One word covers most of it: anteeksi. It's "sorry," it's "excuse me," it's "pardon?" when you didn't catch something, and it's how you get past someone on a tram. It never changes form, whoever you're talking to.
The interesting part is what sits either side of it. Below anteeksi is sori, borrowed straight from English and strictly for friends. Above it is pahoittelen, the word trains, shops and official letters use.
Anteeksi, Doing Four Jobs
Sorry.
Anteeksi.
Sorry, what?
Anteeksi kuinka?
Sorry, I didn't hear.
Anteeksi, en kuullut.
Excuse me, may I ask something?
Anteeksi, saanko kysyä?
Excuse me, can I get past?
Anteeksi, pääsisinkö ohi?
Sorry to bother you.
Anteeksi häiriöstä.
Sorry. (to a friend)
Sori.
Sorry about that.
Sori vaan.
Practice these words
Anteeksi.
One shape, and an old history: anteeksi is a fossilised case form — the translative of anne, a now-obsolete noun from antaa, "to give" — so it means something close to "into a gift." It never changes shape, but it isn't isolated: it's the object in pyytää anteeksi ("to ask forgiveness") and antaa anteeksi ("to give forgiveness"), and it builds anteeksipyyntö, an apology. There's no reflexive "I apologise myself" in Finnish — you ask, and the other person gives.
Saying What You Did
Sorry I'm late.
Anteeksi, että olen myöhässä.
Sorry, I forgot.
Anteeksi, unohdin.
It was my fault.
Se oli minun vikani.
It was an accident.
Se oli vahinko.
I didn't mean it.
En tarkoittanut sitä.
I apologise.
Pyydän anteeksi.
It won't happen again.
Se ei toistu.
I'll fix it.
Korjaan sen.
Practice these words
Anteeksi, että olen myöhässä.
Name it, then fix it: a Finnish apology is short, specific and followed by the remedy. Anteeksi, unohdin. Lähetän sen tänään. A long emotional apology for something small reads as disproportionate rather than sincere, and pyydän anteeksi on its own is already weighty — save it for things that deserve it.
The Official One
We apologise for the disruption.
Pahoittelemme häiriötä.
We apologise for the delay.
Pahoittelemme viivästystä.
I apologise for the mistake.
Pahoittelen virhettä.
I apologise for my late reply.
Pahoittelen myöhäistä vastaustani.
Unfortunately I have to cancel.
Valitettavasti minun on peruttava.
Practice these words
Pahoittelemme häiriötä.
Where you'll meet pahoittelen: on station platforms, shop doors, bank websites and the top of customer-service emails. It's rare in casual speech and completely normal at work — pahoittelen, tämä oli meidän virhe is what a Finn at a service desk says. In your own emails it's correct and appropriately formal, and pahoittelen myöhäistä vastaustani is a good opening line. The single-verb form is the one exception to the "ask and be given" pattern above: pahoitella apologises without anyone forgiving anything.
Valitettavasti is the softener: "unfortunately" does the work of the apology in Finnish bad news, and often no apology follows. Valitettavasti emme voi auttaa is the complete, polite answer to a request Finns are turning down.
When Someone Apologises to You
It's nothing.
Ei se mitään.
It doesn't matter.
Ei haittaa.
There's no need to apologise.
Ei tarvitse pyytää anteeksi.
Everything's fine.
Kaikki on hyvin.
Forget it.
Unohda se.
These things happen.
Sattuuhan sitä.
I forgive you.
Annan sinulle anteeksi.
Practice these words
Ei se mitään.
Learn this one first: ei se mitään is the reply to almost any apology, said quickly and with a small wave of the hand. Annan sinulle anteeksi is in a different league — it names forgiveness out loud, so it belongs to a real wrong. Said about a knocked elbow it sounds cold, or sarcastic.
Sympathy Is a Different Word
I'm sorry. (I regret it)
Olen pahoillani.
What a shame.
Harmi.
Oh, that's awful.
Voi kurjaa.
My condolences.
Otan osaa.
Practice these words
Olen pahoillani.
Don't apologise for someone else's bad luck: if a Finn tells you they're ill or that something has gone wrong, anteeksi implies you caused it. Use olen pahoillani, or the plain ikävä kuulla from emotions and feelings. At a funeral or on a card, otan osaa is the standard phrase — literally "I take part."
How Much Finns Apologise
Less than you do, almost certainly. There is no Finnish equivalent of the British reflex sorry — the one for walking near someone, for asking a question, for being in a doorway. If somebody bumps into you in a Helsinki tram, the likely outcome is that nobody says anything and both of you move. That isn't rudeness; it's an absence of ritual, and an anteeksi in Finland carries more weight precisely because it's used less.
Where it does matter is time. Finns take appointments literally, and arriving ten minutes late without a message is a real lapse that wants a real anteeksi. Send the message beforehand if you can see it coming — the same instinct described in talking on the phone, where you text before you ring.
The register ladder is worth memorising as a ladder: sori with friends, anteeksi everywhere, pyydän anteeksi when it was genuinely your fault, pahoittelen in writing. Using sori to a civil servant sounds flippant; using pahoittelen to a friend sounds like you're filing a complaint. Everything in between is anteeksi, which is why it's the one word to get solid first — along with its usual neighbour, the thank you and please set.