📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 10 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 2 · Le regret et le reproche
S'excuser et se justifier
Module 9 of the free French course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 10 of 30: French apology has a scale. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 10.
The words
French
English
Say it
je suis désolé
I am sorry
zhuh swee day-zoh-LAY
je vous prie de m'excuser
please accept my apologies
zhuh voo pree duh meks-kew-ZAY
veuillez m'excuser
kindly excuse me
vuh-yay meks-kew-ZAY
l'excusefeminine — the article elides to l'
the excuse
leks-KEWZ
se justifier
to justify oneself
suh zhews-tee-FYAY
malade
ill
mah-LAHD
pardonner
to forgive
pahr-doh-NAY
sincère
sincere
sa(n)-SEHR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
French apology has a scale. Excuse-moi is between friends; je suis désolé is the standard; je vous prie de m'excuser is a letter. Veuillez m'excuser is the most formal of all.
Et aussi · And also
Justification follows with a reason, never an excuse dressed as one: je n'ai pas pu venir, car ma fille était malade. Note car rather than parce que — this is the written register from Module 3.
Attention · Watch out
veuillez m'excuser and je vous prie de m'excuser are written apologies; excuse-moi is for a friend. Justify with car in writing, parce que in speech.
pouvoir, imparfait — the table
je pouvais · tu pouvais · il/elle pouvait · nous pouvions · vous pouviez · ils/elles pouvaient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je suis désolé.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out pouvoir, imparfait in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.