by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “I’m gonna be late.” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
Sorry, I’m gonna be late.
ごめん、遅れる。
gomen okureru
If you want to speak politely, you can say :
すみません、遅れます。
sumimasen* okuremasu
*We pronounce like “suimasen” in spoken language.
- Sorry ＝ ごめん gomen
- I’m gonna be late ＝ わたしは遅れる watashiwa okureru
We do not usually say “わたしは (= I)” in everyday conversation.
So how do you say “Sorry, I’m gonna be a little late.” ?
You can say like this :
ごめん、ちょっと遅れる。
gomen chotto okureru
Or politely :
すみません、少し遅れます。
sumimasen sukoshi okuremasu
“ちょっと” and “少し” mean “a little”. You can use them interchangeably, but “少し” sounds a little more polite.