Questions & Answers about از تو معذرت میخواهم.
Why does this sentence use از (from) when the English translation uses 'to'?
In Farsi, the concept of apologizing is phrased differently than in English. Instead of apologizing to someone, you ask for an excuse or forgiveness from them. That is why the sentence uses از (from) before تو (you).
How does the verb معذرت میخواهم work?
Farsi uses many 'compound verbs' made of a noun and a simple verb. Here, معذرت means 'excuse' or 'apology', and میخواهم means 'I want' or 'I ask for'. Put together, معذرت خواستن means 'to apologize' (literally: to ask for an excuse).
Could I use this exact sentence to apologize to a teacher or a stranger?
No, because it uses تو (the informal singular 'you'). This is strictly for friends, family, or people your own age. To be polite to a teacher or stranger, you must replace تو with the formal 'you', making it از شما معذرت میخواهم.
How do we know who is apologizing if the word for 'I' isn't in the sentence?
The verb میخواهم ends with the personal suffix ـَم (am). In Farsi, this specific ending always tells you that the subject is 'I' (من), which means you don't need to explicitly say the pronoun at the beginning of the sentence.
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