How to Say Sorry in Spanish

Bump into a stranger stepping off a crowded metro car in Mexico City, and the word that flies out of your mouth on reflex is... which one? English hands you exactly one word for the job — "sorry" — stretched to cover everything from a shoulder-bump to a funeral card. Spanish splits that single word across several real, distinct choices, and the wrong one can make a genuine apology sound like a throwaway, or a passing bump sound strangely dramatic.

Why "Sorry" Splits Into Three Words in Spanish

This is exactly the kind of everyday word that trips up even confident learners, because English never forces you to think about it: one word, endless situations. Spanish asks you to notice what kind of "sorry" you actually mean — a quick reflex after stepping on someone's foot, a polite request to interrupt or squeeze past, or a real expression of regret about something that matters. Get this right and you'll sound like someone who's actually lived among Spanish speakers, not someone reciting one phrasebook line for every situation, from a crowded bus in Lima to a missed deadline at work.

Perdón: The All-Purpose, Reflexive Apology

Key Phrases

• Perdón (pehr-DOHN) — sorry / pardon me — the reflexive, all-purpose choice
• ¡Perdón! (pehr-DOHN) — Sorry! — said fast, right after a small collision
• Perdona (pehr-DOH-nah) — sorry (tú, a little more personal)
• Perdóname (pehr-DOH-nah-meh) — forgive me (tú, more emphatic)

[AUDIO: perdón] [AUDIO: perdona] [AUDIO: perdóname]

Perdón is the word you'll reach for most, and it's genuinely safe almost everywhere — stepping on someone's foot, interrupting a conversation, bumping a cart into someone at the supermarket. It's technically a noun, borrowed from the verb perdonar (to forgive, to pardon), but Spanish speakers use it constantly as a bare exclamation, the same way English speakers blurt "sorry!" without thinking about the grammar behind it.

Grammar Note

Perdón itself never conjugates — it's a fixed noun. But its parent verb, perdonar, does conjugate, giving you two command forms worth knowing: perdona (informal tú) and perdone (formal usted), both meaning "forgive me."

• Common mistake: over-adding words — "perdón por" plus a noun or infinitive works fine (perdón por la tardanza, sorry for the delay), but a bare perdón is already a complete apology.
• Common mistake: using perdona with someone you'd address as usted — a boss, an elderly stranger — where perdone is the respectful match.

Disculpa and Disculpe: The Polite "Excuse Me" Register

Key Phrases

• Disculpa (dees-KOOL-pah) — excuse me / sorry (tú, informal)
• Disculpe (dees-KOOL-peh) — excuse me / sorry (usted, formal)
• Disculpen (dees-KOOL-pen) — excuse me / sorry (ustedes, plural)
• Una disculpa (OO-nah dees-KOOL-pah) — an apology (the noun form, common in written or formal apologies)

[AUDIO: disculpa] [AUDIO: disculpe] [AUDIO: una disculpa]

Disculpa and disculpe do double duty as "excuse me" (getting someone's attention) and "sorry" (a light apology), much like English "excuse me" can open a question or acknowledge a small mistake. They lean slightly more polished than the reflexive perdón — you'll hear disculpe constantly from waitstaff and anyone speaking to the public.

Grammar Note

Disculpa and disculpe are command (imperative) forms of the verb disculpar (to excuse) — literally instructing the other person to excuse you.

• disculpa (tú)
• disculpe (usted)
• disculpen (ustedes / plural)

Common mistake: mismatching the register — using disculpa with a stranger you'd normally address formally sounds a little too familiar, the same slip perdona/perdone can cause. When in doubt with someone older or in a professional setting, disculpe is the safer default.

Lo Siento: For Real Regret and Sympathy

Key Phrases

• Lo siento (loh SYEN-toh) — I'm sorry / I regret it
• Lo siento mucho (loh SYEN-toh MOO-choh) — I'm so sorry
• Siento llegar tarde (SYEN-toh yeh-GAHR TAR-deh) — I'm sorry for arriving late
• Siento que... (SYEN-toh keh) — I'm sorry that... (sympathy for someone else's situation)

[AUDIO: lo siento] [AUDIO: siento llegar tarde]

Lo siento comes from sentir (to feel, to regret) — literally "I feel it" — and it carries real emotional weight in a way perdón and disculpa don't. Save it for situations you genuinely regret: forgetting a friend's birthday, breaking a promise, hearing sad news. Used for a light shoulder-bump on the street, lo siento can sound oddly heavy, like you're mourning the collision rather than just excusing it.

Grammar Note

For your own action, siento pairs with an infinitive or a noun: siento llegar tarde (sorry for arriving late), siento el malentendido (sorry for the misunderstanding). For sympathy about someone else's situation, siento switches to que plus the subjunctive: siento que tengas que irte tan pronto (I'm sorry you have to leave so soon) — the same wish-and-feeling grammar behind espero que and ojalá.

• Common mistake: following siento que with the indicative instead of the subjunctive — "siento que tienes que irte" sounds off; it needs tengas, not tienes.

In Spain, you'll hear perdón used constantly and lightly in crowded spaces — squeezing past someone at a packed tapas bar barely earns more than a quick ¡perdón! tossed over one shoulder. Saving lo siento for moments that call for real feeling, rather than every small bump, is part of what makes an apology sound natural instead of overdone.

Con Permiso: The One That Isn't Really "Sorry"

Key Phrases

• Con permiso (kohn pehr-MEE-soh) — excuse me / pardon me (asking to pass or step away)
• Permiso (pehr-MEE-soh) — excuse me (shortened, common across Latin America)
• ¿Me permite? (meh pehr-MEE-teh) — may I? (very formal, asking permission directly)

[AUDIO: con permiso] [AUDIO: permiso]

This is the one English speakers most often get backwards. Con permiso isn't an apology at all — it's a request for permission, said before you do something that might inconvenience someone, not after. Use it squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle or stepping away from the table. Perdón and disculpa, by contrast, are reactive — said after a bump or a mistake has already happened.

In much of Latin America, saying con permiso before leaving a room or a table is basic, everyday etiquette rather than extra-formal politeness — in Colombia and Peru especially, skipping it when stepping away from a shared meal can come across as a little brusque, particularly with an older relative at the table.

Putting It Into Practice

Picture a Saturday at a busy mercado (market) in Mexico City. You step on a vendor's foot reaching for a mango — a quick ¡Perdón! or ¡Disculpe! covers it instantly. Threading through a packed aisle, you'd say con permiso before squeezing past a family, not perdón — you haven't bumped anyone yet, you're just asking to get by. Later, you realize you forgot the chile your friend asked for — that's real regret, and it calls for lo siento: "Lo siento, se me olvidó comprar el chile que querías" (I'm sorry, I forgot to buy the chile you wanted).

Practice Exercises

• Fill in the blank, informal register: you step on a friend's foot — "¡___!" (perdón / con permiso)
• Fill in the blank: before squeezing past someone in a movie theater row — "___" (lo siento / con permiso)
• Multiple choice: which fits a formal apology to your boss for a mistake — "Perdona" or "Disculpe"?
• Translate to Spanish, expressing real regret: "I'm so sorry, I forgot your birthday."
• Fill in the blank with the subjunctive: Siento que ___ (tener) que cancelar la cita.
• True or false: con permiso is an apology, used after bumping into someone.

Answer Key

• ¡Perdón! — a quick, reflexive apology fits a small physical bump.
• Con permiso — you're asking to pass, not apologizing for anything yet.
• "Disculpe" — the formal usted form is the respectful choice with a boss.
• "Lo siento mucho, se me olvidó tu cumpleaños."
• Siento que tengas que cancelar la cita. — a wish/sympathy clause after siento que takes the subjunctive.
• False — con permiso is a request for permission, said before an action, not an apology said after one.

Key Takeaways

• Perdón and disculpa/disculpe are your quick, reflexive apologies — split by the tú/usted formality line, not by how sorry you actually feel.
• Lo siento carries real emotional weight, built from sentir (to feel) — save it for genuine regret or sympathy, not a light shoulder-bump.
• Con permiso isn't an apology at all — it's a request for permission, said before an action, not after one.

Ready to make all four feel natural? Try a round of Exercises built around everyday Spanish apologies, or browse Vocabulary for more real phrases like this one.