How to Ask People to Repeat Themselves如何请对方把话再说一遍

⊙ By Gill

Let’s Talk 口语大本营

How to Ask People to Repeat Themselves如何请对方把话再说一遍

⊙ By Gill

在用英语与人交谈时，最常出现的情况之一就是听不清楚或听不懂对方说了什么。如何有礼得体地请对方把话重复一遍可是一种技巧，不可不学。一起来学习一下各种实用表达吧。

We’re going to have a lesson about what to do if someone says something to you and you can’t hear them properly or it’s not very clear what they say,and you need to ask them to repeat what it was they said.And this could happen anywhere,anywhere in the world,but especially if you’re in maybe a big city,where there are people of many different nationalities—cities like London,Toronto,New York; anywhere really,in the world.So people with different accents,either because they’re from other countries and English is not their first language,or,even within one country,like within the UK,we have many different accents from different parts of the country;from different cities,from Scotland,Wales,Ireland,they are all different accents.And,if someone has a strong accent,it’s more difficult to understand them.So,this lesson is about asking people to say again what they said.

OK,so,let’s have a look at some of the words you can use to deal with this situation.

PARDON?

SORRY,COULD YOU SPEAK UP,PLEASE?

SINGLE WORDS

· Sorry

So,a very useful single word is just to say,“Sorry?”,with a sort of rising in the voice.Question.“Sorry? Sorry?”And also I’ve put body language here,but it’s quite important.You can say“Sorry?” andlean[身体倾斜]towards them a little bit with your hand by your ear.So,especially if their first language is not English,they will understand from this that you didn’t understand what they said.So,a little bit of body language helps as well.So,“Sorry?” is very useful and polite,because we need it to be polite as well.So,“Sorry?” is a polite way of asking someone to repeat.

· Pardon

At one time,there was also the word “pardon[对不起]”which is a little bit oldfashioned now.So,to say“Pardon?”,it used to be very polite and children were taught to say “pardon,” but now it’s a little bit old-fashioned,and people might laugh at you if you use “pardon,” so,see what other people say to you and then you can follow what they say,but “pardon” is a little bit old now.

· Eh & Unh

And don’t say things like “Eh?”.“Eh?” A lot of English people might say “Eh?”,but that’s not polite either.So…or,“Unh?”.That’s not polite either,just to say,“Unh?” “Unh?” No.

· What

Now,things not to say which are not polite.You don’t just say,“What?”,because that is rather rude.So,don’t say “What?”.“WHAT?!” Mm,very rude,especially with a loud voice and making a funny face.“WHAT?!” Not very nice at all,so don’t say“What?”.

OK,so,the polite way,really as one word,is just to say,“Sorry?”,and then the person will probably understand you need them to say it again.

SENTENCES

But there are longer sentences you can use as well,in addition[除此之外]to “sorry,”just to give you a wider range of options.

And the three main things about the way we all speak is [sic] clarity—what we say should be clear.The pace or the speed.If people speak very quickly,it’s difficult to follow what they’re saying,to understand what they’re saying.So,the pace should be fairly slow and regular.And the volume—how loud or quiet somebody is.So,some people are a bit shy and they don’t speak very loudly—so,the volume,how loud people are,is important.So,sometimes you need to ask somebody to speak more loudly.So,we have different sentences for these.

· Clarity

So,the first thing you can say,if someone says something and you missed a few words and you’re not sure what they’re saying—again,“sorry” is always a useful word to begin with—like we had “sorry” as the single word—“sorry” is always useful to begin with.“Sorry,I didn’t quite catch what you said.” Now,the“quite” is optional.You can say,“I didn’t catch what you said” or “I didn’t hear what you said,” “I didn’t quite hear what you said.” The “quite” just adds a little bit more politeness.“I didn’t quite hear”—I nearly heard everything that you said,but not quite.Then that suggests there was just one word that you didn’t get.So,“Sorry,I didn’t quite catch what you said.” “I didn’t catch what you said,” or “I didn’t hear what you said,” and then the person will repeat,hopefully.Alright?

Or,again,to ask them to repeat,you can say,“Sorry,could you say that again,please?” or “Sorry,could you repeat that,please?” OK,“to say again” or “to repeat.” So,“Could you say that again,please?” “Could you repeat that,please?”OK? So,“Sorry” at the beginning,“please” at the end,is always a good idea to make it polite.

If the person uses a word that you don’t know,you can just actually say,“Sorry,I don’t know that word,” and you can ask them,“What does it mean?” “What is the meaning of the word?” Or,“Could you tell me what it means,please?” OK?So,“could,” not “can,” “Can you tell me?” —that’s less polite.“Could you tell me?” is more polite.

And,if you’re having a conversation,then,it helps to keep the conversation going.If you ask somebody,“Oh,I don’t know that word.What does it mean?Could you tell me what that word means?” and,you know,it helps you get to know the person a little bit better if you’re asking them to explain something.So don’t be afraid of asking for the explanation of a word.

· Volume

Now,if someone wasn’t very loud and you want them to say it again with more volume—turning up the volume,you could say,“Sorry,could you speak up,please?” “To speak up” means to be louder.So,“Sorry,could you speak up,please?” Again,it’s not very polite to say,“Sorry,you were too quiet.I didn’t hear you.You were too quiet.” That sounds a bit like a criticism.So,to avoid sounding as if you’re criticising the person,“Oh,your voice is really quiet.” It’s not a very nice thing to say.So,just to say,“Sorry,could you speak up,please?” Maybe they’ll think you can’t hear very well and they think it’s your fault and not theirs.You’re being polite.OK?

· Pace

And then,if someone speaks very quickly and all the words run together in one single sound and you want them to say it again.Again,don’t say…it’s not very polite to say,“Sorry,you said that too quickly,”because,again,it sounds like a criticism.But,if you say,“Sorry,could you speak more slowly,please?” it sounds less like a criticism.OK? So,“Could you speak more slowly,please?” So,“Sorry,” “please” at the end…at the beginning and at the end.