{"id":4419,"date":"2026-06-18T13:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/how-to-ask-someone-to-repeat-or-speak-more-slowly-in-spanish\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T15:54:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:54:45","slug":"how-to-ask-someone-to-repeat-or-speak-more-slowly-in-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/how-to-ask-someone-to-repeat-or-speak-more-slowly-in-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"How to ask someone to repeat or speak more slowly in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asking someone to repeat something in Spanish is not an inappropriate interruption; it is a strategy for understanding and staying involved. Pretending you have understood may cause you to miss even more information. Knowing several ready-made phrases lets you ask for the help you actually need: a repetition, the meaning of a word, or a slower pace.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Choose a phrase according to what you missed<\/h2>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>\u00bfPuedes repetirlo, por favor?<\/em> (Could you repeat that, please?): when you need to hear the entire sentence again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>\u00bfPuedes hablar un poco m\u00e1s despacio?<\/em> (Could you speak a little more slowly?): when you understand the words, but not at that speed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>\u00bfQu\u00e9 significa\u2026 en este contexto?<\/em> (What does\u2026 mean in this context?): when a particular word is stopping you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>No he entendido la \u00faltima parte<\/em> (I didn&#8217;t understand the last part): when you only need to hear the ending again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>\u00bfTe refieres a\u2026?<\/em> (Do you mean\u2026?): to check your interpretation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In formal situations, replace <em>puedes<\/em> with <em>puede<\/em> and use <em>\u00bfPodr\u00eda repetirlo, por favor?<\/em> (Could you repeat that, please?).<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to confirm without repeating the whole conversation<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turn the main information into a question: <em>Entonces, \u00bfnos vemos en la entrada a las siete?<\/em> (So, shall we meet at the entrance at seven?) or <em>\u00bfEl documento se env\u00eda por correo electr\u00f3nico?<\/em> (Is the document sent by email?). The other person can confirm or correct the detail, and you make sure you have understood each other.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practise a three-step approach<\/h2>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identify what you missed: a word, the pace, or a whole idea.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose a clarification phrase and say it calmly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Repeat the information you understood in your own words.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rehearse this approach with audio recordings: pause the recording once, say aloud the question you would ask and then keep listening. This also trains you to rejoin the conversation.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you feel embarrassed about asking<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Briefly explain that you are learning: <em>Estoy aprendiendo espa\u00f1ol; \u00bfpuedes repetirlo un poco m\u00e1s despacio?<\/em> (I&#8217;m learning Spanish; could you repeat that a little more slowly?). You do not need to apologise repeatedly. Speaking is a shared activity, and asking for clarification helps the exchange move forward.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When you understand the sentence but not one word<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of asking for the entire sentence again, point to the part you missed: <em>\u00bfQu\u00e9 significa \u201cresguardo\u201d aqu\u00ed?<\/em> (What does \u201cresguardo\u201d mean here?) or <em>He entendido que es el jueves, pero no el lugar<\/em> (I understood it is on Thursday, but not where). If a word has several meanings, ask for an example sentence. To remember the explanation, use it immediately in your own sentence. The conversation can continue as you learn; you do not need to stop and look up every unfamiliar word.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Practise these situations in guided conversations in our <a href=\"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/spanish-courses-in-barcelona\/\">Spanish courses<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn polite Spanish phrases to request repetition, ask someone to slow down, clarify a word and confirm what you understood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4421,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4419\/revisions\/4421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivelalengua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}