誤あやまって

Meanings

Adverbial て-form used before a verb to say that an action happened unintentionally or because of an error. Often has a slightly formal or written feel compared with 間違って or うっかり.

誤あやまって古ふるいファイルを削さく除じょしてしまった。
I accidentally deleted the old file.
彼かれは誤あやまって別べつの電でん車しゃに乗のった。
He got on the wrong train by mistake.

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Kanji

誤mistake, err, do wrong
過overdo, exceed, go beyond

Related words

うっかりN3
誤って states neutrally that an action was mistaken or accidental, while うっかり emphasizes carelessness or a momentary lapse of attention.
間ま違ちがえるN4
誤って is an adverbial phrase describing how an action was done, while 間違える is the everyday verb meaning to make a mistake or mix something up.

Written forms

誤あやまって
Standard kanji spelling for the adverbial expression meaning that something is done by mistake or accidentally.
過あやまって
rarely-used kanji form
Attested rare kanji form for あやまって; 誤って is the practical spelling for this word.

Etymology

Grammatically the て-form of 誤る, meaning to make a mistake or err. The kanji 誤 is conventionally associated with error or mistaken action; the alternate 過って spelling is rare.