Excuse me, excuse me, I’m sorry did I disturb you? Well I have something very interesting
for you today. Let's look at three most important words in English, the ones that we use often
but sometimes, yes, I mean sometimes we tend to get a little confused, because we don't
know exactly when to use sorry, excuse me and pardon me.
So let's start by understanding when to use sorry. Now if I say I’m sorry I have hurt
you, it’s clear I have done something wrong okay. So when you do something wrong and you
regret, remember we were always taught as kids, learn to apologize and that is what
sorry is all about. You say you are sorry, when you have done something wrong, something
incorrect. Maybe you just feel bad about it, you regret it. Well if you do, don't worry,
you have the magic word called sorry. Alright but supposing you hear an announcement at
the airport that says, I’m sorry all flights are delayed. Now here, yes of course they
are making an apology because of some circumstances, the flights are delayed but here we are giving
unpleasant news. So sometimes when you want to say, you don't have something good to say,
you will always kind of start by saying, I’m sorry, okay. So it's a good word to use when
you have something unpleasant to say. Now imagine a person is fighting for his life
in an operation theatre and the doctor finally wants to break the bad news to you, that he's
no more, so he comes out and says I’m sorry we really tried. So that is giving unpleasant
news. Okay so use sorry when you want to give unpleasant news. Sorry, could you please repeat
that? So sometimes when people say something that you did not listen, may be you were,
you know a little preoccupied, you say sorry could you please repeat that? It’s a way
of saying that, I didn't listen to what you just said and I'd really appreciate it; if
you could you repeat it again. So you say sorry. So when you want someone to repeat,
yeah what you just didn't hear, okay, you say sorry, yes. And well I'm sorry I can't
come today. Now imagine a client of yours has invited you to dinner for a business dinner
but you already have something preplanned. Now instead of saying I can't come, I mean
I'm too busy, it's a little rude because you are refusing the offer, okay. You are refusing
going for dinner with your client, you say I'm sorry I can't come today or you know you
could say, I’d love to but I’m sorry I can't come today. So when you want to refuse
an offer, say you are sorry. Now many a times we also use the word sorry when we give condolence
to someone. Now condolence is a way of expressing you are feeling bad or kind of sympathy to
a friend or family who’s lost someone very dear to them. So you know we do say things
like rest in peace but it's always nice to say I'm sorry, you know I'm really sorry to
hear about your loss, may his soul rest in peace. So yes friends we do use sorry when
you want to give condolence to someone. Fine so remember these are the basic uses of sorry.
Please go ahead and use them when you need to.
Now let's come to excuse me. So um... if you noticed in the beginning of the lesson I said
excuse me. Now why did I say excuse me? Because I wanted to grab your attention, okay and
make sure you focus on this lesson. So excuse me could you... now you want to know the direction
to say a bank in an area that you have never been before. You want to ask a stranger so
you don't say, hey, hello shhh, shhh, don't do that, that's rude, you say, excuse me and
why use excuse me, because you want to grab his attention. You want him to listen to you
and of course you do not know his name. So you say excuse me, could you please tell me
how to get to this so and so bank? And that is how you use excuse me.
Okay now supposing the area is really crowded and I want to get past by through people like
this. So I won't push because it's really rude to push. You say excuse me, excuse me,
excuse me and that's how you go. So excuse me when you want to get past through someone
or you want people to move a little bit and make space for you to pass. Alright now imagine
we are all at a dinner table and I have an urgent call to make or maybe I just want to
use the washroom. So it's very rude if I just suddenly get up and walk away. So I stand
up and say, excuse me I’ll be right back. So you want to leave a particular place may
be temporarily, you say excuse me. Or you are done with your dinner and you are rushing
for a meeting or you know you are going out with a friend and you are at a dinner table
with your family and it's time for you to leave but the remaining members are just sitting
and relaxing but you need to go, don't just get up and go, it's rude, even though they
are your family members, always say, excuse me. So take your plate and just say excuse
me, alright. So good thing to do.
And now let's come to pardon. Before we understand what pardon is all about, let me tell you
there are a lot of people who don't prefer using pardon and that's alright. It’s the
choice that you make. But let's just understand how we use it. I beg your pardon; I didn't
notice your bag. Now supposing I was busy on my phone like all of us are all the time
and I go and sit on a chair without noticing there's a small bag, someone else's bag kept
there. So I say I beg your pardon, I didn't see your bag. Now I beg your pardon is a very
formal way of saying sorry. You can also say it when you miss what someone said like you
can say sorry, like you learnt here sorry. You can say I beg your pardon, could you please
repeat that? Fair enough you are just being very formal. Now the two criminals were pardoned.
Here it means the two criminals were found guilty, yes they were found guilty, but they
were pardoned. They were pardoned means they were left without being punished. So I can't
say the two criminals were sorry. That's not what we are saying, they were pardoned means
they were left guilt free or they were left free without being punished, despite being
guilty, found to be guilty. Okay now if um... John and Maria have had
a very bad tiff because Maria did something wrong and if I tell you he could never pardon
her. Okay I can't say he could never excuse her, never sorry her or say sorry because
he's not at fault. But when I say he could never pardon her, I mean to say, he could
never pardon her for what she' done. So it means to forgive someone for behaving badly
or behaving in an undesired way. Okay friends so these are the uses of, different
uses of sorry, excuse me and pardon. But well there are certain situations where you are
free to use all three of them interchangeably and I’ll tell you how. So imagine you kind
of burp okay when you finish your food, you burp or your fart and oops that's not a very
nice thing, right? So you could say I’m sorry, you could also say excuse me or you
could say, I beg your pardon. That your call, but make sure you say one of these. Alright,
well it's time for me to go now, I'll be back soon with a new lesson, till then, take care
and bye.