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> すみません **が** 。この封筒に二百円の切手を貼って出してください。

I know that in this situation I could say just すみません、not すみませんが。Both mean
"excuse me." Still, there must be at least a slight difference between すみませんが
and すみません. What is the difference? （It seems to me that the particle implies
request, asking for attention, but I'm not sure)

Thank you!
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2019-05-30T03:43:56.990
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question
particle-が
The difference between すみません　and すみませんが
Literally, the が here means “but” (in this case it is not used as a particle).
Polite or humble Japanese often uses が or けど to end subclauses. Similarly,
passive or negative verbs are used as it is considered more polite to be
indirect.

> すみません **が** 、~ ください。
>
> Excuse me **but** could you please ~

In this case すみません (which has many different uses) is used to get attention
and make a request. It is a reasonably polite way to make a request
(suggestion or demand) but would not be considered an apology: do not use
すみません **が** to say sorry, it will sound insincere to give an excuse.
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answer
Also depends a lot of the reason why (and hence the tone in which) the speaker
says すみません or すみませんが. I think it is a bit risky to use すみませんが if you simply
want to be polite, as it could be taken as the hostile すみませんが (used to attrack
attention when you want to point out something that you are not satisfied
with) even if you (like me, a foreigner) tried to articulate it in a polite
way.

If you want to use すみませんが in a way where you basically apologize for
interrupting or just for asking for the person's attention, using おそれいりますが but
this would sound awkward from someone non-Japanese-speaker who does not master
the language extremely well (I would not use that phrase).

Tuomo
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2019-06-05T14:48:18.257
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answer