Breakdown of Извините, я сегодня задерживаюсь на работе.
я
I
на
at
работа
the work
сегодня
today
извините
sorry
задерживаться
to stay late
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Questions & Answers about Извините, я сегодня задерживаюсь на работе.
What is the function and nuance of Извините in this sentence?
Извините is the polite or formal imperative of извинить (“to excuse/sorry”). You use it when addressing someone with the вы–form or a group. In a casual context with friends you’d say Извини (informal singular).
What does задерживаюсь mean, and what aspect is this verb?
Задерживаюсь is the first-person singular present tense of the imperfective verb задерживаться. It literally means “I am being delayed” or “I stay late.” The imperfective aspect shows an ongoing or habitual action (“I am in the process of running late”). Its perfective counterpart is задержаться (“to get delayed,” focusing on completion).
Why is the present tense used here if the speaker is talking about a future situation?
In Russian, the present tense often expresses a near future plan or scheduled event, much like English present continuous: “I’m running late (soon).” So я задерживаюсь can be understood as “I’ll be late” or “I’m going to be delayed.”
Why do we say на работе (“at work”) instead of в работе?
Russian has certain fixed locative expressions. For locations like work, school, university, you normally use на + prepositional case:
- на работе – at work
- на учебе – at school/university
Using в работе would sound unidiomatic or convey a different meaning.
What case is работе, and why?
Работе is in the prepositional case, which is required by the preposition на when indicating location (где? – на работе).
Why is сегодня placed before the verb rather than at the end of the sentence?
Word order in Russian is quite flexible. Placing сегодня before задерживаюсь emphasizes “today.” You could also say Я задерживаюсь на работе сегодня, where сегодня feels more neutral or slightly less focused.
Could I say Я опаздываю на работу instead? What’s the difference?
Yes, you could, but it changes the meaning:
- Я опаздываю на работу means “I’m late getting to work” (you haven’t arrived yet).
- Я задерживаюсь на работе means “I’m staying late at work” (you’re still there longer than usual).
How would I express that I’ve already finished staying late, i.e. use the perfective?
Use the perfective задержаться in a past or future form:
- Past: Я сегодня задержался на работе (masc.) / задержалась (fem.) – “I ended up staying late at work today.”
- Future: Я сегодня задержусь на работе – “I will stay late at work today.”