It grieves me to say...

Meaning

Expressing sorrow and regret formally.

Examples

• John: 'I must inform you of some bad news.'<br>
• Alice: '<b>It grieves me to say</b>, but I have to resign.'
• John: '<b>It grieves me to say</b>, but we need to reassess our strategy.'
• Alice: 'The results are not what we hoped for.'<br>