すみません

Japanese

Alternative spelling
済みません

Japanese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Alternative forms

すんません (sunmasen), すいません (suimasen), さーせん (sāsen)
済(す)まない (sumanai), すまん (suman), すまぬ (sumanu)
すまなかった (sumanakatta), すまんかった (sumankatta)

Etymology

Negative of 済(す)む (sumu, “to finish; to be settled”), lit. "(the trouble) is not settled".

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) すみません [sùmímáséꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [4])
IPA^(key): [sɨmʲima̠sẽ̞ɴ]

Interjection

すみません • (sumimasen)

sorry! (in apology, more formal than ごめんなさい (gomennasai))
excuse me! (attempting to get someone's attention)
thank you! (in the case of someone having done something for you)