Asking for repetition and clarification

Google voice when available; device voice as a fallback. Read along, then try each line aloud.

Say when you do not understand

Missing a word is an ordinary part of conversation. No entiendo tells the other person what is happening. Perdón adds a polite sorry or excuse me. Use these phrases to explain that you need clarification.

A short request is enough: más despacio, por favor asks for slower speech. Despacio means slowly. You can also point to something or ask the person to write a word, but start by trying the spoken request.

Ask someone to repeat

¿Puedes repetir? asks one person informally to repeat. With usted, use ¿Puede repetir? You can add por favor to either question. These are useful complete phrases even before you learn all the forms of poder.

Keep your question short and give the speaker time to answer. You do not need to repeat an entire long sentence: ask again about the part you missed. Replaying one difficult phrase is useful practice, too.

Ask about a word

¿Qué significa…? asks what a word means. ¿Cómo se dice… en español? asks for the Spanish expression. Insert the word you know into that second question; mixing one word into the question is a practical way to learn.

Hablo un poco de español sets a realistic expectation: I speak a little Spanish. Language names such as español normally use lowercase in Spanish. Practice asking for help aloud now, so the phrases are available when a conversation becomes difficult.

Lesson vocabulary

Listen once, say it aloud, and try to recall the Spanish before looking.

Practice questions

Try every question, then check your answers. Capital letters and punctuation do not affect your score. Accents and ñ do matter.

Showing an answer makes that question a practice item worth zero for this attempt. Retry with the answers hidden when you’re ready. If audio cannot play, use Show answer / text to practice by reading.

Independent practice

These are independent practice tasks. The site does not record your voice, save your writing, or grade open-ended answers. Ask a teacher or conversation partner for feedback when you can.