When you don't understand in Spanish: what to say after the second repeat, in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
They have said it twice. The second time was slower and no clearer, and now you are both stuck, because the only phrase you have is ¿cómo? and you are getting nowhere with it. To get past this, you need sentences to say what specifically went wrong, so that instead of a repeat you get a different sentence. Below: the regional “pardon” words, the phrases for asking for a slower or simpler version, the ways out when the words are not the problem, and what to expect from people in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina.
The first ask
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sorry? | ¿Cómo? | The universal one. Works in all four countries, at any level of formality |
| Sorry? | ¿Perdón? | Equally safe, slightly more formal |
| Sorry? | ¿Mande? | Mexico. Very common, especially from older speakers and in service jobs |
| What? | ¿Qué? | Understood everywhere and blunt everywhere. Fine with friends, not with strangers |
| Sorry, what did you say? | ¿Perdón, qué dijo? | Usted |
| Sorry, what did you say? | ¿Perdona, qué has dicho? | Spain, tú |
| Sorry, what did you say? | ¿Perdón, qué dijiste? | Mexico, Colombia, tú |
| Sorry, what did you say? | ¿Perdón, qué dijiste? / ¿Qué me dijiste? | Argentina, vos, spelled like the tú form in the past |
| Sorry? | ¿Cómo dice? | Usted. Common in Spain and Mexico |
| Excuse me? | ¿Señor? / ¿Señora? | Colombia. Polite and very common |
¿Mande? deserves its own line. It is the standard Mexican way of saying “sorry?” and of answering when someone calls your name, and it is heard hundreds of times a day in Mexico. Younger city Mexicans increasingly prefer ¿cómo? or ¿qué?, and a few object to mande on historical grounds, but nobody will think a visitor rude for using it. In Spain, Colombia and Argentina it is not used, and if you say it, people know immediately that you learned Spanish in Mexico.
¿Qué? on its own is the one to be careful with. It is the flattest possible response, and in Colombia especially it sounds curt. You lose nothing by saying ¿cómo? instead.
Saying what went wrong
With this step you end the loop. With a plain ¿cómo? you get the same sentence again. If you name the problem, you get a different one.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I didn’t catch that | No entendí. | The single most useful line on this page |
| I don’t understand | No entiendo. | For an ongoing state |
| I didn’t hear you | No le escuché. / No te escuché. | When it was volume, not language. Spain also no te he oído |
| Can you repeat that? | ¿Puede repetir? | Usted, all four |
| Can you repeat that? | ¿Puedes repetirlo? / ¿Me lo repites? | Spain, tú |
| Can you repeat that? | ¿Podés repetir? / ¿Me lo repetís? | Argentina, vos |
| Slower, please | Más despacio, por favor. | |
| A bit slower | Un poquito más despacio. | The diminutive softens it in Mexico and Colombia |
| Can you speak more slowly? | ¿Puede hablar más despacio? | |
| Can you say it another way? | ¿Me lo puede decir de otra forma? | Gets you simpler words, which is what you want |
| In simpler words | Con palabras más sencillas. | |
| I understood a bit | Entendí un poco. | Tells them how far to back up |
| I got the first part | Entendí la primera parte. | |
| Up to where? | ¿Hasta dónde entendiste? | What a helpful person will ask you |
| One more time | Otra vez, por favor. | |
| Sorry, again? | Perdón, ¿otra vez? |
No entiendo and no entendí are not interchangeable. No entiendo is the present: I do not understand, as a state, and people hear it as “I do not understand Spanish” or “I do not understand this situation”. No entendí is the preterite: I did not understand that particular thing you just said. For a single sentence you missed, no entendí is right, and with it the other person knows that you understood everything before it. In Spain the usual form is no te he entendido. Learners who say no entiendo every time get treated as if they understand nothing, and the conversation switches to English or stops.
Asking about one word
Often only one word was the problem. Pull it out and the rest of the sentence was fine.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What does … mean? | ¿Qué significa…? | The safe form everywhere |
| What does … mean? | ¿Qué quiere decir…? | Equally common and slightly more spoken |
| What’s a …? | ¿Qué es un…? | |
| How do you say … in Spanish? | ¿Cómo se dice … en español? | |
| What’s this called? | ¿Cómo se llama esto? | Point at it |
| Sorry, the word … | Perdón, la palabra… | Repeat the word back with a question in your voice |
| Can you write it down for me? | ¿Me lo puede escribir? | Usted |
| Can you write it down? | ¿Me lo escribes? / ¿Me lo escribís? | Spain tú / Argentina vos |
| Can you spell it? | ¿Me lo puede deletrear? | Deletrear is to spell out letter by letter |
| Letter by letter | Letra por letra. | |
| Can you show me? | ¿Me lo puede mostrar? | The fastest way out of a vocabulary hole |
| Can you show me on the map? | ¿Me lo puede mostrar en el mapa? | |
| Type it on my phone | ¿Me lo escribe aquí? | Hand them the phone. Nobody minds |
| How do you spell it? | ¿Cómo se escribe? | |
| With a b or a v? | ¿Con be o con uve? | Spain says be and uve; Mexico, Colombia and Argentina say be larga for b and ve corta for v |
When you got the words but not the point
This happens more than the vocabulary problem does, and for it you need different sentences. You heard everything and you still do not know what is being asked of you.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I understood the words, not what you mean | Entendí las palabras, pero no entendí qué quiere decir. | |
| What do you mean? | ¿A qué se refiere? | Usted, all four |
| What do you mean? | ¿Qué quieres decir? / ¿Qué querés decir? | Spain tú / Argentina vos |
| Are you asking me something? | ¿Me está preguntando algo? | |
| What do I have to do? | ¿Qué tengo que hacer? | The most practical question in the whole situation |
| Do you need something from me? | ¿Necesita algo de mí? | |
| Is that a yes or a no? | ¿Eso es sí o no? | |
| So, I go this way? | Entonces, ¿voy por aquí? | Say your guess back. Argentina: por acá |
| Let me see if I understood | A ver si entendí. | Then say it in your own words |
| Is that right? | ¿Está bien así? | |
| So you’re saying that… | O sea que… | Very common in all four, and invites a correction |
The technique to use is repeating your guess back. A ver si entendí: pago aquí y recojo allá. Let me see if I understood: I pay here and collect there. The other person confirms or fixes one word, and the exchange is over. If you ask for a third repeat, you rarely end anything.
Saying you are learning
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I’m learning Spanish | Estoy aprendiendo español. | Changes how you are spoken to, immediately |
| I speak a little Spanish | Hablo un poco de español. | |
| My Spanish isn’t very good | Mi español no es muy bueno. | |
| Sorry, my Spanish is basic | Perdón, mi español es básico. | |
| I understand more than I speak | Entiendo más de lo que hablo. | True for most learners and useful to say |
| Be patient with me | Tenga paciencia conmigo. | Said warmly, gets a warm answer |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Habla inglés? | Usted |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Hablas inglés? / ¿Hablás inglés? | Spain tú / Argentina vos |
| Is there someone who speaks English? | ¿Hay alguien que hable inglés? | |
| I’d rather practise in Spanish | Prefiero practicar en español. | Stops a well meant switch to English |
Say estoy aprendiendo español early rather than after the third failed repeat. People adjust their speed and their vocabulary once they know, and almost nobody adjusts before.
How people react, country by country
Mexico. Warm and patient, and quick to help. Mexicans slow down readily, repeat without impatience, and often praise your Spanish after two sentences. The difficulty is the courtesy itself. Service language in Mexico is long and formal, and the polite framing around a simple question can be the part you miss. You hear ¿mande? constantly, and it just means “sorry?”.
Spain. Fast, loud, and with the ends of words dropped in the south. Spaniards repeat willingly and rarely slow down much, because normal Spanish speech in Spain is fast and the speaker does not experience it as fast. Overlapping speech and interruption are normal conversation there and are not aggression. Ask for the sentence a different way rather than louder: ¿me lo dices de otra forma?
Colombia. The clearest of the four for a learner, and Bogotá in particular is spoken with full consonants and an even pace. Colombians are formal and very willing to repeat, and with the usted forms you get a beat more time. Expect diminutives everywhere, which are not new words: ahorita, momentico, tintico, cerquita.
Argentina. The accent is the furthest from what you learn on a course: ll and y sound like the “sh” in “ship”, the stress in vos forms falls at the end (hablás, podés, tenés), and the rhythm is Italian. Argentines talk a lot and will happily explain at length, which is its own problem when you only needed one word. With una cosa sola, just one thing, you bring it back.
What you will hear
| You will hear | It means |
|---|---|
| ¿Me entendiste? | Did you get that? |
| ¿Sí me explico? | Am I making sense? (Mexico, very common) |
| ¿Me explico? | Am I clear? |
| ¿Me sigue? | Are you following me? |
| ¿Ya? | Got it? (Colombia) |
| ¿Viste? | You see? (Argentina) |
| ¿Sabes? | You know? (Spain) |
| Te lo digo más despacio. | I’ll say it more slowly. |
| Hablas muy bien español. | You speak Spanish very well. |
| ¿De dónde eres? | Where are you from? |
| No te preocupes. | Don’t worry. |
| Tranquilo. / Tranquila. | Relax, it’s fine. |
| Con calma. | Take your time. |
| A ver, te explico. | Let me explain. |
| Es que… | The thing is… |
| O sea… | I mean… |
| ¿Cómo te digo? | How do I put it? |
Tranquilo, no te preocupes and con calma are what people say to a struggling learner in all four countries, and they mean exactly what they say.
The graceful ways out
With four moves you can end a stuck exchange without either of you giving up.
Point at it. ¿Me lo puede mostrar? or ¿Es este? Show me, is it this one. Faster than any sentence.
Write it. Hand over your phone: ¿Me lo escribe aquí? Reading is easier than listening for nearly every learner, and the other person can see when you get the word.
Say your guess. A ver si entendí… The correction you get back is usually shorter than the original.
Cut it to one question. Solo una cosa: ¿a qué hora? Just one thing: what time? Learners drown in long explanations, and with one narrow question you drag the exchange back to something answerable.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- Perdón, no entendí. ¿Me lo puede repetir? Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Can you repeat it?
- ¿Mande? Sorry? (Mexico)
- Más despacio, por favor. Estoy aprendiendo español. Slower, please. I’m learning Spanish.
- ¿Me lo puede decir de otra forma? Can you say it another way?
- ¿Qué significa esa palabra? What does that word mean?
- ¿Me lo puede escribir aquí? Can you write it down here for me?
- Entendí las palabras, pero no sé qué tengo que hacer. I understood the words, but I don’t know what I have to do.
- A ver si entendí: pago aquí y recojo allá. Let me see if I understood: I pay here and collect there.
- ¿Me lo podés repetir más despacio? Can you repeat that more slowly? (Argentina)
- Entiendo más de lo que hablo. I understand more than I speak.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between “no entiendo” and “no entendí”? No entiendo is a state, and it sounds like you understand nothing. No entendí refers to the sentence just said, and with it the other person knows that everything before it was fine. Use no entendí for a single missed sentence.
Is “¿mande?” rude? No. It is the ordinary Mexican “sorry?” and you will hear it constantly. It is Mexican, so it will sound out of place in Spain, Colombia or Argentina.
Is it rude to say “¿qué?” Blunt rather than rude. Among friends it is fine everywhere. To a stranger, ¿cómo? or ¿perdón? is better, and in Colombia noticeably so.
How do I stop people switching to English? Say it plainly: Prefiero practicar en español, si no le importa. I’d rather practise in Spanish, if you don’t mind. People almost always switch back.
What do I say when they speak too fast? You can use más despacio, por favor once. After that, ask for different words rather than slower ones: ¿me lo puede decir de otra forma? You rarely understand more from a slower version of the same sentence.
How do I ask someone to spell something? ¿Me lo puede deletrear? For a single letter, name it: be larga and ve corta in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, be and uve in Spain.
What does “¿sí me explico?” mean? “Am I making sense?”, asked by the speaker about themselves. It is extremely common in Mexico and you answer sí or no.
Is it worth saying I’m learning? Yes, and early. The speed and the vocabulary change the moment someone knows, and almost nobody adjusts before being told.
Practise these words
entender, repetir, despacio, significar, decir, escribir, deletrear, mostrar, palabra, aprender, explicar, escuchar, perdón. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.