{"id":7478,"date":"2020-09-10T13:23:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T17:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=7478"},"modified":"2020-09-10T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T17:23:35","slug":"ways-to-say-you-dont-understand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/ways-to-say-you-dont-understand\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Say You Don\u2019t Understand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay, CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

In English, when you are presented with something that you don\u2019t understand the most normal thing to do is tell someone, \u201cI don\u2019t understand.\u201d Or, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but I don\u2019t understand.\u201d However, we have lots of ways to express that same feeling. And, depending on the situation, another expression may be more suitable.<\/p>\n

Whenever a language learner experiences a moment when they don\u2019t understand something, often the first impulse is to be embarrassed. No one wants to look ignorant or to feel left out. Sometimes the impulse is to pretend to understand. Well, that doesn\u2019t help, because the problem remains \u2013 you still don\u2019t understand. So, let me assure you, the best thing to do is to let people know. Trust me, almost everyone loves to explain things!<\/p>\n

Let’s say that someone you are with is speaking and they are either talking so quietly, or too quickly, that you didn\u2019t really hear them. In English, we would say, \u201cPardon me<\/strong>?\u201d This is a somewhat formal and very polite way of asking them to repeat themselves so that you can understand their words. Another formal response would be, \u201cCould you repeat that, please?<\/strong>\u201d Other, more casual ways of doing this might be by saying,<\/p>\n