Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 27
The apology
〜こととて ・ 深くお詫び申し上げます ・ 〜までだ ・ 〜に耐える/〜に堪えない ・ 〜を禁じ得ない
In this lesson, you will learn to give a reason that asks for understanding with 〜こととて, to write a company's formal apology (深く お詫び申し上げます, 再発防止に 努めます), to say that all that is left is to do one thing with 〜までだ, to say something stands up to a strain or is too painful to bear with 〜に 耐える and 〜に 堪えない, and to say you cannot help a feeling with 〜を 禁じ得ない. Lisa has drafted the letter of apology, and Ai reads it the night before she and Mori fly to Seattle.
By the end you will be able to say
不慣れな こととて、ご迷惑を おかけしました。Being new to this, I caused you trouble.
深く お詫び申し上げます。We offer our deepest apologies.
その メールは、読むに 堪えない 内容でした。That email was too harsh to bear reading.
工場の 皆さんには、同情を 禁じ得ません。I can't help feeling for everyone at the factory.
後は 誠意を 見せるまでです。All that's left is to show our sincerity.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜こととて — since (asking for understanding) — A reason + こととて explains why something went wrong or fell short, asking the listener to understand.
- The written apology — 深く お詫び申し上げます, 再発防止に 努めます — A company's letter of apology uses fixed phrases: it apologizes deeply and promises to keep the problem from happening again.
- 〜までだ / 〜までのことだ — all there is to do; only that — After a dictionary form, までだ says the one thing left to do; after a past form, it says you did only that and nothing more.
- 〜に耐える / 〜に堪えない — stands up to; too painful to bear — A noun + に 耐える says something stands up to a strain; a verb's dictionary form + に 堪えない says something is too awful to bear doing.
- 〜を禁じ得ない — can't help feeling — A noun of feeling + を 禁じ得ない says a feeling rises in you that you cannot hold back.