すいません

[OoTmaster]

When I first encountered すいません it was always translated as sorry. I asked a japanese native speaking friend of mine about it because I was sure that was not accurate and they told me it was more accurate as "excuse me." But I was wondering what it literally is. Because I have been studying I know that -masen is normal polite negative. So I was wondering what the positive form would mean or how it would even be used. Just curious.

 

[Angel Valis]

Well, first off, すいません is the casual version of すみません. すみません/すいません actually has a lot of meanings. "Excuse me", "I'm sorry", even "thank you". It really depends on how it's used.

When you're asking for help:
すみませんが、図書館に行き方を教えてください。
"Excuse me, but can you tell me how to get to the library?

After stepping on someone's foot:
すみません。
"I'm sorry." ("Excuse me" works as well in a lot of instances of "I'm sorry")

When borrowing a pen from someone:
すみません。
"Thank you."

The thing is that in each case you're inconveniencing someone; taking their time, stepping on their foot, or borrowing something; and you're essentially recognizing your potentially negative impact on them.

As for the verb...well I think (please correct me if I'm wrong), that すみません is mostly idiomatic. Because according to jisho.org, 済む means:

1: to finish; to end; to be completed;
2: to merely result in something less severe than expected;
3: to feel at ease;
4: to feel unease or guilt for troubling someone; to be sorry

Which sort of has multiple, somewhat conflicting, definitions.

 

[OoTmaster]

I know that usage and what it is used for in each situation. I was looking for more of a literal translation. I am things it is literally like (not convienient), or something like that. I think I was looking more for a native perspective of what it means and why. Thank you for the help though, I probably use the more informal one because I watch anime a lot and they are usually informal. ^-^'

 

[Toritoribe]

As Angel Valis-san explained correctly, すいません/すみません is the polite negative form of 済む. This 済む roughly means "apology/duty/justice for others is settled", thus, the negative form means "these things are not settled, therefore I feel sorry about that".

 

[OoTmaster]

Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for. I usually try to get things more literal as it helps to see the language from the perspective of those that speak it. In other words I like to think of Japanese in terms or how the Japanese think of it so that I can try and understand things from that perspective as a whole. So this really does help.