student asking question

Can I say "my apology" instead of "I'm sorry" normally? What's the difference between "I'm sorry" and "my apology"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You can say "my apology" to mean "I'm sorry", but "I'm sorry" is more common. The difference between "I'm sorry" and "my apology" is that "I'm sorry" feels more personal and is more informal, but still appropriate to use in conversational English. "My apology" sounds very formal, and is used more in business writing than conversation, for example when apologizing in an email. Ex: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Ex: My apology, I did not see that last email you sent.

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