That turned dark quickly. Instead of saying "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings" you say: "I'm sorry for hurting you" or "I'm sorry that I hurt you". This is almost like a passive or indirect consequence. "I'm sorry I hurt you" sounds like you feel bad that you hurt someone else. There is a very big difference in saying "I'm sorry" and "sorry for". Please keep in mind that most of us are Americans. "I'm sorry for" is a phrase that is rarely used in US. But "sorry for" meaning in the below sentences is always used in US: She was crying. I said to her, "I'm sorry for your distress." (instead of, I'm sorry you are distressed.) I am sorry for your trouble. (instead of I'm sorry you have trouble.) I'm sorry for the trouble I gave you. (instead of I'm sorry I gave you trouble) I'm sorry for giving her a hard time. (instead of I'm sorry I gave her a hard time) These sentences have the same meaning as I'm sorry for hurting you / sorry I hurt you above. It is possible to use "I'm sorry" in these sentences without changing the meaning. In this case you may use them for politeness. I'm sorry for giving you trouble. I'm sorry for giving her a hard time. But the other use is not polite in US. A: Not in the US, we never apologize for causing distress. I understand where you are coming from, though. Imagine this situation: Stranger 1: You look sick. Me: No, I feel great! Stranger 1: Oh I'm sorry! I guess I offended you. You would never say this to someone. If we don't appreciate the feeling you have caused, we just say it's not our fault. A: The closest you can get to: I'm sorry you feel bad, or I'm sorry you feel pain, or I'm sorry that you feel pain (to clarify that you didn't mean to cause that pain) is I'm sorry you're experiencing those things. That means exactly what you think it means. In fact, if you go back to your dictionary definition, you'll see that this is exactly what it says. (Note that, as others have noted, there is a very important difference between "I'm sorry" and "I'm sorry for"; it's the latter that doesn't work here.) A: That is because of the way the sentences are phrased. In American English, "I'm sorry" and "sorry for" carry slightly different meanings. When someone apologizes for hurting someone else, he is saying that he feels that it was bad to cause the hurt and apologizes for causing it. "I'm sorry you feel bad" or "I'm sorry you feel pain" or "I'm sorry that you feel pain" mean that the person feeling the pain is causing pain to himself by causing pain to another. "Please don't say 'I'm sorry I hurt you'! That sounds like you're apologizing for hurting him! It's not nice to think of yourself as bad, so try to say 'I'm sorry you feel bad or I'm sorry you feel pain' instead. It's much more modest to think of yourself as bad." - My friend I agree with her. It is always a big plus if a person apologizing uses words that are sensitive to the feelings of the person who is being hurt. Here is the relevant Ngram