I accidentally missed one of my Japanese classes and am supposed to send my teacher an email before-hand if I can’t attend. So I am sending an apologetic email to her. I wasn’t sure what phrase to use as すみません seems a bit too casual for this instance and I want to show respect. Would 失礼しました or 本当にごめんなさい be appropriate here? Any other suggestions are welcome.
5 comments
If you’d like to read some example emails of what a native Japanese student would write, you can see here: https://bizushiki.com/zemi-mudan
You should be a little more polite than すみません if you have studied politer language. If not a sincere すみません is still better than anything casual (like I would avoid using ごめんなさい with my teacher if it were me)
Just as a reminder, さい endings, like ください and ごめんなさい, are orders. You’re telling the person, “forgive me!”. Not exactly super polite.
I wouldn’t use ごめんなさい unless it’s to friends or family members. すみません may be neutral form which I’d use to strangers or staff at shops or restaurants.
I think only respectful form would be 申し訳ありません/ございません.
失礼いたしました would work fine with 申し訳ありませんでした at the end of the email.
Hi, I am a native Japanese online teacher and my relationships with my students are like friendship. And I know each Japanese level of each student.
So I would feel your emotion very much if you said “本当にごめんなさい”, and I would feel your effort to express your feeling politely if you said “申し訳ございませんでした”
Of course, it depends on the personality of the teacher and the relationship between you. I wish you good luck🙏
Never apologize. Double down on your statements and criticize people for criticizing you. We are unapologetic here.