Pahoitteli

Pahoitteli is Finnish the past tense form of the verb pahoitella, which means to feel regret or to apologize for something. The infinitive pahoitella denotes the act of expressing remorse or asking for forgiveness. The noun form pahoittelu refers to an apology or the act of apologizing. The word shares a semantic field with related expressions such as pyytää anteeksi (to ask for forgiveness) and anteeksianto (forgiveness).

Usage and meaning

Pahoitteli is used when describing that someone expressed regret about a past action or situation. It can refer to a concrete apology for a specific event, such as lateness, a mistake, or an inconvenience, or to more general regret. The form is person- and number-specific, reflecting the subject of the apology: hän pahoitteli, he pahoittelivat, minä pahoittelin, etc. The perfect tense is formed with olla and the past participle pahoitellut (esimerkiksi olen pahoitellut).

Conjugation notes

Common forms include: pahoittelen (present), pahoitteli (past, third person singular), pahoittelimme (past, first person plural), pahoittelitte (past, second person plural), pahoittelleet/pahoittivat (past, third person plural). The infinitive is pahoitella; a corresponding noun is pahoittelu.

Examples

Hän pahoitteli myöhästymistään. (He apologized for his lateness.)

Me pahoittelimme, ettemme voineet osallistua. (We apologized that we could not participate.)

Olen pahoitellut virheeni jo aiemmin. (I have apologized for my mistake earlier.)

Relation to other terms

Pahoittelu emphasizes the act of apologizing or feeling regret, while pyytää anteeksi places emphasis on requesting forgiveness. Pahoittelu can function in both spoken and written Finnish and is commonly used in everyday communication as well as formal contexts.