このレッスンではミスやトラブルが発生した際、それぞれの異なる状況において最適な謝罪についての表現（言語、文法）にフォーカスします。
It's impossible to never make a mistake, so you will need to apologize sometimes. In this lesson you will discuss a variety of styles of apologies and decide which are best for different situations.
This is a problematic area for non-native English speakers. Interference from their L1 may result in inappropriacies. This could be grammatical or lexical, as the examples below show, or it could be pragmatic. Work on the sociolinguistic aspect of apologising as well as the linguistic.
You are late for a meeting and want to apologize. Which of the following phrases are correct, and which are incorrect?
- Sorry to be late.
- I am sorry for being late.
- I mistook!
All of these are incorrect!
- Sorry to—this is not used for mistakes, but rather for something you do intentionally:
- "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
- "Sorry to interrupt (you), but I think your data has an error."
- "Sorry to disturb you, but could I ask a question?"
- (Or, at least not mistakenly, as in "I'm sorry to hear that.")
- I am sorry for + verb-ing—this is correct when it comes to past actions.
-"Sorry for being late" is correct but wouldn't be said at the time a person arrives. Rather, it would be said about a past time: "Sorry for being late yesterday."
- Mistook as a verb simply does not collocate with "mistake". We make mistakes, we don't take them.
A mistake [noun] is something we make, "I made a mistake".
To link it to a topic, use about + noun—"I made a mistake about the time"; or "I made a mistake about the train schedule."
The simplest apology is this:
-
Sorry + [full sentence]
- Sorry I'm late!
- I'm sorry I made a mistake. I'll fix it right away.
- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Let me rephrase it.
A. With your teacher, arrange these apologies from least to most formal:
- I sincerely apologize for overlooking that calculation error in the deck.
- Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there.
- Sorry I'm late. The train was stuck at the station for nearly half an hour.
- We apologize and promise it won't happen again.
- My bad. Sorry.
B. If a mistake happens, then how you apologize is important. Examine the following apologies and discuss which one is better.
- Situation 1: Your team was expecting you at 11:00 AM, but your morning client meeting went a bit long again. You're 10 minutes late.
- I'm sorry I'm late again! I should have emailed you before 11. I'll be sure to do that if it happens again.
- The client was talking on and on again. Sorry that you had to wait for me.
- Situation 2: You realized a tiny mistake in a presentation that you made to a client yesterday.
- Frank, sorry but someone made a mistake in the presentation yesterday. It wasn't me.
- Frank, can I talk with you a moment? I really need to apologize. One of my team's calculations yesterday was wrong. I've corrected it, and we're checking to see if we need to notify the client.
Now, with your teacher, think of another big mistake and how you would apologize for it.
C. Below is one structure of an apology email. Read the steps and match them with the language in the email below:
- Initial apology.
- Actions already taken.
- Understanding the situation of the other person.
- Future action/sincere promise for change.
- Invitation for further dialog.
Situation: The COO rescheduled a meeting but your team missed it due to a miscommunication.
Dear Tom Jones,
We'd like to apologize for missing the meeting.
I have sent the urgent information in a PDF attached below. I have also contacted your assistant to reschedule.
Your time is valuable and we have wasted it. For that, too, we apologize. Rest assured, we've taken measures to ensure that this type of mistake doesn't happen again.
If there is anything we can do moving forward, please don't hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Jerry Taylor
A. With your teacher, arrange these apologies from least to most formal:
5. My bad. Sorry.
2. Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there.
3. Sorry I'm late. The train was stuck at the station for nearly half an hour.
1. I sincerely apologize for overlooking that calculation error in the deck.
4. We apologize and promise it won't happen again.
B. Good apologies should be frank, admit fault, and have a clear action moving forward.
Situation 1
- Great. They apologize, admit their fault, then make a plan for the future.
- Terrible. They blame the client and don't actually apologize: "Sorry that you..."
Situation 2
- Terrible. They don't apologize—"Sorry but someone..."—and don't accept blame.
- Great. The mistake is collective—"of my team's calculations yesterday was wrong..."
Note the language
- "I should have..."—for admitting your specific fault.
- "I've corrected it." / "I've talked with my team"—present perfect for what you have done already.
- "...we are implementing procedures"—for the next current/planned action.
- "I'll be sure to..." —for saying your planned action.
Ideas for apologies
- You didn't understand what a client really meant, and for the next meeting you bring something slightly off-base.
- When doing analysis, you didn't understand what was required and spend half a day off-track.
C.
Dear Tom,
1. Initial apology:
"We'd like to apologize for missing the meeting."
2. Actions already taken:
"I have sent the urgent information in a PDF attached below. I have also contacted your assistant to reschedule."
3. Understanding the situation of the other person:
"Your time is valuable and we have wasted it. For that, too, we apologize. Rest assured, we've taken measures to ensure that this type of mistake doesn't happen again."
Note: This is risky and requires understanding. Don't risk it if you don't know!
Other examples:
- "You are busy and you don't have time to waste on these type of problems."
- "I'm sure it was frustrating to wait for a meeting that didn't happen."
4. Future action and sincere promise for change:
"Rest assured, we have updated our procedures to ensure it never happens again."
5. Invitation for further dialog:
"If there is anything we can do moving forward, please don't hesitate to ask."
Say to the student: "I think email apologies are really important. Let's think of one now."
- What's a mistake that you have heard of?
- Have you or any of your colleagues made a mistake before?
- ...Okay, we don't need to actually send this, but let's draft an email together.
Apologize in the following situations. Discuss the method of apology and the level of formality you would use.
- You just noticed that you sent an email to a client where you spelled their name wrong.
- Your colleague asked you to bring back a cup of coffee, but you forgot.
- You worked late preparing a deck for a presentation. You've sent it to your manager, but you just noticed a mistake on the first slide.
- After the presentation, your colleague takes you aside and tells you the same mistake on the first slide (that was corrected) actually occurred later in the presentation, too, and this one wasn't corrected. It was shown to the client.