verb
to be sorry, to regret
A2
leidtun: verb meaning 'to be sorry' and 'to regret'. Regular weak verb, auxiliary haben; perfect leidgetan. Idiomatically impersonal with es plus a dative object (es tut mir leid; mir is dative). Not reflexive or separable. Forms built from tun; common usage centers on expressions apologizing or expressing regret.
Examples
Es tat ihm leid, was passiert war.
He felt sorry about what had happened.
Es tut mir leid.
I'm sorry.
Der Chef erklärte, dass es ihm leidtat, weil das Projekt scheiterte.
The boss explained that he was sorry because the project failed.
Details
Mnemonics
Picture someone saying 'Es tut mir leid' with a sad expression
think 'laid' (sad) + 'to do' — something laid down hurts you, you feel sorry
Notes
Idiomatically used with a dative object (es tut mir leid; es tat mir leid). The past participle is leidgetan; perfect commonly appears as 'es hat mir leid getan'. Full-person paradigms are rare; the impersonal subject 'es' is most common. | Impersonal verb; personal forms other than the impersonal 'es' are not applicable. Passive forms are not applicable. Present participle not applicable because the verb is idiomatically impersonal and the present-participle form is not used.