How to Say ‘Excuse me for being late.’ in French
Excusez-moi pour le retard.
ex-kew-zay mwah poor luh ruh-tar
[ex-kew-zay mwah poor luh ruh-tar]
🇫🇷 In France: This is a polite thing to say when entering late, especially to a teacher. In France, a brief apology is more natural here than a long explanation unless the teacher asks.
Phrase Breakdown
Excusez
[ex-kew-zay]
excuse
Polite imperative used to apologize or get someone's attention formally.
Dans « Excusez-moi pour le retard. », « Excusez » sert à s'excuser poliment.
In “Excuse me for being late.”, “Excusez” is used to apologize politely.
-moi
[mwah]
me
Object pronoun attached to excusez in the expression excusez-moi.
Dans « Excusez-moi pour le retard. », « -moi » veut dire « me ».
In “Excuse me for being late.”, “-moi” means “me”.
pour
[poor]
for
Preposition used to introduce the reason for an apology.
Dans « Excusez-moi pour le retard. », « pour » introduit la raison.
In “Excuse me for being late.”, “pour” introduces the reason.
le
[luh]
the
Definite article used before a masculine singular noun.
Dans « Excusez-moi pour le retard. », « le » accompagne « retard ».
In “Excuse me for being late.”, “le” goes with “retard”.
retard
[ruh-tar]
lateness
Noun meaning delay or lateness, common in school situations.
Dans « Excusez-moi pour le retard. », « retard » parle du fait d'arriver tard.
In “Excuse me for being late.”, “retard” refers to arriving late.
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