Spanish Phrases For Being Understood
Spanish Phrases For Being Understood
When you speak Spanish with someone it's important that you understand them and they understand you. Learning to use the phrases on this page will help prevent misunderstandings when you speak Spanish. For example, sometimes the person you talk with will talk too fast so you may have to ask them to speak a little slower. Or, at times you may understand the entire sentence they tell you except for 1 word so you need to be able get a clarification of what was said.
Study the phrases and native audio on this page to learn how to ask someone to tell you the story again, along with several ways to ask to have something repeated. A lot of times, native speakers will get talking very quickly, there's a phrase to get them to slow down so you can understand what they're saying. How to tell a person you are not understanding what they are telling you.
- Di me lo otra vez.
- Tell it to me again.
- Repite, por favor.
- Repeat, please.
- ¿Que dijiste?
- What did you say?
- No comprendo, ¿puedes repetir?
- I don't understand, can you repeat it?
- ¿Que dijo?
- What did he(she) say?
- Remember, dijo is the third person and can refer to a man or woman. If you want to be specific, you can add the personal pronoun like this:"¿Que dijo el?"
- otra vez
- again
- Otra vez is useful when you need to ask someone to repeat some part of what they said.
- ¿Puedes hablar mas despacio, por favor?
- Can you speak more slowly, please?
- No entiendo, or No comprendo
- I don't understand
- ¿Como? -or- ¿Que?
- What?
- You'll hear both of these words in a context that means what did you say? -- You should know that ¿Que? is a little less-formal and should only be used with the closest of friends. When in doubt, use ¿Como?
- ¡Lo siento!
- I'm sorry!
- por favor
- please
- perdon
- excuse me
- con permiso
- excuse me
- Literally, 'with your permission'. Use this the way we say 'excuse me' when there is barely enough room to get by in a crowd.