Do the words ‘solemnly’ and ‘seriously’ collocate with ‘apologise’? Do the words ‘solemnly’ and ‘seriously’ collocate with ‘apologise’? Any other words that collocate with ‘apology’, ‘apologise’ and

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Do the words ‘solemnly’ and ‘seriously’ collocate with ‘apologise’? Do the words ‘solemnly’ and ‘seriously’ collocate with ‘apologise’? Any other words that collocate with ‘apology’, ‘apologise’ and ‘apologetic’? 1) Joseph apologised to his boss solemnly/seriously. 2) Benjamin has to make a solemn/serious apology to his friend for causing her a lot of trouble. Looking foward to your reply. Thank you in advance.

Sep 7, 2015 6:48 PM

Answers · 5

They can be used but I don't think they are "colocations" in U.S. English. Much more common would be: ...he sincerely apologized... ...he made a heartfelt apology... If "apologized" is not strong enough, "sincerely apologized" is the best choice. "Solemn" collocates with "vow" or "promise" or "pledge." "He made a sincere apology, and gave a solemn pledge not to do it again."

September 7, 2015

Seriously is best in these cases. A side note: apologise is the British spelling whereas apologize is used in the United States and Canada. I'm not sure which version of English you are learning. Just a tip.

September 7, 2015

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