How is 对不起 pronounced?

对不起 is pronounced “duì bu qǐ” in pinyin.

What HSK level is 对不起?

对不起 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

HSK 1v

对不起

Traditional: 對不起

duì bu qǐ

对不起 (duì bu qǐ) means “I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint”. It is an HSK 1 Chinese word (traditional 對不起) in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

How to write 对不起

Practice each character:

对不起

Example

对不起，我来晚了。

Duìbùqǐ, wǒ lái wǎn le.

Sorry, I came late.

More HSK 1 vocabulary

HSK 1 →

爱àito love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs 八bāeight; 8 爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad 了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)我wǒI; me; my 杯子bēi zicup; glass 是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)你好nǐ hǎohello 北京běi jīngBeijing, capital of the People's Republic of China 你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

Frequently asked questions

What does 对不起 mean?: 对不起 (duì bu qǐ) means “I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint”. It is an HSK 1 word.
How is 对不起 pronounced?: 对不起 is pronounced “duì bu qǐ” in pinyin.
What HSK level is 对不起?: 对不起 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

Updated: 2026-05-27