Hey, it’s Hadar. And this is the Accent’s Way, your way to finding clarity, confidence, and freedom in English. ‘Sorry’ is a word that can mean several different things. Sometimes it means “I didn’t hear what you said”. “I’m sorry?” Sometimes it means get out of my way: “Sorry”. Sometimes it’s anything BUT I’m sorry: “I’m sorry, but…” And sometimes it’s a genuine, heartfelt apology: “I’m sorry”.

To say this word, we begin with an S sound, so bring the tongue up and release air – ‘s’. And then open your mouth for the ‘aa’ as in ‘father’ vowel sound – ‘saa’. Open your mouth, relax your lips, pull the tongue back, create a lot of space in the back and allow the sound to resonate there in the back: ‘saa’, ‘saa-ree’. And yes, it sounds just like the Indian garment – sari. “I’m wearing a sari right now”. And “I’m sorry about that”. ‘saa-ree’.

Yeah, and some people may pronounce it as a more rounded sound – ‘saw’, ‘saw-ree’. But it is not a pure ‘O’ as many non-native speakers pronounce it. It’s not ‘so-ree’, it’s ‘saa’, ‘saa-ree’. You can actually visualize this word written with two a’s rather than an O – ‘saa-ree’.

After you’re done with the ‘aa’, round your lips for the R, bring the tongue up, create a nice strong R. And then finish it up with a high ‘ee’ as in ‘see’ – ‘ree’. ‘saa-ree’. “I’m sorry about that”. ‘sorry.

All right, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful day, and may your heart be open to give and receive a genuine apology. Bye.