apology

«apology» in Mova's school dictionary: sorry for something you did wrong or for hurting someone — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (an apology, apologies)

meaning for a pupil

1) Words that say you are sorry for something you did wrong or for hurting someone. tree →

2) A message saying someone cannot come: "apologies for absence". tree →

3) An apology can also be a polite excuse for a small trouble, such as interrupting someone. tree →

sense in the lessons

In manners and feelings lessons, a good apology says sorry, names what you did, and tries to make it right. In stories, an apology can mend a friendship. Phrases: make an apology, say an apology, owe someone an apology, accept an apology, a letter of apology.

examples

• I owe you an apology for being rude. tree →
• He made an apology to his teacher. tree →
• She accepted my apology and we played again. tree →
• A real apology means you try not to do it again. tree →
• Please write a letter of apology to the neighbour. tree →
• My apologies for being late. tree →

note

Countable: one apology, two apologies (y changes to ies). Use "an" before it: an apology. The verb is "apologise" (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) or "apologize" (USA, Canada). A sincere apology is more than just the word "sorry"; it means you understand what went wrong.

In the corpora

• A real apology names what you did wrong and does not add "but".
• A public apology is judged by what the person does next; saying sorry in front of millions is hard.
• The Mole's apology: «I am very sorry indeed for my foolish and ungrateful conduct ...
• A real apology says what you did wrong and does not add an excuse.
• A real apology owns up to what you did without an excuse.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «apology» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.