遅刻します（ちこくします、chikokushimasu）
- to be late

The Japanese word 遅刻します遅刻します means "to be late" or "to arrive late." It's a verb that expresses the action of not arriving at a scheduled time. This applies to various situations, such as appointments, classes, work, or social gatherings. The base form is 遅刻遅刻 which means "tardiness" or "being late." The しますします is a polite, present-tense, affirmative conjugation of the verb する (to do/make), making the entire phrase a polite way of saying "I am late" or "I will be late."

⚫︎授業に遅刻します。 Translation: I will be late for class. ⚫︎会議に遅刻しました。 Translation: I was late for the meeting. ⚫︎友達との約束に遅刻してしまいました。 Translation: I ended up being late for my appointment with my friend.

⚫︎遅刻します遅刻します is used in formal and polite situations. It is the polite -ます form of the verb. ⚫︎You can use it to explain why you are late, to apologize for being late, or to report someone else's tardiness. ⚫︎When apologizing, you might say 遅刻してすみません (Chikoku shite sumimasen - I'm sorry for being late). Or 遅れてすみません (Okurete sumimasen - I'm sorry for being late). ⚫︎If you are going to be late, inform the person you are meeting as soon as possible.

⚫︎The word is typically written with the kanji 遅刻 followed by the hiragana しますします. ⚫︎遅刻: Kanji ⚫︎しますします: Hiragana, which is the polite verb conjugation. ⚫︎There are no other common ways to write this word. ⚫︎The okurigana (the suffix hiragana) is しますします. There are no variations in okurigana.

⚫︎遅れる (okureru): to be late; to be delayed (more general, less polite than 遅刻します遅刻します) ⚫︎間に合わない (maniawanai): not to make it (in time) ⚫︎乗り遅れる (noruokureru): to miss (a train/bus, etc.)

⚫︎間に合う (maniau): to be on time; to make it (in time) ⚫︎早退する (sousuru): to leave early

電車が遅れて、授業に遅刻しました。 ・Translation: The train was delayed, and I was late for class. ・Explanation: This sentence explains the reason for being late (train delay) and uses 遅刻しました遅刻しました to indicate that the speaker was late for class.

約束の時間に10分遅刻してしまいました。すみません。 ・Translation: I was 10 minutes late for the appointment. I'm sorry. ・Explanation: This sentence expresses the tardiness and offers an apology using 遅刻. The phrase 遅刻してしまいました遅刻してしまいました implies that the lateness was unintentional or unavoidable.

⚫︎The word 遅刻 is formed from two kanji. ⚫︎遅 (chi): late; slow ⚫︎刻 (koku): unit of time, moment, or time of day; This kanji can also mean "to engrave" or "to carve," but in this context, it refers to a specific moment or time. ⚫︎Therefore, 遅刻 literally means "late time" or "tardiness." ⚫︎The verb conjugation しますします, as mentioned before, means "to do" or "to make", so 遅刻します遅刻します represents the action of experiencing lateness.