Guestbook question of September 14, 1999:

I teach my students to say 'Sorry I'm late.' when they come late for the class, just because native speakers or my English-English dictionary say so. But some of them are taught to say 'I'm sorry to be late' at school. The sentence sounds strange to me though I cannot exactly point out what is wrong with it. Is it grammatically correct?

It's really two ways of saying the same thing.

I am sorry (that) I am late. ("That I am late" is a noun clause.)

I am sorry to be late. ("To be" is an infinitive.)

　

They both sound perfectly natural to my ears. Sorry is often followed by an infinitive. Example: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." This could also be expressed, "I'm sorry (that) I kept you waiting."

Various ways of using of sorry:

1. sorry for

I'm sorry for not telling you about the problem. (For is often used to apologize.)

2. sorry about

He was sorry about making her angry. (About is often used to show some regret.)

3. sorry + to + infinitive

I was sorry to hear about your bad experience.

4. sorry + that

I'm sorry that you feel that way.