Good word for not understanding

Эта статья окажется полезной, без сомнения, для всех изучателей английского языка. Знаете, какая самая востребованная фраза для изучающих иностранный язык? Правильно, «Я не понимаю». Ну хорошо, допустим, вы знаете, как выразить свое непонимание. А как быть дальше? Как переспросить? Или попросить уточнить? Мы решили вам помочь и предусмотрели наиболее возможные варианты развития событий. Надеемся, они вам помогут!

Как переспросить?

Как попросить дать разъяснение?

Добавлено: 24.10.13

Learning a new language can be a tricky business; but you want to get it right. Right?

When you are learning English, a lot of effort is put into picking up vocabulary, spelling, reading and writing.

However, the area where your learning becomes most crucial is when it finally gets put into practice – not just in the classroom, but in real life. In the classroom, be it online or in a school, someone is at hand to listen, to support, to test you and shape your learning.

But how can you make sure you understand what’s going on once you go out into the world and begin to practice your English? Often as we begin to practice our new-found language skills, we realize that the way words sound in conversation can be very different from how we learned originally. Accents, speed, slang and idiomatic variances can mean we feel very lost – almost as if the other person isn’t speaking English at all.

Here is the EF English Live guide to helpful phrases and words to use when you’re not quite sure what someone is telling you…

Formal

These short phrases are polite ways to communicate that you didn’t hear or don’t understand something in the English language.

• Sorry?
• Excuse me?
• Pardon?
• I beg your pardon?
  [this is particularly formal and now mostly used in England]

Longer formal sentences

These sentences will help you when you don’t understand something even though you have heard it.

• Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t follow you.
• Excuse me, could you repeat the question?
• I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Could you say it again?
• I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Would you mind speaking more slowly?
• I’m confused. Could you tell me again?
• I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. Could you repeat a little louder, please?
• I didn’t hear you. Please could you tell me again?

Informal

These are more common, casual, conversational ways to ask someone to repeat themselves, or communicate your lack of understanding. Some are more informal (i.e. rude!) than others.

• Sorry? – most useful for when you simply didn’t hear
• Sorry, what? – useful for not recognizing the sound you heard
• A little more informal (can be rude)
• ‘Scuse me? – a more casual version of ‘excuse me’
• Huh? – not quite a word but a sound; careful how you use it as it can sound rude; as a sound is more commonly associated with ‘I don’t get it’ or ‘I don’t understand’ rather than ‘I can’t hear you’
• What? – sometimes this can seem aggressive, be careful!
• Eh? – a sound usually used to communicate that it is difficult to hear/decipher someone
• Hmm? – a sound used when you are a bit more absent-minded or maybe not listening so hard

Slang

• Come again?
• Say what? – this is particularly American English
• Pass that by me again?
• You what? – this is more common in the United Kingdom
• I don’t get it… not a question but a statement, meaning simply ‘I don’t understand’

Idioms

Idioms are sayings particular to their language of origin. Here we take a look at three that you might use if you wanted to find a more creative way of saying something that sounds complicated, unclear or difficult to understand.

• I can’t make head nor tail of what you’re saying.
• This is all Greek to me.
• Sorry this is as clear as mud to me.

Today we deal with a confusing situation: how to say ‘I don’t understand’ in English.

When you have problems with understanding – it is usual, and you shouldn’t be afraid of that. It happens all the time with native speakers too. But for English learners, it is quite emotional because it could show you are not fluent enough, and we don’t want to look stupid.

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But the thing is: it is in your head. There are real situations when it’s just…you didn’t hear or maybe it’s too hard to hear or maybe you communicate in some complicated context.

Don’t be afraid to ask people to repeat what they said or what they meant. There is nothing shameful about this situation. There are many factors which can interfere with understanding: noises, stress, unclear idea, different background, thinking about something else, a bad day… really many reasons! It’s not always about your bad English. Don’t start with blaming yourself immediately! There is no problem with asking to repeat.

So, which phrases to use when you don’t understand or didn’t hear something?

Many people say ‘Excuse me’ or ‘Sorry’ in this situation. We have a special word in English for this. It’s ‘Pardon’.

Please, be careful about pronunciation. It is spelt P-A-R-D-O-N. People say it in all the possiиду manners, but the correct pronunciation in English is: /ˈpɑː(r)d(ə)n/.

And if you use to ask to repeat what the person just said, you will pronounce it with a rising intonation.

In the formal style, we will say: ‘I beg your pardon?’ Please remember it’s quite formal.

Also, you can say some set phrases:

• Sorry, I didn’t (quite) catch that.
• Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said.
• Sorry, I didn’t get that.
• Could you please repeat that? (more formal)
• Can you please repeat? (informal)

And it is also very important when people repeat what they said, when they are kind to you, so to say, please confirm that you understood.

• Now I see, thank you.
• Got it.
• Now I understand, thank you very much.

How to ask for clarification

Sometimes, you need to ask people for clarification (when you don’t understand what the person wanted to say, when you didn’t understand the idea).

Again, it doesn’t always happen because your English is bad. People don’t always express their ideas clearly. It’s not always your fault!

Be sure you are not too hard on yourself, and just stay calm because your ultimate goal is to get a practical result from this situation.

So, if you need some clarification for what you just heard, you can use phrases like

• Sorry, what did you mean by that?*
• Could you please be more specific?
• Could I ask for clarification on…? *this is very polite)
• Can you explain what you mean?

*It’s better to use Past, not Present. ‘What do you mean?’ is quite a direct question so it will be more informal. If you want to sound polite, you will use Past Simple instead of Present Simple.

How to clarify

If you see that people don’t understand you about something you said or they are confused, you also can give the clarification yourself. Say your idea again starting with:

• Let me explain…
• To put it differently,
• What I mean is…
• What I was trying to say is…

These are very popular phrases when you make some kind of short speeches when you explain some concept. We call them signal phrases because people have not very long attention span and sometimes you want to drive attention to what you are saying. If you want to give a signal to the person that you are going to say something important, you also can start with this ‘What I am trying to say is’. Make a little pause, make sure that people are looking at you now and then explain your idea.

‘To put it differently’, let’s come back to this phrase. To put means ‘to express’, ‘to say’. ‘To put it differently’ will mean ‘In other words’ (which is also a good phrase to use).

I hope you got the idea that it’s not always your English which is bad but we communicate in different kind of situations, backgrounds and don’t start with blaming yourself first.

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Free English Learning Guide

If you want to understand real-life conversations in English, you need to know phrasal verbs. They are an important part of everyday English speaking.

Download our Guide ’55 Common Phrasal Verbs’ to expand your vocabulary for free

This Guide is for those who:

• have already studied English and are at A2-B2 level;
• want to expand their English vocabulary;
• want to understand native speakers, films and TV shows.

A lack of interest, intelligence or understanding in a given topic or subject. blankness. bewilderment. confusion. incomprehension.

What is the opposite of understand in English?

Antonym of Understand

What is the opposite of lack of understanding?

unresponsiveness. lack of understanding and unresponsiveness. misapprehension misunderstanding. lack of understanding and misapprehension. misinterpretation misunderstanding.

What is the prefix opposite of understand?

The verb misunderstand adds the “bad” or “wrong” prefix mis- to understand, from an Old English root, understandan, that literally means “stand in the midst of.”

What do you call the uncertainty or lack of understanding?

Answer: uncertainty or lack of understanding. is what we called confusion. taffy927x2 and 40 more users found this answer helpful.

What does it mean when a person is obtuse?

Obtuse, which comes to us from the Latin word obtusus, meaning “dull” or “blunt,” can describe an angle that is not acute or a person who is mentally “dull” or slow of mind. The word has also developed a somewhat controversial sense of “hard to comprehend,” probably as a result of confusion with abstruse.

What is a synonym for a deeper understanding?

Synonyms. savvy self-knowledge appreciation brainstorm hold smattering grasping discernment hindsight apprehension comprehension realisation realization insight brainwave recognition grasp knowing. incomprehension dryness unsoundness decline comfort.

What are two synonyms for understanding?

• insight.
• perception.
• knowledge.
• intelligence.
• sense.
• awareness.
• realization.
• grasp.

How do you deal with lack of understanding?

I’m pleased to see that I’m not the only one frustrated with his blank lack of understanding. I simmered a bit and put her remark down to her lack of understanding of classic cars. But I don’t think that lack of understanding is a bad thing when it comes to God and his unendingness.

Is Ununderstandable a word?

Not understandable; that cannot be understood.

What’s a word for understanding?

The words appreciate and comprehend are common synonyms of understand. While all three words mean “to have a clear or complete idea of,” understand and comprehend are very often interchangeable, with understand sometimes stressing the fact of having attained a firm mental grasp of something.

How do you express lack of understanding?

How to express lack of understanding

1. I beg your pardon?
2. I beg your pardon, but I don’t quite understand.
3. I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.
4. I’m not quite sure I follow you.
5. I don’t quite see what you mean.
6. I’m not sure I got your point.
7. Sorry, I didn’t quite hear what you said.
8. Sorry, I didn’t get your point.

How do you show deep understanding?

Analyze Examine in detail the elements of a topic and how they relate to each other. Apply Make use of specific knowledge or concepts to solve a problem. Reflect Show new understanding of something by studying past experience. Generalize Draw a general conclusion from a number of facts.

What is a synonym for better understanding?

A greater level of understanding. awareness. insight. discernment. recognition.

What does the lack of understanding lead to?

Lack of understanding leads to a disconnect among people in differences. “The general lack of understanding leads to this inappropriate reaction and fear”. This lack of understanding leads to a lack of conversation.

Why there is no understanding in a relationship?

Most relationships fail not because of lack of understanding (as most psychologists make us believe), rather it is due to the deficiency of adequate empathy (emotional connection) between partners, colleagues, parents, siblings and all other relationships we can think of.

What does Inapprehensible mean?

inapprehensible in American English (ɪnˌæpriˈhɛnsəbəl ) adjective. that cannot be apprehended, or understood.

How do you clarify understanding?

When using clarification follow these guidelines to help aid communication and understanding.

1. Admit if you are unsure about what the speaker means.
2. Ask for repetition.
3. State what the speaker has said as you understand it, and check whether this is what they really said.
4. Ask for specific examples.