Lo siento + subjunctive

Question

Hey all, If I wanted to say "I am sorry you feel offended", would I say "Lo siento que te sientas ofendido"?

How about: "I am sorry that I have been ignoring you"? Would it be: "Siento haber sido ignorándote"?

Answer 1

Yes, you need subjunctive, I think it more natural without lo (although some use it), lamentar (lamento que) also possible.

From here: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/132494/lo-siento-vs-lamento

Mountain Girl (non-native)

Don't put the "lo" in front of "siento" if you plan to say a compound sentence. If you say "I'm sorry", use either "lo siento" or "lo lamento", meaning "I regret it" or "I lament it".

On the other hand - "I am sorry that you might be sick" - "Siento/Lamento que estés enfermo" - I regret/lament that you might be sick. You don't want to mistakenly say the equivalent of "I regret it that you might be sick".

Julian (you should know who he is by now):

Lo siento is used more for apologies and things of that nature.

Lamento is to express true regret, thus having a stronger feeling than "Lo siento."

http://www.linguee.com/spanish-english/translation/siento+que+te+sientas.html

Examples from linguee:

Marina llama a Claudia y dice: "Siento mucho que te sientas desanimada.

Sharon says: "I'm sorry you've been feeling so blue.

Ejemplo: "Siento que no te sientas bien.

Example: "I'm sorry you're feeling that way.

I already gave her the short answer on another thread. I hope your longer answer satisfies her. - Daniela2041, May 30, 2016

She doesn't need to be asking twice. What thread was it? - rac1, May 30, 2016

It was called "pronouns for feeling sorry" rac1. I asked the question on that thread 22 hours ago and Daniela responded 4 hours ago. I asked the same question on this thread five hours ago because I did not think Daniela would respond. If I saw that she - Ramonaspiker, May 30, 2016

Responded an hour before bosquederoble, I wouldn't have made him write this very helpful answer. But I think other people can benefit from this question. My last thread was a different question than this. I was a follow up question. Check it out - Ramonaspiker, May 30, 2016

Thanks for the shorter answer Daniela! Both answers are satisfying. I just wanted a quicker answer so I'm sorry. Thank you for the links and longer answer Bosquederoble. I really appreciate the hard work you put into writing this answer :) - Ramonaspiker, May 30, 2016

Answer 2

Por las razones que ya dijo bosquederoble, sería:

"I am sorry you feel offended" = Lamento que te sientas ofendido. "I am sorry that I have been ignoring you"? = Siento haberte estado ignorando.

"haberte estado ignorando" is the equivalent to "have been ignoring"

Since I see you struggle with the translation of have been + ver in past tense, I'll give you a different example so you can practice some more:

"I wouldn't have been late to the movies If I have not been playing my new game on my play station 3 for that long"

"No hubiera llegado tarde al cine, si no hubiera estado jugando mi nuevo juego en mi play station 3 por tanto tiempo"

Hope it helps.

Good examples, thank you. - annierats, May 30, 2016

Would "Siento haber estado ignorándote" and "Te siento haber estado ignorando" be incorrect Saiya6cit? - Ramonaspiker, May 30, 2016

Thank you so much for the extra practice! I need to relearn the past perfect when I have time. - Ramonaspiker, May 30, 2016