The correct phrase is sorry to bother you. The version you sometimes see, “sorry for bother you”, is a grammar mistake, because the word for needs an -ing form after it: sorry for bothering you. Both correct versions are polite and natural, and a real-time checker like TypoGuard catches the broken one the moment you type it, before it lands in someone’s inbox.
Why “Sorry for Bother You” Is Wrong
English offers two correct patterns after “sorry”, and “sorry for bother you” mixes them together:
sorry to + base verb → Sorry to bother you.
sorry for + -ing verb → Sorry for bothering you.
Pick one pattern and stay with it. “Sorry for bother you” combines the preposition for with a bare verb, and “sorry to bothering you” does the opposite. Neither works.
“Sorry to Bother You”: When to Use It
Use the to + verb form when you are about to interrupt someone or ask for something. It works as a polite opener:
“Sorry to bother you, but do you have a minute to review this draft?”
“Sorry to bother you so late, but the file didn’t upload.”
“Sorry for Bothering You”: When to Use It
Use the for + -ing form when the interruption has already happened, or when you are closing a message and acknowledging the time you took:
“Sorry for bothering you again about the invoice.”
“Thanks for your patience, and sorry for bothering you with so many questions.”
What the Dictionaries Say
Both patterns are standard English. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries give “Sorry to bother you, but could I speak to you for a moment?” as a model sentence, and elsewhere show the pattern “sorry for taking the car without asking” for an apology about something already done. The rule of thumb is simple: before the interruption use to bother, after it use for bothering.
Quick Reference
Sorry to bother you = correct, before or while interrupting
Sorry for bothering you = correct, after interrupting
Sorry for bother you = incorrect
Sorry to bothering you = incorrect
More Polite Ways to Say It
If you want something a little softer in a professional email, try apologies for the interruption, I hope this is a good time, or thank you for your time. Pairing a short apology with a clear request usually reads better than stacking several apologies in a row.
Catch It Before You Hit Send
Small structure errors like “sorry for bother you” are easy to miss when you are typing fast, especially in a quick message. TypoGuard’s free grammar checker reads the sentence as you write and fixes the verb form in real time across Gmail, chats, and forms.
Want to stop second-guessing small phrases like this? Install TypoGuard for free and let it handle the details for you.



