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How to Say ‘What about "excuse me"?’ in Traditional Chinese

那「不好意思」呢?

nà bù hǎo yì sī ne

[Na boo how ee suh nuh]

💬 Usage Tip: Put 呢 after a topic to ask "what about...?": 你呢? "And you?"

🇹🇼 In Taiwan: 不好意思 (bù hǎo yì si) is Taiwan's all-purpose softener. People use it to get attention, apologize lightly, squeeze past someone, or start a request.

Phrase Breakdown

那

nà

[Na]

then

Used to indicate a logical consequence or a time-based sequence.

Example

如果你去,我也會去。

If you go, then I will also go.

不好意思

bù hǎo yì sī

[boo how ee suh]

excuse me; embarrassed; sorry

A very common Taiwanese phrase used to say 'excuse me', 'sorry', or 'I feel embarrassed/trouble you'. Softer than 對不起 in many daily situations.

Example

不好意思,請問捷運站在哪裡?

Excuse me, may I ask where the MRT station is?

呢

ne

[nuh]

sentence particle for softening a question or tone

Often placed at the end of a question to sound more natural and conversational.

Example

你們平常怎麼合作呢?我想多了解一下。

How do you usually work together? I’d like to understand more.

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