Excuse me in chinese

[georgeous]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone could tell me the pinyin for saying "excuse me" in Mandarin Chinese?

I'm thinking of both situations like walking past someone a little too close and wanting to say "excuse me" because you bumped them; or wanting to reach for an item in a shop and implying someone should move for you to reach it so as you don't bump them.

Thanks in advance

(almost total beginner).

[Leoliu]

in both situations, you could just say "dui(4)bu(4) qi(3) " that means I'm sorry.

but there are some dfferences in these two situations, in the first situation, you bump someone and you want to apologize to him for your careless behaviour and your "I'm sorry "means "forgive me"

but in the second situation, you want someone else to make some room for you so that you can reach some item in a shop. when you say "I am sorry " you mean "excuse me,may I ask you to do me a favour (by making some space for me)".so you need to say "dui(4)bu(4) qi(3) ,qing(3) rang(4) yi(3) rang(4)对不起，请让一让". in this situation only a short phrase "I'm sorry" would puzzle some chinese people. they can not understand why you say I'm sorry when you actuallly did nothing wrong. so only I'm sorry in this situation is not enough, but for the first situation, the phrase is enough.

in china, the phrase I'm sorry more often is used to express apology while in Enlish I am sorry applies to a more variety of situations.

these explanations maybe are much too complicated for you to understand given that you are just a beginner, but don't lose your passion and courage, Chinese is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, especially in expressing one's feelings and mood,

chinese language is not impressive in defining some scientific terms and accurate conceptions, but it is one of the greatest tools in expressing our feelings and emotions, because our feelings and emotions are a world of vagueness and shapelessness. hope you enjoy your learning.

[skylee]

Consider simply saying "對不起" (dui bu qi).

I remember hearing people on crowded buses/metro in Beijing say "下車嗎？" (xia che ma, (are you) getting off?) to the people blocking the way to the exit. It could be useful to you too.

[trevelyan]

you can also try "bu4 hao3 yi4si4"

much less formal.

[steve_c]

you can also try "bu4 hao3 yi4si4"

I was told that "bu4 hao3 yi4 si" (不好意思) was for getting someone's attention (like a waiter) and that "dui4 bu qi3" (對不起) was used if you did something wrong (like bumping someone). Are these two phrases interchangable for either situation?

(I'm a beginner too)

[null]

sometimes you can say 抱歉 bao4 qian4.

[HashiriKata]

Are these two phrases interchangable for either situation?

(I'm a beginner too)

I think so.

[rezaf]

I have noticed that in many situations that you normally should say "thank you" or "excuse me" in a language like English, it is not necessary to say anything in Chinese. Just mind your own business unless you really hit someone.

[imron]

I think it would sound strange to say 不好意思 to get a waiters attention or to say 对不起 to ask someone to move out of the way (unless had actually bumped into them already or something).

下车吗 is used all the time if you are getting off the subway/bus and would like someone to move out of the way. Otherwise something like 让一下 or 过一下 are also quite common.

I have noticed that in many situations that you normally should say "thank you" or "excuse me" in a language like English, it is not necessary to say anything in Chinese

I agree with this too.

[ABCinChina]

I get bumped all the time and the person never even looks back. Even my shoe gets steps on, and the farmer just acts like it never happened and walks away...

[imron]

and the farmer

It's not just farmers who do this though. Even some white-collar workers are like that.

[roddy]

Perhaps they're actually British and are waiting for YOU to apologize for having been stepped on.

[Luobot]

wanting to reach for an item in a shop and implying someone should move for you

不好意思，请让开 (bùhǎoyìsī, qǐng ràngkāi)

不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsī) excuse me / sorry

请 (qǐng) please

让开 (ràngkāi) step aside / get out of the way

[bhchao]

You can also say 請借過 to ask someone to move out of the way.