excuse me

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛksˈkjuːz mi/, /ɪksˈkjuːz mi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Phrase

excuse me

1. (Canada, US) Said as a request to repeat information.
2. (Canada, US) Said, as though as a request to repeat information, in order to indicate disbelief or indignation.

   It was so hot I took off my clothes and sat by the window to cool off.
   Excuse me?

3. Said as a request for an individual's attention.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Excuse me? Anna? Is that you? — Oh, yes. I am here!

     Audio (US):

     (file)

4. Said as a request to pass somebody.

   Excuse me: can I get through please?

5. Sorry, as an apology.
6. (formal) Said as an expression of unexpected or early farewell.

   Oh, excuse me, I hadn't realized how late it was. I need to get home and make dinner.

Synonyms

• (request to repeat): I beg your pardon?, pardon?, I'm sorry?, come again?, say again?, sorry? (UK, Ireland); see also Thesaurus:say again

Derived terms

• excuse you

Translations

request to repeat — see also come again

• American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
• Arabic: عَفْوًا! (ʕafwan!), (to a male) مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟ (māḏā qulta?), (to a female) مَاذَا قُلْتِ؟ (māḏā qulti?), (to a male) مَرَّة ثَانِيَة، مِن فَضْلِكَ؟ (marra ṯāniya, min faḍlika?), (to a female) مَرَّة ثَانِيَة، مِن فَضْلِكِ؟ (marra ṯāniya, min faḍliki?), عُذْراً! (ar) (ʕuḏran!)
• Azerbaijani: üzr istəyirəm
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 歹勢，請閣講一擺／歹势，请阁讲一摆 (pháiⁿ-sè, chhiáⁿ koh kóng chi̍t-pái / phái-sè, chhiáⁿ koh kóng chi̍t-pái), (less formal) 閣再講一擺／阁再讲一摆 (koh-chài kóng chi̍t-pái), (plain) 啥物？ (zh-min-nan) (siáⁿ-mi̍h? / siáⁿ-mih? / siám-mih? / sáⁿ-mi̍h? / siám-mi̍h? / siáⁿ-mí? / siáⁿ-meh? / sahⁿ-mi̍h?), 什物？ (sím-mi̍h? / sím-mi? / sím-mih? / sīm-mi̍h? / sám-mi̍h?), 何物？ (há-mi̍h?), 哈？ (zh-min-nan) (hâⁿ? / haⁿ? / hāⁿ? / hēⁿ? / hā?)

  Mandarin: 請再説一遍／请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yíbiàn), (less formal) 再説一遍／再说一遍 (zài shuō yíbiàn), (plain) 什麼？／什么？ (zh) (shénme), 哦？ (zh) (é?)

• Czech: promiňte
• Danish: hvad sagde du (informal), hva' (slang)
• Dutch: pardon (nl), wablief (nl), excuseer (nl)
• Faroese: ha?
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi)?, anteeksi kuinka?, anteeksi mitä?
• French: pardon (fr), plaît-il (fr), comment (fr), quoi (fr), (familiar) hein (fr)
• Georgian: უკაცრავად (uḳacravad), ბოდიში (bodiši)
• German: Entschuldigung? (de), wie bitte? (de) (less formal)
• Greek: συγγνώμη; (el) (syngnómi?)
• Hebrew: סְלִיחָה (he) (slikhá)
• Hungarian: tessék? (hu)
• Icelandic: afsakið?, afsakaðu?, fyrirgefðu (is)?
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal sg, gabhaigí mo leithscéal pl
• Italian: scusi (it)? (formal), prego (it)? (formal), scusa (it)? (informal), come (it)? (informal)
• Japanese: もういちどいってください (mō ichido itte kudasai), え、何ですか (え、なんですか, e, nan desu ka), (familiar) もう一回 (もういっかい, mō ikkai), もう一度 (もういちど, mō ichido), (plain) 何？ (ja) (なに？, nani?), え？ (ja) (e?)
• Kapampangan: na?, e?, po?
• Korean: 뭐라고요? (mwo-rago-yo?)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بِبوورە (bibûre)

• Lombard: el me scusa m (Western), la me scusa f (Western), el me scusi m (Eastern), la me scusi f (Eastern)
• Macedonian: молам (molam)? (mólam?)
• Maltese: skużi (mt)? (formal), x’għidt? (informal), x’inhu? (informal)
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hva (no)?, unnskyld (no)?, hæ (no)? (informal, common among young people)

  Nynorsk: unnskyld?

• Ojibwe: gaawiin gigii-noondoosiinoon
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِبَخْشید (fa) (bebaxšid), مَعْذِرَت می‌خواهَم (ma'zerat mi-xâham)

• Polish: proszę (pl)?
• Portuguese: como? (pt), o que?, oi? (pt) (informal), perdão? (pt)
• Romanian: poftim? (ro), Pardon?
• Russian: что вы сказа́ли? (što vy skazáli?), прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), (plain) что? (ru) (što?), как-как? (kak-kak?)
• Scottish Gaelic: (informal) b' àill leat?, (formal or plural) b' àill leibh?
• Slovene: prosim (sl)
• Spanish: ¿perdóname? (formal), ¿cómo (es)? (informal), mande (es) (Mexico, colloquial)
• Swahili: samahani rudia
• Swedish: ursäkta (sv)?, ursäkta mig?, va (sv)? (very informal, may be considered somewhat rude), vad sa du? (informal), hur sa? (sv)
• Tagalog: paulit po, ano ulit?, ano ho?, ano po?, ha?
• Tamil: மன்னி (ta) (maṉṉi)
• Turkish: efendim? (tr), affedersiniz (tr)

request for attention

• Arabic: عَن إِذْنَك (ʕan ʔiḏnak) (to man), عَن إِذْنِك (ʕan ʔiḏnik) (to woman), عَفْوًا (ʕafwan), عَذْرًا (ar) (ʕaḏran)

  Egyptian Arabic: لا مؤاخذة (la muʔaḵza)

  Hijazi Arabic: لَوْ سَمَحْت (law samaḥt) (to men), لَوْ سَمَحْتي (law samaḥti) (to women)

• Armenian: ներողություն (hy) (neroġutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: bağışlayın, üzr istəyirəm
• Belarusian: дару́йце (darújcje)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 歹勢／歹势 (zh-min-nan) (pháiⁿ-sè / phái-sè), 失禮／失礼 (zh-min-nan) (sit-lé), 請問／请问 (zh-min-nan) (chhiáⁿ-mn̄g / chhiáⁿ-mūi)

  Mandarin: 請問／请问 (zh) (qǐngwèn), 勞駕／劳驾 (zh) (láojià)

• Czech: promiňte
• Danish: undskyld (da)
• Dutch: pardon (nl), excuseer (nl)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: orsaka
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi)
• French: pardon (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Entschuldigung (de), Verzeihung (de)
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
• Hindi: ज़रा सुनिये (zarā suniye), क्षमा कीजिए (kṣamā kījie)
• Hungarian: elnézést (hu), legyen szíves (hu)
• Icelandic: afsakið?, fyrirgefðu (is)?, afsakaðu?, heyrðu
• Indonesian: permisi (id)
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal sg, gabhaigí mo leithscéal pl
• Italian: (singular formal) scusi (it), (singular informal) scusa (it), (plural) scusate (it)
• Japanese: すみません (ja) (sumimasen), 失礼します (しつれいします, shitsurei shimasu)
• Kapampangan: panupaya pu (very formal and polite)
• Kazakh: кешіріңіз (keşırıñız)
• Khmer: ឧកាស (ʼukaasaʼ)
• Korean: 여보세요 (ko) (yeoboseyo), 저기요 (jeogi-yo)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: извинете (izvinete), простете (prostete)
• Malay: tumpang tanya
• Maltese: skużi waħda
• Mon: စိုတ်လီု
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyld (no)

  Nynorsk: unnskyld

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِبَخْشید (fa) (bebaxšid), مَعْذِرَت می‌خواهَم (ma'zerat mi-xâham)

• Polish: przepraszam (pl)
• Portuguese: com licença (pt)
• Russian: прости́те (ru) (prostíte), извини́те (ru) (izviníte)
• Scottish Gaelic: gabh mo leisgeul
• Slovak: ospravedlnte, prepáčte
• Slovene: oprostite
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wódaj (singular familiar), wódajśo (plural; polite)

• Spanish: perdón (es), disculpe (es), oiga (es)
• Swedish: ursäkta mig
• Tagalog: tao po
• Tamil: மன்னிக்கணும் (maṉṉikkaṇum)
• Turkish: affedersin (tr) (informal), affedersiniz (tr) (formal), pardon (tr)
• Ukrainian: пе́репрошую (péreprošuju), дару́йте (darújte)
• Vietnamese: xin lỗi (vi) (吀纇), xin lỗi cho hỏi (吀纇朱𠳨)

request to pass

• American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
• Arabic: المَعْذِرَة (al-maʕḏira)
• Armenian: ներողություն (hy) (neroġutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: bağışlayın
• Belarusian: дару́йце (darújcje)
• Chichewa: zikomo
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 歹勢／歹势 (zh-min-nan) (pháiⁿ-sè / phái-sè), 失禮／失礼 (zh-min-nan) (sit-lé)

  Mandarin: 借過／借过 (zh) (jièguò), 勞駕／劳驾 (zh) (láojià)

• Czech: s dovolením
• Danish: undskyld mig
• Dutch: pardon (nl), excuseer (nl), excuseert u mij
• Faroese: orsaka
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi), anteeksi, saanko ohittaa
• French: pardon (fr), excusez-moi (fr), (informal) excuse-moi (fr)
• Georgian: მაპატიეთ (maṗaṭiet)
• German: Entschuldigung (de), darf ich bitte durch? (literally “may I pass please?”)
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
• Hindi: क्षमा कीजिए (kṣamā kījie)
• Hungarian: szabad lesz?
• Icelandic: afsakið?, fyrirgefðu (is)?
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal sg, gabhaigí mo leithscéal pl
• Italian: permesso (it), scusa (it) (informal), scusi (it) (formal), scusate (it) (plural)
• Japanese: すみません (ja) (sumimasen)
• Kapampangan: makidalan, makilabas, sensiane
• Khmer: ^{(please verify)} ជួយខ្ញុំ, ខ្ញុំអាចទៅណា (cuəy khñom, khñom ʼaac tɨw naa)
• Korean: 잠시만요 (jamsi-man-yo)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: (said to one person) ignosce mihi, (said to more than one person) ignoscite mihi
• Lithuanian: atsiprašau (lt)
• Lombard: permess, scusa (lmo) (Western formal, informal), scusi (Eastern formal)
• Macedonian: извинете (izvinete)
• Malay: tumpang lalu
• Maltese: skużani waħda
• Ngazidja Comorian: sumila
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyld (no)

  Nynorsk: unnskyld

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِبَخْشید (fa) (bebaxšid)

• Polish: przepraszam (pl)
• Portuguese: com licença (pt)
• Russian: извини́те (ru) (izviníte)
• Scottish Gaelic: gabh mo leisgeul
• Slovene: oprostite
• Spanish: con permiso, permiso (es), perdón (es)
• Swahili: tafadhali naomba unipishe
• Swedish: ursäkta mig, ursäkta (sv)
• Tagalog: makikiraan po n, pasintabi
• Turkish: affedersin (tr) (informal), affedersiniz (tr) (formal), izin verir misin? (informal), izin verir misiniz? (formal), özür dilerim, müsade eder misin? (informal), müsade eder misiniz? (formal)
• Ukrainian: пе́репрошую (péreprošuju), дару́йте (darújte)

sorry, as apology

• Albanian: më falni (formal), më fal (informal)
• American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
• Arabic: اِعْذِرْنِي (iʕḏirnī), آسِف! (ʔāsif!), آسِفَة! f (ʔāsifa!)
• Armenian: ներողություն (hy) (neroġutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: üzr istəyirəm
• Belarusian: праба́чце (prabáčcje), праба́ч (prabáč), выбача́йце (vybačájcje) (formal), выбача́й (vybačáj) (informal), перапро́шваю (pjerapróšvaju)
• Bengali: দুঃখিত (bn) (dukkhito), মাফ করবেন (maph korben)
• Bulgarian: извине́те (bg) (izvinéte), пардо́н (bg) (pardón) (colloquial)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 對唔住／对唔住 (yue) (deoi³ m⁴ zyu⁶), 唔好意思 (m⁴ hou² ji³ si¹)

  Hokkien: 歹勢／歹势 (zh-min-nan) (pháiⁿ-sè / phái-sè), 失禮／失礼 (zh-min-nan) (sit-lé)

  Mandarin: 對不起／对不起 (zh) (duìbùqǐ), 抱歉！ (zh) (bàoqiàn!), 不好意思 (zh) (bùhǎoyìsi)

  Wu: 對勿起／对勿起, 勿好意思 (⁸veq-hau-i-sy)

• Czech: promiňte
• Danish: undskyld (da)
• Dutch: pardon (nl), excuseer (nl), excuseert u mij
• Esperanto: senkulpigu min
• Estonian: vabandage, vabanda ((informal))
• Faroese: orsaka
• Finnish: anteeksi (fi), suokaa anteeksi
• French: pardon (fr), excusez-moi (fr), mes excuses (fr), je m’excuse (fr)
• Galician: perdoa (informal), perdoe (formal)
• Georgian: ბოდიში (bodiši), უკაცრავად (uḳacravad)
• German: Entschuldigung (de), entschuldigen Sie (more formal), es tut mir leid (implies speaker is to blame)

  Alemannic German: äxgüsi

• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
• Hawaiian: e kala mai
• Hindi: माफ़ कीजिए (māf kījie), माफ़ करो (māf karo) (informal)
• Hungarian: elnézést (hu), elnézést kérek, bocsánat (hu)
• Icelandic: fyrirgefðu (is), fyrirgefðu mér, afsakið, afsakaðu mig sg, afsakið mig pl
• Indonesian: maafkan saya
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal sg, gabhaigí mo leithscéal pl
• Italian: scusi (it) (formal), scusa (it) (informal), scusate (it) pl
• Japanese: (very formal) 申しわけございません (もうしわけございません, mōshiwake gozaimasen), (formal) すみません (ja) (sumimasen), 御免なさい (ja) (ごめんなさい, gomennasai), (informal) ごめん (ja) (gomen), 失礼しました (しつれいしました, shitsurei shimashita)
• Kapampangan: pasensia, ne?, panupaya
• Kazakh: кешіріңіз (keşırıñız)
• Khmer: សុំទោស (som tooh)
• Korean: 죄송합니다 (ko) (joesong-hamnida), 미안해요 (ko) (mian-haeyo), 실례합니다 (ko) (sillye-hamnida)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بِبوورە (bibûre), داوای لێبوردن دەکەم (daway lêburdin dekem)

• Lao: ຂໍໂທດ (khǭ thōt)
• Latin: (said to one person) ignosce mihi, (said to more than one person) ignoscite mihi
• Latvian: atvainojiet
• Lithuanian: dovanokite (lt)
• Macedonian: извинете (izvinete), се извинувам (se izvinuvam), извини (izvini) (familiar, informal)
• Malay: maafkan saya, maaf
• Maltese: skużani
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: уучлаарай (uučlaaraj)

• Nootka: ʔuuʔaałuk̕ʷi
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyld (no), beklager (no)

  Nynorsk: unnskyld, beklagar, orsak

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: بِبَخْشید (fa) (bebaxšid), مَعْذِرَت می‌خواهَم (ma'zerat mi-xâham)

• Polish: przepraszam (pl), wybacz (singular), wybaczcie (plural)
• Portuguese: perdão (pt), desculpa (pt), me desculpe/desculpa, desculpas (pt)
• Romanian: scuzați-mă
• Russian: извини́те/извини́ (ru) (izviníte/izviní) (formal/informal), прости́те/прости́ (ru) (prostíte/prostí) (formal/informal), прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), (informal) извиня́юсь (ru) (izvinjájusʹ), пардо́н (ru) (pardón) (colloquial), со́рри (ru) (sórri) (slang)
• Scottish Gaelic: gabh mo leisgeul
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: извините (formal), извини (informal), опростите

  Roman: izvinite (sh) (formal), izvini (sh) (informal), oprostite (sh)

• Slovak: (formal) prepáčte, (informal) prepáč (sk), ospravedlnte
• Slovene: (formal) oprostite, (informal) oprosti
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wódaj (singular familiar), wódajśo (plural; polite)

• Spanish: perdona (es) (informal), perdone (es) (formal)
• Swedish: ursäkta (sv), ursäkta mig, förlåt (sv)
• Tagalog: pasensiya, pasensiya na
• Thai: ขอโทษ (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-tôot)
• Tibetan: དགོངས་དག (dgongs dag)
• Turkish: pardon (tr), özür dilerim, affedersin (tr) (informal), affedersiniz (tr) (formal)
• Ukrainian: ви́бачте (výbačte), ви́бач (výbač), проба́чте (probáčte), проба́ч (probáč), перепро́шую (perepróšuju)
• Urdu: مُعاف کِیجِیے (mu'āf kījiye)
• Vietnamese: xin lỗi (vi) (吀纇)

indignation

• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 啥物？ (zh-min-nan) (siáⁿ-mi̍h? / siáⁿ-mih? / siám-mih? / sáⁿ-mi̍h? / siám-mi̍h? / siáⁿ-mí? / siáⁿ-meh? / sahⁿ-mi̍h?), 什物？ (sím-mi̍h? / sím-mi? / sím-mih? / sīm-mi̍h? / sám-mi̍h?), 何物？ (há-mi̍h?), 哈？ (zh-min-nan) (hâⁿ? / haⁿ? / hāⁿ? / hēⁿ? / hā?)

  Mandarin: 什麼意思？／什么意思？ (shénme yìsi)

• Danish: undskyld (da)
• Faroese: orsaka
• Finnish: pyydän anteeksi!, anteeksi (fi)
• German: Entschuldigung! (de)
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (syngnómi)
• Icelandic: fyrirgefðu (is)!, afsakið!
• Irish: gabh mo leithscéal sg, gabhaigí mo leithscéal pl
• Japanese: (formal) 御免なさい (ja) (ごめんなさい, gomen nasai)
• Macedonian: извине́те ме (izvinéte me), просте́те ми (prostéte mi)
• Northern Sami: ándagassii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyld meg

• Polish: proszę o wybaczenie
• Portuguese: como é que é?!
• Swedish: ursäkta mig!
• Tagalog: pasensiya na, ano po?
• Turkish: affedersin! (tr) (informal), affedersiniz! (tr) (formal), özür dilerim!

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} excusā, ^{(please verify)} excusāte pl, ^{(please verify)} mē excusā, ^{(please verify)} mē excusāte pl

Noun

excuse me (plural excuse mes)

1. An old-fashioned type of dance where partners are constantly changed.

See also

• pardon me
• your attention please