Sorry, I am late in Hebrew
One friend is late for a meeting, the other waits by the station in Hebrew. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «סליחה, סליחה! אני מאחר!» — Sorry, sorry! I am late!; «רגע... הרכבת מאחרת?» — Wait... is the train late?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: one friend is late for a meeting, the other waits by the station. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- סליחה, סליחה! אני מאחר!слиха, слиха! ани маахер!Sorry, sorry! I am late!
- רגע... הרכבת מאחרת?рега... ха-ракевет маахэрэт?Wait... is the train late?
- כן, פספסתי את הרכבת.кен, фасафти эт ха-ракевет.Yes, I missed the train.
- לא נורא. בוא, אני רעב.ло нора. бо, ани раэв.No problem. Let's go, I am hungry.
- זה באשמתי, סליחה.зэ бэ-ашмати, слиха.It is my fault, sorry.
- אל דאגה. בוא למסעדה.аль дага. бо ла-мисада.Don't worry. Let's go to a restaurant.
- בטח. מחר אני לא מאחר!бэтах. махар ани ло маахер!Agreed. Tomorrow I am not late!
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| סליחה, סליחה! אני מאחר! | слиха, слиха! ани маахер! | Sorry, sorry! I am late! |
| רגע... הרכבת מאחרת? | рега... ха-ракевет маахэрэт? | Wait... is the train late? |
| כן, פספסתי את הרכבת. | кен, фасафти эт ха-ракевет. | Yes, I missed the train. |
| לא נורא. בוא, אני רעב. | ло нора. бо, ани раэв. | No problem. Let's go, I am hungry. |
| זה באשמתי, סליחה. | зэ бэ-ашмати, слиха. | It is my fault, sorry. |
| אל דאגה. בוא למסעדה. | аль дага. бо ла-мисада. | Don't worry. Let's go to a restaurant. |
| בטח. מחר אני לא מאחר! | бэтах. махар ани ло маахер! | Agreed. Tomorrow I am not late! |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Hebrew in this situation?
“סליחה, סליחה! אני מאחר!” (слиха, слиха! ани маахер!) — Sorry, sorry! I am late! The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.