Usage – Can ‘I Am Sorry’ Be Used When Something Can’t Be Heard?

spoken-englishusage

As far as I know, we can say these when we can't hear something somebody said properly: "Excuse me?", "Sorry?" and "Pardon?".

What about "I am sorry?"? Can I also say "I am sorry?" instead of "Sorry?"?

Best Answer

You certainly can. In fact, when sorry is used like that (to let the person you're speaking with know that you didn't hear properly what they said), it's really just a short version of I'm sorry. Here's a simple example:

— I and my wife are going to Paris next month. Will you come with us?
I'm sorry. What did you say? I didn't hear you well. Could you repeat that?

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