German for I'm sorry has two main levels, one for minor everyday apologies and one for sincere apologies. For everyday situations like bumping into someone, being late, or not hearing something, you say Entschuldigung or Entschuldige, which are more like excuse me but are used as sorry. For a heartfelt I'm sorry you say Es tut mir leid which literally means it does me sorrow or it causes me pain. This is the emotional sorry. For example Es tut mir leid, dass ich zu spät bin means I'm sorry that I am late. You can make it stronger by saying Es tut mir wirklich leid meaning I'm really sorry, or Es tut mir so leid. If you want to apologize formally you say Entschuldigen Sie bitte, or Es tut mir leid. Another expression is Verzeihung or Verzeihen Sie mir bitte which means forgive me please and sounds more formal and old fashioned. Among friends you can say Sorry which has been borrowed from English and is extremely common among young Germans, often as Sorry, mein Fehler meaning sorry my bad. If you want to apologize for not speaking German you say Tut mir leid, ich spreche kein Deutsch. So use Entschuldigung for small things and Es tut mir leid for real apologies.
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