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Spanish grammar lessons › Level A0 › Idioms, Idiomatic Usage & Structures

No entiendo, ¿Puede repetir?, ¿Cómo se dice…?

The phrases that keep a conversation going when you get stuck.

Part of the free A0 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.

Phrases to learn as whole chunks

These sentences use verbs you haven't conjugated yet. You don't need to: learn each one as a block, like buenos días. They are the most useful sentences a beginner can know.

When you don't understand

  • No entiendo.I don't understand.
  • Perdón, no entiendo la pregunta.Sorry, I don't understand the question.
  • No sé.I don't know.

No comprendo is also correct and means the same.

sé (with an accent) means "I know". Without the accent, se is a different little word (you see it in ¿Cómo se dice?).

Asking someone to repeat or slow down

  • ¿Puede repetir, por favor?Can you repeat that, please? (formal)
  • ¿Puedes hablar más despacio?Can you speak more slowly? (to a friend)
  • Otra vez, por favor.Again, please.

Puede is for usted and puedes is for tú (Tú or usted; vosotros or ustedes). They come from poder (can), which you'll conjugate in Stem-changing verbs o → ue, u → ue (poder, jugar).

Asking about words

  • ¿Cómo se dice window en español?How do you say "window" in Spanish?
  • ¿Qué significa ventana?What does "ventana" mean?
  • ¿Cómo se escribe tu apellido?How do you spell your surname?
  • Se escribe con uve.It's spelt with a v.

Letter names help here: hache (h), uve (v), be (b), jota (j), eñe (ñ). In much of Latin America v is called ve (or ve corta) and b is be (or be larga). You can also ask ¿Cómo se pronuncia? (How is it pronounced?).

  • Tengo una pregunta.I have a question.

What the teacher may say

In Spain many teachers use tú with their students: Repite, por favor (Repeat, please), ¿Lo entiendes? (Do you understand it?). To a whole class they may use vosotros: ¿Lo entendéis?

Common mistakes

  • Yo no entender → No entiendo. Use the whole phrase, not the infinitive.
  • No se → No sé. Without the accent it doesn't mean "I know".
  • ¿Cómo dice window? → ¿Cómo se dice *window*? The se makes it "how does one say".
  • ¿Qué es la significa? → ¿Qué significa?
  • Using ¿Puedes…? with a stranger or an official → ¿Puede…? is the polite form.

Latin America: all these phrases work everywhere. Teachers there use ustedes to the class: ¿Lo entienden?

Practice

  1. You don't understand. You say:
    Options: No entiendo. · No entender. · Entiendo no. · Yo no entiende.
    Show the answer

    No entiendo.

  2. You want a waiter you don't know to repeat. You say:
    Options: ¿Puede repetir, por favor? · ¿Puedes repites? · ¿Repetir usted? · ¿Puede repite?
    Show the answer

    ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Puede (usted) is the polite form, followed by the infinitive repetir.

  3. ¿Cómo se _____ apple en español?
    How do you say apple in Spanish?
    Show the answer

    dice

  4. ¿Qué _____ manzana?
    What does manzana mean?
    Show the answer

    significa

In the app, this lesson is taught one idea at a time with the examples read aloud, followed by questions that explain the rule when you get one wrong. It then comes back for review on later days, until you've answered it correctly on three separate days.
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