apologizing

[Liu Bang]

I know 对不起 is a way of saying I'm sorry but isn't it usually for minor infractions? Like bad manners or something small. How would you say "I'm sorry that..." or "I'm sorry about..." etc. regarding something more major?

[semantic nuance]

對不起 is not used only in minor situation as you mentioned. It can also be used in major one. There are two other phrases I can think of right now that you may use: 1. 很抱歉....(hen3 bao4 qian4....) 2.......很過意不去(.....hen3 guo4 yi4 bu2 qu4).

Hope it helps!

[Quest]

You can add 很 -> 很对不起

万分抱歉

There are many ways... can you give us a full example?

[johnd]

Maybe you can also add 不好意思 (bu4 hao3 yi4 si). I think this shows regret, is that right?

[HashiriKata]

Maybe you can also add 不好意思 (bu4 hao3 yi4 si). I think this shows regret, is that right?

That's right! (but aren't all apologies intended to show regret? )

Anyway, 不好意思 is often used to imply that you feel embarrassed about having done something, a light apology.

[xiaocai]

不好意思 can also be used when you have to do something that may inconvenience others.

[笨笨德]

if you want to show you are deeply regretful about something you could say....

深表歉意 its very over the top though.... not somethin you would say for bumping into

someone

[chenpv]

包涵（bao1han2), 多多包涵(duo1duo1bao1han2), 海涵（hai3han2）

体谅（ti3liang4）

见谅（jian4liang4）

承让（cheng2rang4）

失礼（shi1li3）

[Yuchi]

非常抱歉 (fēi cháng bào qiàn) comes to mind.

[Altair]

Wenlin also lists: 我想你道歉, but does not make clear how formal this is. The translation they give is simply: "I apologize."

By the way, I am still unsure about the difference between 抱歉 and 道歉. Does 道歉 describe the process of saying that you are 很抱歉?

[semantic nuance]

我想你道歉

It should be 我(想)向你道歉, or 我(想)跟你道歉. 道歉 is the action to say 抱歉.

Hope it helps!

[Altair]

It should be 我(想)向你道歉, or 我(想)跟你道歉. 道歉 is the action to say 抱歉.

Oops, I should have written: 我向你道歉 and did not proofread enough. Thanks also for confirmation about the difference between 道歉 and 抱歉.