How to Say ‘Sorry, I'm a bit late.’ in Spain Spanish
Perdona, he llegado un poco tarde.
pehr-DOH-nah eh yeh-GAH-doh oon POH-koh TAR-deh
[pehr-DOH-nah eh yeh-GAH-doh oon POH-koh TAR-deh]
🇪🇸 In Spain: Ten or fifteen minutes late to a casual date in Spain is normal and rarely needs more than this quick apology.
Phrase Breakdown
Perdona,
pehr-DOH-nah
Sorry,
An informal 'sorry' or 'excuse me' for 'tú'. Stress the middle: 'pehr-DOH-nah'.
Perdona, ¿tienes hora?
Excuse me, do you have the time?
Words in this phrase
Perdona
[pehr-DOH-nah]
excuse me
Informal command of 'perdonar', used to politely get a stranger's attention.
Perdona, ¿tienes hora?
Excuse me, do you have the time?
he llegado
eh yeh-GAH-doh
I've arrived
'He' is from 'haber' and the 'h' is silent. 'Llegado' is the past participle of 'llegar'.
Ya he llegado.
I'm here now.
Words in this phrase
he
[eh]
I have
Auxiliary 'haber' for the present perfect, used before a past participle.
He comido mucho.
I have eaten a lot.
llegado
[yeh-GAH-doh]
arrived
Past participle of 'llegar' (to arrive), used with 'haber' to form the perfect tense.
Ya ha llegado el tren.
The train has already arrived.
un poco tarde.
oon POH-koh TAR-deh
a bit late
Softens the apology.
Hoy he comido un poco tarde.
I had lunch a bit late today.
Words in this phrase
un
[oon]
a
An article used before a masculine singular noun.
Busco un lugar donde me sienta valorado.
I’m looking for a place where I feel valued.
poco
[POH-koh]
little, bit
With 'un', means 'a little' or 'a bit'.
Llegamos un poco tarde.
We arrived a bit late.
tarde
[TAR-deh]
late
Adverb meaning after the expected or usual time.
Es tarde para cenar.
It's late to have dinner.
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