry for your/this situation.". It's more like "to sorrow" or "to regret" instead of apologizing.

Or simpler but also a little more informal:

"Es tut mir (sehr) leid für dich/Sie." (informal/formal)

Which means: "I'm (very) sorry for you."

answered Oct 02 '13 at 12:06

insertusernamehere

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Anstatt Situation ist auch Lage gebräuchlich. – alk Oct 02 '13 at 16:03

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 03 '13 at 23:02

You could also say "Es tut mir leid, dass es so gekommen ist" or "das ist ja eine blöde Lage".

Generally speaking, Germans don't excuse as often as Americans. When you try to pass someone in the supermarket aisle, you say "excuse me" in the US. In Germany you say "kann ich mal durch?" ("can I get through?") and sometimes that's not even really a question.

In your situation it may be fine to just not say anything or say something like "das ist ja eine blöde Lage" to express your empathy.

saying sorry in German

2 Answers2