#4 Do you really know the meaning of すみません su mi ma sen I'm going to talk about Japanese intonation today. Do you know what すみません (su mi ma sen) means? According to google translation, すみません means " Excuse me" It's correct but it's not enoght to understand "REAL すみません". すみません is the one of the most useful Japanese phrases. You can hear everyday from everywhere in Japan. So please have a look the photo and listen carefully with the intonation.