"Sorry" covers everything from bumping someone on a train to a genuine failure at work. Matching the weight of the apology to the situation matters more than the words themselves.

Small, everyday

  • "Sorry!" — bumping into someone
  • "Sorry about that." — a minor inconvenience
  • "My mistake." — a small error
  • "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Excuse me vs sorry

A distinction learners often miss:

  • Excuse me — before the action. Getting past someone, starting a question, interrupting.
  • Sorry — after the action, when something has already happened.

"Excuse me, could I get past?" then "Sorry!" if you tread on their foot.

At work, for something real

A proper apology has three parts: name it, take responsibility, say what happens next.

"I'm sorry — I missed the deadline on the report. I underestimated how long the data pull would take. I've sent it now, and I'll flag earlier if I'm at risk of slipping again."

What weakens an apology

  • "Sorry if you felt that way" — apologises for their reaction, not your action
  • "Sorry, but…" — the but cancels everything before it
  • "Mistakes were made" — removes the person entirely

Accepting one

  • "No problem at all."
  • "Don't worry about it."
  • "These things happen."
  • "Thanks for letting me know." — when it was genuinely a problem
British English uses "sorry" far more freely than American English — often just as social lubricant, not as a real apology.