How to Say ‘I'm sorry.’ in Portuguese
Peço desculpa.
PESS-soo desh-KOOL-pah
[PESS-soo desh-KOOL-pah]
🇵🇹 In Portugal: [Peço desculpa] is a bit more courteous than a quick [desculpe] and works well when you're about to disagree or ask the driver to change something. It softens the complaint without sounding overly dramatic.
Phrase Breakdown
Peço
[PESS-soo]
I ask / I request
From the verb 'pedir'; here it means 'I ask' as part of the apology expression 'I’m sorry / excuse me'.
Peço desculpa, mas combinámos outro local de recolha.
I’m sorry, but we agreed on another pick-up location.
desculpa
[desh-KOOL-pah]
apology / excuse
Used in the phrase 'peço desculpa' to politely apologise or say excuse me.
Peço desculpa por insistir, mas o ponto de encontro era diferente.
I’m sorry for insisting, but the meeting point was different.
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