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# excuse

noun (an excuse, excuses — said ex-KYOOS); verb (excuse, excuses, excused, excusing — said ex-KYOOZ)

«excuse» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. An excuse is a reason you give to explain why you did something wrong or did not do something, often not the real reason. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#m1)
2. To excuse someone means to forgive them for something small. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#m2)
3. To excuse someone from something means to let them not do it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#m3)
4. «Excuse me» is a polite phrase to get attention, to ask someone to move, or to say sorry for a small thing. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#m4)

### In the lessons

In manners, «Excuse me» is used to get someone's attention politely, to pass someone, after a burp, or to leave the table («May I be excused?»). In school, a note from a parent can excuse you from PE. In everyday life and truth, making excuses means blaming other things instead of saying sorry; «The dog ate my homework» is a famous excuse. Good habit: give a reason, then take responsibility.

### Examples

- Excuse me, could you tell me the time? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x1)
- Excuse me, can I get past? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x2)
- That's not a good excuse for being late. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x3)
- He always has an excuse for not doing his homework. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x4)
- Please excuse the mess. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x5)
- She was excused from PE because of her sore foot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x6)
- May I be excused from the table? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x7)
- «The dog ate it» is the oldest excuse ever. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x8)
- Perhaps there was some excuse for him. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/#x9)

### Note

Noun and verb sound different: the noun ends with an «s» sound (an excuse), the verb with a «z» sound (to excuse). Countable noun: an excuse, excuses. «Excuse me» is for before (getting attention); «sorry» is for after (an accident) in British English; Americans also say «excuse me» after.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «excuse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/excuse/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«excuse» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/excuse.html) on Mova free.