A Contrastive Analysis of Common Apology Expressions in Chinese and Spanish and an Investigation of Learner Errors

This study conducts a contrastive analysis of apology expressions in Chinese and Spanish, focusing on expressions such as 对不起 (duì bu qǐ), 抱歉 (bào qiàn), 不好意思 (bù hǎo yì si), 原谅 (yuán liàng), and 麻烦 (má fan), and their Spanish counterparts including disculpa, perdón, lo siento, and perdonar. Drawing upon practical learner examples and corpus observations, the paper identifies frequent error types among Spanish-speaking learners of Chinese, examining mismatches in semantic intensity, politeness strategies, and cultural expectations. The research is grounded in three theoretical frameworks: Interlanguage Pragmatics (Kasper & Blum-Kulka), which explores pragmatic development in second language acquisition; Politeness Theory (Brown & Levinson), which provides a model for understanding face-threatening acts like apologies; and Error Analysis (Corder), which enables the systematic identification and interpretation of learner errors. The study adopts a qualitative corpus-informed contrastive approach, analyzing illustrative learner expressions collected through classroom observation and written assignments, and comparing them with native Chinese usage. Findings reveal that pragmatic failures often arise from semantic transfer, sociocultural mismatches, and structural differences in apology realization. Learners struggle with calibrating the appropriate intensity of apology expressions, often overgeneralizing 对不起 and underusing culturally softer forms like 不好意思 or 抱歉 in minor situations. Additionally, the influence of Spanish honorific and remedial patterns leads to mismatches in politeness strategies and discourse coherence in Chinese. By highlighting these error patterns and their underlying causes, the paper contributes to the field of interlanguage pragmatics and cross-cultural language teaching. Pedagogical recommendations include raising learners’ awareness of semantic nuance and politeness conventions in Chinese, using contextualized teaching, and explicitly addressing contrastive patterns in apology usage between Chinese and Spanish.