excuse、pardon、forgive与overlook这些动词均有“原谅”之意。
excuse : 口语常用词，语气较轻。指原谅轻微的过错、疏忽或过失。
- Please excuse the mess.
这里凌乱不堪，请见谅。 - I hope you'll excuse me for being so late.
我来得这么晚，希望你能原谅。 - You must excuse my father─he's not always that rude.
你一定要原谅我父亲——他并不总是那样粗暴无礼。
pardon 比 excuse 正式，指原谅或宽恕严重的过失或法律上的犯罪行为；在社会交场合则指对打搅他人表示歉意。
- Pardon my ignorance, but what is a ‘duplex’?
请原谅我无知，duplex是什么呢？ - The place was, if you'll pardon the expression, a dump.
那个地方，请恕我直言，简直是个垃圾场。 - (BrE) You could be pardoned for thinking that education is not the government's priority.
人们认为政府没有优先考虑教育，这是不难理解的。
forgive : 侧重从心里宽恕某人，暗示放弃一切愤恨和要求报偿的权利。
- I'll never forgive her for what she did.
我绝不会原谅她做的事。 - I can't forgive that type of behaviour.
我不能宽恕那种行为。 - I'd never forgive myself if she heard the truth from someone else.
如果她从别人那里听到了真相，我永远不会原谅自己。
overlook : 语气较弱，指宽容或不计较无关大局的过失。
- satisfying relationships that enable them to overlook each other's faults
能使他们互相包容对方缺点的舒心的关系
