Breakdown of Wij verontschuldigen ons voor de vertraging.
wij
we
voor
for (on behalf of)
de vertraging
the delay
zich verontschuldigen
to apologize
Questions & Answers about Wij verontschuldigen ons voor de vertraging.
Why do we need the word ons here?
In Dutch, the verb for "to apologize" is zich verontschuldigen, which is a reflexive verb. It literally translates to "excusing oneself." Because the subject is wij (we), you must use the matching reflexive pronoun, which is ons (ourselves).
Verontschuldigen is a huge word! How can I remember it?
It helps to break it down! The core of the word is schuld, which means "guilt" or "fault" (like in the phrase Dat is mijn schuld - That is my fault). The prefix ont- often means removing something. So, zich verontschuldigen literally means "to un-guilt yourself" or to excuse yourself.
Is voor a fixed preposition here?
Yes. Just like in English, if you want to state the reason for your apology, you use the preposition voor (for). So the full pattern is zich verontschuldigen voor (to apologize for).
Could I just say Sorry voor de vertraging instead?
Absolutely. Wij verontschuldigen ons is quite formal and polite, similar to saying "We apologize" in English. If you were casually apologizing to a friend, Sorry voor de vertraging is perfectly fine and much more common in everyday speech.
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