对不起 Saying Sorry in Chinese

今天jīntiān下午xiàwǔ，我wǒ在zài家jiā打电话dǎ diànhuà。

This afternoon, I'm at home making a phone call.

我wǒ说shuō：“喂wèi，你好nǐ hǎo，你nǐ是shì我wǒ同学tóngxué吗ma？”

I say, "Hello, are you my classmate?"

那nà个gè人rén说shuō：“不bù是shì，你nǐ打错dǎcuò了le。”

The person says, "No, you dialed the wrong number."

我wǒ说shuō：“对不起duìbuqǐ，我wǒ打错dǎ cuò了le。”

I say, "Sorry, I dialed the wrong number."

那nà个gè人rén说shuō：“没关系méi guānxi，没关系méi guānxi。”

The person says, "It's okay, it's okay."

我wǒ说shuō：“谢谢xièxie你nǐ，再见zàijiàn！”

I say, "Thank you, goodbye!"

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

对不起duìbuqǐsorry

没关系méi guānxiit's okay; it doesn't matter

打电话dǎ diànhuàto make a phone call

打错dǎcuòto dial the wrong (number)

喂wèihello (on the phone)

同学tóngxuéclassmate

对不起 — apologizing

对不起 is the standard way to say "sorry" or "I apologize" in Chinese.

对不起，对不起！ — Sorry, sorry!

没关系 — replying to an apology

没关系 means "it doesn't matter" or "it's okay," the common reply when someone apologizes.

没关系，没关系。 — It's okay, it's okay.

打错 + 了 — doing something the wrong way

打错 means "dialed wrong"; adding 了 shows the mistake already happened.

你打错了。 — You dialed the wrong number.

1. What does the narrator do this afternoon?

2. What does the person on the phone say happened?

3. How does the person respond to the narrator's apology?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.