Usage Note
Excuse as a noun means an excuse or pretext (trouver une excuse). The plural les excuses means an apology — faire ses excuses is to apologize formally. Note that excuse (noun) and excuser (verb) are related, but s'excuser means to apologize rather than to excuse oneself in the sense of leaving.
Examples
"Il a trouvé une mauvaise excuse."
Natural Translation
He came up with a poor excuse.
Literal Translation
He has found a bad excuse
Related Words
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