What to Say When You Don't Understand in Spanish
Polite Spanish phrases for when you're lost: asking people to repeat, slow down, explain a word or spell something, from casual to formal.
By Ayoub Farid · · 2 min read
Not understanding is part of every conversation in a new language. What matters is having the right phrases ready so you can stay in the conversation instead of switching to English.
Basic phrases
- No entiendo. (I don't understand.)
- No entendí. (I didn't understand. More natural in many situations.)
- Perdón, ¿cómo? (Sorry, what?)
- ¿Mande? (Mexico, polite "pardon?")
Ask them to repeat or slow down
- ¿Puede repetir, por favor? (formal)
- ¿Puedes repetir? (informal)
- Más despacio, por favor.
- ¿Me lo dice otra vez?
Ask about a word
- ¿Qué significa "…"? (What does "…" mean?)
- ¿Cómo se dice "…" en español?
- ¿Cómo se escribe? (How do you spell it?)
- ¿Me lo puede explicar?
Check you understood
- ¿Quiere decir que…? (Do you mean that…?)
- O sea, ¿tengo que…? (So, I have to…?)
- A ver si entendí: … (Let me see if I understood: …)
Explain that you're learning
- Perdón, estoy aprendiendo español.
- Hablo un poco de español.
- Entiendo más de lo que hablo. (I understand more than I speak. Perfect for heritage speakers.)
Tú or usted?
Use usted with strangers, older people and professionals; tú with friends and peers. See tú vs usted.
A practice dialogue
- Señor: Mire, siga derecho dos cuadras y luego dé vuelta en la glorieta.
- You: Perdón, ¿me lo repite más despacio?
- Señor: Claro. Siga derecho… dos cuadras.
- You: Dos cuadras. ¿Y qué es una glorieta?
- Señor: Es donde los carros dan la vuelta, un círculo.
- You: ¡Ah, una rotonda! Entonces, dos cuadras y en la glorieta…
- Señor: A la derecha.
- You: Perfecto. ¡Muchas gracias!
Notice the pattern: ask to repeat, repeat back the part you got, ask about the one word you didn't, then confirm. You stayed in Spanish the whole time.
Don't fake it
Nodding along when you're lost feels polite but causes problems later: wrong directions, wrong orders, missed instructions. One honest ¿cómo? saves you trouble, and most people appreciate that you care about understanding them.
Practice the moment of confusion
The best way to stay calm is to rehearse. In Lolo's calls you can ask Lolo to repeat or slow down just like with a real person, and the live transcript helps when listening gets hard. See also understand fast spoken Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
Is "no entiendo" rude?
Not at all. Add perdón to sound softer.
What does "¿mande?" mean?
It's a polite Mexican way of saying "pardon?" or "what was that?".
Should I pretend to understand?
No. Asking is normal and usually leads to a friendlier conversation.