(first of all, sorry for my english in general, you ll find a lot of mistakes in my questions)
Ok. A friend wrote me ''im afraid i stay at home tonight'' , and i asked him what did it means and he said unfortunately.
So, can anybody explain me how and use it?
Can i say ''im afraid today ill be late ..'' ??
thank you! 🙂
Best Answer
It's a commonly-used way of 'softening' a refusal or a piece of bad news. Presumably you had asked your friend to do something with you that evening; it would not have been very polite of them to say bluntly "I can't - I'm staying at home." Yes, you can say "I'm afraid I'll be late today" (note the capital I and the apostrophes), meaning "I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but...."