“Sorry for the late reply” in Korean: 답장이 늦어서 미안해요

답장이 늦어서 미안해요

dapjangi neujeoseo mianhaeyo

Situation: Friends & social mediaLevel: Beginner (TOPIK 1–2)

Meaning

Sorry for the late reply.

-아/어서 gives a reason, so 늦어서 means “because (my reply) was late.” It is an easy way to apologize casually when you reply to a message late.

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 10 · Words: 3

Said aloud, it sounds like [답짱이 느저서 미안해요].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
답장이
답	ㄷ+ㅏ+ㅂ	dap
장	ㅈ+ㅏ+ㅇ	[짱] jang
이	ㅇ+ㅣ	i
늦어서
늦	ㄴ+ㅡ+ㅈ	[느] neu
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	[저] jeo
서	ㅅ+ㅓ	seo
미안해요
미	ㅁ+ㅣ	mi
안	ㅇ+ㅏ+ㄴ	an
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 답장 → [답짱]
Linking: when a syllable ending in a consonant (patchim) is followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel, the consonant moves over to the next syllable. 늦어 → [느저]