How to Apologize in Bisaya, all about forgiveness

Hello mga Higala (Hello Friends!) I'll teach you today how to apologize in Bisaya. I will show you how to sound and look sincere when apologizing.

Let's talk about our culture first. 
If we commit a mistake, it is VERY normal for us to look down. Unlike in the West, that you really have to look at the person in the eyes when asking for forgiveness or apologies or else that is considered rude.

So, please do not be offended by us, Filipinos, when our eyes look down when asking for plain sorry or apologizing. Most of us do this, generally speaking. Although, not applicable to some scenarios but we have the tendency to not look at the person straight in the eyes for the whole period. We look down then look at the person in the eyes then look away then look at the eyes again.


I'll share some sample sentences and I'll break it down one by one.

Sentence Sample 1.

Sorry kaayo. (I'm really sorry)
Sorry kaayo jud. (I'm very sorry/ I'm really really sorry)
Sorry kaayo jud ha.

Sorry - pronounce as "su-ri"; asking for forgiveness
kaayo - really
jud - added to give more emphasis to the emotion
ha - (soft sound) added to make emotions sound more sincere and sweet
    - added to pacify the person
 
Sentence Sample 2.
Pasayloa ko. (Forgive me.)

Pasayloa - to forgive
ko - me

Pasayloa jud ko. (Forgive me.) - More sincere

Pasayloa jud ko kaayo. (Forgive me. - Most sincere. This sounds like, you are asking for a huge forgiveness.

Sample Sentence #3
Mangayo ko og pasaylo nimo.
I am asking for your forgiveness.

Mangayo - to ask (Nangayo - past tense)
ko - me
og - connecting word. In some sentences/phrases this could be "is". In this phrase, it is used to connect words in relation to "what" the person is asking. I would say this is the "for" in the sample phrase above.
Pasaylo - forgiveness/ sorry
nimo - your


Sample Sentence #4
Pasayloa ko sa akong nabuhat nga dautan/ngil-ad. Wala jud nako gituyo.
I am very sorry for what bad/awful things I did. I didn't mean it.

I know this is quite long. These words would make you sound remorseful.

Pasayloa - sorry/ forgiveness
ko - me
sa - connecting word usually means "for"
akong - my
nabuhat - things that you did
nga - connecting word. No English equivalent. This is used to link the relationship between modifiers. Like in this phrase: nabuhat nga dautan (bad things I did), nabuhat nga ngil-ad (awful things I did)
dautan- bad
ngil-ad - awful
Wala - nothing/ none/ not
jud - see description above
nako - I
gituyo - mean/ intentional

Lastly, Sample Sentence #5
For lighter mistakes

Pasensya kaayo ha.
Be patient with me.

This is another way of saying sorry but is used for minor mistakes only. Using this phrase for bigger mistake is an insult. This also means you are asking the person to be more patient with you.

For example: You are going to meet a friend and you are late for 10-15mins or less then you use this phrase

BUT if you are late for an hour then you should use the "Sorry kaayo jud ha." OR you combine "Sorry kaayo jud ha.Pasensya kaayo ____(friend's name)_____".

Another way to say sorry is to extend the Sorry like "Sooorrrrryyy kaayo ha"

Remember to the soft "ha" at the end to pacify the person in this case your friend.

If you have any questions, please leave it down in the comments. Please watch my video for more details.