Unit 4: Indirect Apology Strategies in Chinese (2)
Unit 4 introduces three other types of indirect strategies that are commonly used in Chinese apologies, that is, offer of repair, promise of forbearance, and concern for hearers. In addition, this unit offers students examples that illustrate the use of three types of indirect apology strategies in Chinese and exercises that help them practice.
4.1 Goal of Unit 4
The goal of Unit 4 is to familiarize students with three more types of indirect apology strategies in Chinese. After studying this unit, students are expected to be able to identify these three indirect strategies in apologetic expressions in Chinese.
4.2 Offer of Repair
In situations where severe offence such as inconvenience or damage has been caused, speakers can choose to offer repair or other compensations to apologize to hearers. In this way do speakers hope to restore the relationship between them and hearers. This strategy may often be combined with direct apology strategies in Chinese. For example,
- 我给你买一个新的吧。Wǒ gěi nǐ mǎi yí gè xīn de ba. (I buy you a new one.)
- 真是不好意思，我把钱赔给你吧。Zhēn shì bùhǎoyìsi, wǒ bǎ qián péi gěi nǐ ba. (I am really sorry. I pay for your loss.)
To learn more about the Chinese words and expressions in this section, please refer to the Glossary table below.
| Word | Pinyin | Part of speech | English translations |
| 买 | mǎi | verb | To buy, purchase |
| 给 | gěi | prep. | For, to |
| 你 | nǐ | pron. | You |
| 一 | yī | number | One |
| 个 | gè | measure word | A common measure word in Chinese |
| 新 | xīn | adj. | New |
| 钱 | qián | noun | Money |
| 赔 | péi | verb | To compensate, pay for |
4.3 Promise of Forbearance
In addition to offer of repair, if speakers think of the inconvenience or damage that they have caused is serious or the responsibility that they should take is strong, they can choose to promise that the same thing won’t happen again in the future to apologize to hearers in Chinese. This strategy may often be used along with direct apology strategies to intensify the force of apologizing in Chinese. For example,
我以后不会迟到了。Wǒ yǐhòu bú huì chídào le. (I won’t be late again.)
对不起，以后不会了。Duìbùqǐ, yǐhòu búhuìle. (I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.)
| Word | Pinyin | Part of speech | English translations |
| 以后 | yǐhòu | adv. | Later on, afterwards |
| 不会 | bú huì | N/A | Will not |
| 迟到 | chídào | N/A | Come late, be late |
4.4 Concern for Hearers
The four types of indirect apology strategies that we have so far discussed are commonly used in both American English and Chinese. The fifth strategy is a more traditional way of apologizing in Chinese, which is similar to expressing gratitude by way of showing care in Chinese. According to politeness in Chinese, speakers can make apologies by showing their concern, consideration and empathy toward hearers. In addition, this strategy is often combined with direct apology strategies in Chinese to strengthen the force of apologizing. For example,
等久了吧？真不好意思。Děng jiǔ le ba? Zhēn bùhǎoyìsi. (Have you been waiting long? I’m so sorry.)
对不起，你别生气了。(I’m sorry. Don’t be upset.) Duìbùqǐ, nǐ bié shēngqì le.
Thinking: Do American speakers also use this type of indirect strategy (i.e., Concern for hearers) to apologize in everyday communication? If yes, any examples?
| Word | Pinyin | Part of speech | English translations |
| 等 | děng | verb | To wait |
| 久 | jiǔ | adj. | Long, for a long time |
| 别 | bié | adv. | Do not |
| 生气 | shēngqì | adj. | Get angry, upset |
Review
To access the review for this section, click the Review link.