Kilo Lingo

(bào qiàn) - sorry, to apologize in Mandarin

bàoqiàn

Traditional: 抱歉

Line drawing of 抱歉
Coloured illustration of 抱歉
HSK 2
#185 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

sorry, to apologize

Word origin

A two-character word: 抱 'to embrace, to hold' (hand radical 扌 + 包 bāo phonetic) plus 歉 'regret, to feel sorry' (with 欠 qiàn, the open-mouth radical, as phonetic). Together 抱歉 means to be sorry or to apologise.

Origin
compound
Root
抱 (扌 hand + 包 bāo phonetic) + 歉 (欠 qiàn phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 抱

Stroke order for 歉

Examples

Sorry, I'm late.

I apologize to you.

Sorry to bother you.

Sorry, I disturbed you.

He expressed his apologies to me.

抱歉 (bào qiàn) means sorry, to apologize. It is used as a verb in everyday Mandarin speech.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 4.