Finnish IRL
sori - a young man catching a café chair on his way past and half-turning with one hand raised, melting spring snow outside the window

sori

/ˈsori/

Sorry - the light one. Borrowed from English, and it does not do everything anteeksi does

Quick answer

Sori is a loan from English sorry, used for small apologies.

  • It is lighter than anteeksi, closer to oops than to a real apology.
  • It does not replace anteeksi, which also covers excuse me and pardon. Sori does neither of those.

What sori means

Sori apologises for something minor. Knocking a chair, arriving a few minutes late, interrupting a sentence.

It is a genuine part of Finnish now and not a quoted English word, though as an interjection it barely inflects. The real derivative is the verb soritella, to keep apologising.

How Finns actually use sori

For small collisions and small delays, mostly among speakers under about forty.

In messages constantly, where it is quicker to type and lighter in tone than anteeksi.

Sori vaan adds a little weight. Sori en voi is a soft refusal.

It stops at apologies. To get past someone in a shop you say anteeks, and to ask someone to repeat themselves you say anteeks or häh, never sori.

sori said out loud

  • Sori, en huomannu sua. Sorry, I didn't see you. Said over a shoulder after a near-collision in a doorway.
  • Sori vaan, mun moka. Sorry about that, my mistake. Vaan adds a little weight, and mun moka admits whose fault it was.
sori - a woman arriving late to a table of friends with her coat still on and both hands up
Light, quick, and nowhere near a real apology.

sori when you are softening a no

  • Sori että oon myöhässä. Sorry I'm late. Arriving a few minutes late to something informal. For an interview this would be anteeksi.
  • Sori, en voi tulla. Mulla on jo jotain. Sorry, I can't come. I've already got something on. A reply to an invitation. Sori softens the opening and the refusal after it is still direct.
  • Sori etukäteen, tästä tulee pitkä. Sorry in advance, this is going to be a long one. Typed at the top of a long message, which is where sori does most of its work.

sori in a conversation

Sori, mä unohdin soittaa.
Ei se mitään.
Soitanks huomenna?
Joo, käy.

The mistake everyone makes with sori

Using it as a general-purpose sorry the way English does. English sorry covers apology, sympathy and excuse-me; Finnish sori covers only the first, and only lightly.

Reaching for it when the situation is serious. The mismatch is audible.

What you say back to sori

  • Turha soritella, ei se mitään. No need to keep apologising, it's nothing. The answer, using the verb the loan produced. Soritella is to keep saying sori.

Questions people ask about sori

What does sori mean?

Sorry, in the light sense - closer to oops than to a full apology. It is a loan from English.

What is the difference between sori and anteeksi?

Weight and range. Sori is lighter and only apologises; anteeksi is the fuller apology and also covers excuse me and pardon.

Can I say sori to get past someone?

No. That is anteeks. Sori does not do the excuse-me job at all.

Is sori proper Finnish?

It is an established loan, inflected like a Finnish word. It belongs to casual speech rather than to formal writing.

Who says sori?

Mostly speakers under about forty, and in messages across ages. Anteeksi is the neutral choice in any register.

Is sori a bad word?

Safe for small things. For a real apology it is too light.

anteeks - a young man squeezing past an older woman in a narrow Finnish supermarket aisle with one hand slightly raised, melting snow tracked across the floor
anteeks written anteeksi The most-used politeness word in the country, and the final letter falls off
ei se mitään - an older woman waving off an apology from a young man who has knocked a cup over, already reaching for a cloth
ei se mitään The reply to an apology, and to a disaster, in the same four words
kiitos - a waitress setting a beer down for an older man on a summer lake terrace
kiitos Finnish has no word for please, and this is what fills the gap
käy - two friends agreeing on a plan at a Finnish street corner and starting to separate, one already walking backwards through wet yellow leaves
käy Käyks kuudelt? - Käy. That is the whole negotiation

Sources for sori

  1. Kielitoimiston sanakirja: sori, anteeksi Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The entry and its register labelling as colloquial.
  2. Kotus dictionaries Kotimaisten kielten keskus - Where loanword vocabulary and its establishment in Finnish are documented.
  3. Kielitoimiston ohjepankki Kotimaisten kielten keskus - Official guidance on loanwords and which register they belong to.
  4. VISK § 1645 - what directives are Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The apology-and-response exchange this word sits in.
  5. VISK § 1201 - answering with a verb or a particle Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The replies it attracts - ei se mitään, ei mitään.

Published Updated

More on this

Finnish A2 cliff: getting better feels worse
Frequency jumps at A2. Accuracy does not turn up until B2 9 min read
How long to learn Finnish? Longer than a year
The typical listening result after a full year was A2.2 7 min read
Juhannus empties the country
The flag flies for 27 hours straight 7 min read
Famous words The sauna as a foreign policy instrument
There is a Finnish verb for putting somebody else in a sauna 7 min read