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The French word "Excusez-moi" explained

Are you ready to find out all the things you have to know about the basic word "Excusez-moi"? It includes a full definition of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example.In addition, we also added some super useful stuff like synonym, slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!

French to English translation

• 

  Translation : Excuse me

• 

  Register : Formal - Basic

Pronunciation

Slow

Normal

• 

  IPA : / ɛkskyzemwa /

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Excusez-moi meaning

Definition

It literally means:

• Excusez → Excuse
• moi→ me

"Excusez-moi" is a common way to express "Excuse me" in French. It's useful to express apologies in formal contexts or when talking to a stranger.

How to use it

Just like in English, "excusez-moi" (excuse me) is typically used when talking to a stranger in the street, few examples:

1. Excusez-moi Monsieur → Excuse me sir
2. Excusez-moi, pouvez-vous me donner l'heure s'il vous plaît ? → Excuse me, can you please tell me the time?
3. Excusez-moi de vous déranger... → Sorry to bother you...
4. etc.

But it can also be used to apologize in every other informal situation, to express "I am sory":

• Vous m'avez fait mal ! → You hurt me!
• Excusez-moi, je ne l'ai pas fait exprès → I am sorry, I didn't do it on purpose

Finally, when you need to express apologies in informal contexts, you can use instead: "Excuse-moi" (Excuse-me), "Désolé" (Sorry) or "Pardon" (Pardon).

Synonyms

• Excuse-moi → Excuse me
• Je m'excuse → I apologize
• Désolé → Sorry
• Pardon → Sorry
• Toutes mes excuses → All my excuses/apologies (Formal)

Example in a dialogue with audio

Dialogue

Attention ! Vous marchez sur mes chaussures !

Be careful! You walk on my shoes!

Excusez-moi

Excuse me

Pas de problème

No problem