Learn how to apologize when you return to the office after taking time off or leaving early
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 16 - Apologizing for an Absence. Eric here. |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。 |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize to your boss for any inconvenience you might cause by taking a day off suddenly. The conversation takes place in an office. |
| Natsuko: It's between Linda and her boss, Mr. Takahashi. |
| Eric: The speakers are in a boss-subordinate relationship, so the subordinate will be speaking formal Japanese, and the boss will not. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
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| Linda:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Takahashi: いやいや。もう、大丈夫か。 |
| Linda: はい、おかげ様で。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Linda:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Takahashi: いやいや。もう、大丈夫か。 |
| Linda: はい、おかげ様で。 |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Linda: I’m sorry for the inconvenience I caused yesterday. |
| Takahashi: No no, don’t worry. Are you feeling better? |
| Linda: Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: It seems like Linda got better. |
| Natsuko: That’s good. |
| Eric: So in the dialogue, Linda is apologizing for her sudden absence. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Eric: Is it common to do that at Japanese offices? |
| Natsuko: I think so. The first day you’re back from your sick leave, your co-workers or boss might ask you if you’re feeling better by saying もう大丈夫ですか？ |
| Eric: Then we are supposed to make an apology? |
| Natsuko: It’s not something you must do, but it’s something many people do especially if they’re a newcomer at a company. |
| Eric: So if we do that it helps to make a good impression? |
| Natsuko: Generally, yes. |
| Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Natsuko: きのう [natural native speed] |
| Eric: yesterday |
| Natsuko: きのう[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: きのう [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: めいわく [natural native speed] |
| Eric: inconvenience |
| Natsuko: めいわく[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: めいわく [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: かける [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to impose |
| Natsuko: かける[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: かける [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: いやいや [natural native speed] |
| Eric: no no |
| Natsuko: いやいや[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: いやいや [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Natsuko: もう [natural native speed] |
| Eric: already (Adv.) |
| Natsuko: もう[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: もう [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Last we have.. |
| Natsuko: おかげ様 [natural native speed] |
| Eric: help from other people |
| Natsuko: おかげ様[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Natsuko: おかげ様 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Natsuko: いやいや。 |
| Eric: meaning "No no." |
| Natsuko:いや means “no” and it’s repeated twice. いやいや “no no.” |
| Eric:You can use this to mean "don't worry" when someone apologizes to you. There’s another version too, right? |
| Natsuko: Right. You also might hear いえいえ. いえいえ sounds more polite and is often used by women. |
| Eric: Which one do you use, Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: いえいえ in formal conversation and いやいや when talking with friends. |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Natsuko: めいわくをかける |
| Eric: meaning "to cause inconvenience or trouble to someone." Let’s break this down. |
| Natsuko:めいわく |
| Eric: meaning "inconvenience" or "trouble" |
| Natsuko:を |
| Eric: a particle |
| Natsuko:かける |
| Eric: “to impose.” So… |
| Natsuko: めいわくをかける |
| Eric: literally means “to impose trouble” and it means "to cause inconvenience or trouble to someone." |
| Natsuko: I recommend that you memorize it as a set phrase. めいわくをかける. |
| Eric: That would be a good idea. This is often used together with an apology. Can we hear an example? |
| Natsuko:めいわくをかけてすみません。 |
| Eric: "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you." Please note the use of the te-form here. |
| Natsuko: Right. めいわくをかけて すみません [Natsuko, please say it a little more slowly and clearly.] |
| Eric: This is a polite sentence, but if you’d like to say it even more formally, here’s how. |
| Natsuko:ごめいわくをおかけして、申し訳ありません |
| Eric: There’s some complicated grammar behind it, but let’s keep it simple for now. Firstly, we have an honorific prefix plus our word meaning “inconvenience” or “trouble.” |
| Natsuko:ごめいわく. Then it’s followed by the particle を, then おかけして. おかけして is the te-form of the verb おかけする, which is a humble way of saying かける. Lastly, we have 申しわけありません which is a formal way of saying “I’m sorry.” |
| Eric: Let’s recap. If someone says… |
| Natsuko:めいわくをかけてすみません。 |
| Eric: What are you supposed to say to mean “don’t worry?” |
| Natsuko:.... you should say いやいや or いえいえ。 |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn to how to apologize to your boss for any inconvenience caused by taking a day off suddenly. |
| Natsuko:Here’s the expression. きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric:“I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused yesterday.” Let’s break this down. |
| Natsuko:きのう |
| Eric: means “yesterday.” |
| Natsuko:は |
| Eric: is the topic marking particle. It corresponds to “as for” in English. So all together we have “as for yesterday.” Then we have... |
| Natsuko:ごめいわくをおかけして |
| Eric: meaning “to cause any inconvenience to you and…” |
| Natsuko:もうしわけありませんでした. It’s the past form of もうしわけありません |
| Eric: meaning “I’m sorry.” Can we hear whole sentence? |
| Natsuko:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。 [Please read it a little slowly.] |
| Eric:Literally, “as for yesterday, I caused you inconvenience and, I was sorry.” In more natural English, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience I caused yesterday.” Please note that the last part of the sentence is in the past tense. |
| Natsuko: Right. It’s もうしわけありませんでした instead of 申しわけありません. When you apologize for your past actions, use the past tense. すみませんでした or 申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric: Let’s introduce the sentence pattern that is often used for apologies. |
| Natsuko: It’s a past tense expression plus は、 the te-form of a verb plus 申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric: We’ll show you with an example. Let’s say "I'm sorry for taking a day off last week." First, you specify the time with a particle, wa. So “last week” is... |
| Natsuko: 先週は |
| Eric:Next, state what you’re apologizing for in its te-form. Here it’s “to take a day off.” |
| Natsuko: お休みして |
| Eric: Finally, add the apology. |
| Natsuko:申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric:Altogether... |
| Natsuko:先週は、お休みして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric:"I'm sorry for taking a day off last week." Okay listeners, please repeat after Natsuko. |
| Natsuko:先週は、お休みして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric: ….. Did you say it correctly? Now it’s time to recap. |
| Listeners, say you came in late to work the other day. Please apologize to your boss in Japanese. |
| Natsuko: Here are some hints. “To be late” is ちこくする. “The other day” is せんじつ |
| Eric: Remember, you have to specify the time first…. |
| ...Listeners, were you able to say that? Natsuko, can we hear the correct answer? |
| Natsuko: Sure. 先日は、ちこくして、申しわけありませんでした。 |
| Eric: "I'm sorry for being late the other day." Did you get the right answer? |
| Natsuko: If you didn’t, make sure to read the lesson notes. |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Natsuko: またねー |
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