5 Things to Say When You Don’t Understand Something!

When you are in the middle of an English conversation, it’s normal to feel awkward or nervous. It’s normal to get stuck because you don’t understand what someone said, or because you can’t remember a word or you don’t know the right word in English. Don’t fight it. Don’t waste your time and energy thinking and worrying about how awkward or nervous you feel. It will just make things worse. Instead, memorize these useful sentences so that you know what to say the next time you get stuck in a conversation.

1. "Sorry?"

Make sure that your voice goes up at the end of sorry so that it sounds like a question.

This is not an apology. This is a polite way of asking someone to repeat themselves, or say something again. 

2. "Sorry? I didn't catch that. Can you say that again, please?"

In this context, the verb catch means hear or understand something that someone said. When you say, “I didn’t catch that,” it means that you didn't hear or understand what the other person said.

3. "Can you speak more slowly please?"

"Can you speak a little slower please?" 

Native speakers sometimes speak fast. There are people who speak so fast even other native speakers can’t understand them!

Most English speakers won’t mind if you ask them to speak slowly. Just remember to say “please”! 

4. "I'm sorry, what was the last thing you said? Can you repeat that please?"

Sometimes you might not understand one or two words in a sentence because the speaker said the word so quickly.

Natural spoken English is different from the English that you learned in school. It’s much faster, and words are reduced and linked together, so sometimes it’s difficult to understand every word that someone says.

 

5. "I’m sorry, what does ____ mean?"

(NOT: What means _____ ? )

Sometimes you might not understand a word in a sentence because you’ve never heard that word before. You can ask someone to repeat a word or ask what that word means. 

Finally, after all of that, if you still can’t understand what the person said, ask them to write it down!