How can I say "I apologize if I sound presumptuous"?

Question

Recently I've been talking on Twitter with a few people and at some point I wanted to say phrase that I have written in the title. I probably didn't express myself very well because the only think I had come up with when I replied was by using もし僭越なら...
What I would like to know is how can I express something by saying..."if I sound (arrogant, bossy for example). Can you perhaps help with more examples? Thank you!

Answer 1

There are various expressions used between Japanese people, but if the opponent of OP is a Japanese and he/she knows that OP is a non-native speaker of Japanese, he/she will take everything into consideration including what you think to "be presumptuous", so it is better that you wouldn't care about extra things and write/say what you like without using difficult expressions like もし僭越なら.

By the way, I'll show you what kind of expressions are used among Japanese people.

• 僭越ではございますが、
• 僭越だとは思いますが、
• 失礼にならなければ良いのですが、
• 失礼を承知で申しますと、
• 失礼なら申し訳ありませんが、
• 最初に言っとくけど、気に障｛さわ｝ったらごめん（ね）。

Last but not least, even Japanese people rarely use them because they are very difficult expressions to be used properly.

Answer 2

If you want to say "I might sound presumptuous, but... (as a lead-in to the main topic)", you could say:

• 「[僭越]{せんえつ}ながら、・・・」 (very formal)
• 「[僭越]{せんえつ}とは[存]{ぞん}じますが、・・・」 (very formal)
• 「[差]{さ}し[出]{で}がましい（ことを言う）ようですが、・・・」 (formal)
• 「[出過]{です}ぎたことを言うようですが、・・・」 (formal)
• 「ぶしつけながら、・・・」 (formal)
• 「[生意気]{なまいき}なことを言うようですが、・・・」 (less formal)
• 「[偉]{えら}そうなことを言うようですが、・・・」 (偉そう=bossy; less formal)
  etc...

In case you want to say "I apologize if I sound presumptuous." (as a standalone sentence):

• 「[差]{さ}し[出]{で}がましいようでしたら、すみません。/ [申]{もう}し[訳]{わけ}ありません。」 (formal)
• 「[出過]{です}ぎたことを言うようでしたら、すみません。/ 申し訳ありません。」 (formal)
• 「[生意気]{なまいき}なことを言うようで、すみません。/ 申し訳ありません。」 (less formal)
• 「[偉]{えら}そうなことを言うようで、すみません。/ 申し訳ありません。」 (偉そう=bossy; less formal)
  etc...