How to say "sorry" in Arabic
False friendMeaningsorry
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
آسِف
āsifאסף
آسف
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מצטער
mitsta'erمِتْسْتَائِر
How the two words are related
False friend
Sounds like a Hebrew word but means something else — handle with care.
Arabic root
أ-س-فCareful: āsif sounds just like Hebrew אסיף (the harvest ingathering) and the name אסף, but the resemblance is coincidence, not shared etymology — Arabic ʾ-s-f means grief and regret, Hebrew א-ס-ף means gathering. If someone says 'ana āsif,' they are apologizing, not gathering crops.
Related Hebrew word:אסיףasifأَسِيف
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
سْمح لِيَا
smeḥ liyaסמח ליאDarija apologizes with smeḥ liya, 'forgive me'; āsif sounds bookish.
In a phrase
أَنَا آسِف جِدًّا
anā āsif jiddanאנא אסף ג'דןI am very sorry