Quote:
Originally Posted by masaegu
What do you think, Maxful?
They both mean "Excuse me for my poor Japanese."
|
And if you want to be hyperliteral about the sentences (masaegu's translation is more correct, but this will sort of show the meaning behind the bits of the sentence),
下手な日本語で失礼します。 = I commit offense/am impolite due to my poor Japanese.
下手な日本語でお許しください。 = Would you please permit/forgive me for my poor Japanese?
I have to admit, I'm not sure whether to classify the で as the particle or as the てform of だ here. I assumed it was the particle (for some reason), but if it's the てform of the copula then they are slightly different in literal translation:
The Japanese is bad [in this letter], so I commit offense/am impolite/am sorry.
The Japanese is bad [in this letter], so would you please permit/forgive it/me?