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Questions & Answers about Я занят, извините.
Where is the word for "am" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (am, is, are) is usually skipped. So, instead of saying "I am busy," you just say Я занят (literally "I busy").
Can a woman say Я занят?
No, she would say Я занята. The word занят is the masculine form, so it is only used by a male speaker. Russian adjectives change their endings to match gender, so a female speaker adds an -а to the end.
Why does извините end in -те?
The -те ending makes the apology formal and polite. You use извините when speaking to a stranger, an authority figure, or multiple people. If you are talking to a close friend or a child, you would drop the -те and use the informal version: извини.