I was going through the following article about basic phrases in Japanese:
When I noticed the following two phrases:
Sumimasen すみません – Excuse me
Gomennasai ごめんなさい – Sorry
I had read before that sumimasen can mean both sorry and excuse me. So my question is: do people use gomennasai for a more serious apology, whereas sumimasen would be a light apology, e.g. if you bump into someone in public? Or is sumimasen only used as excuse me, e.g. if asking someone for directions?
I use sumimasen like “excuse me”, like for slight inconvenience or for attention or before ask for a favor, e.g. bump to someone on the street. Gomenasai is for when i made a mistake. You can even short it to “gomen” if you talk to your friends.
