20 Alternatives To “non Ho Capito” For When You Don’t Understand (formal, Informal, Colloq Options)

Tutorial Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel! How are you? I hope you are fine and that you are ready for a new Italian lesson. So, today we will see some words or expressions that we can use when we don't understand something, so this is our communicative situation: we did not understand something that the other interlocutor told us. We have to understand what communication context we are in. In today's video we will see the expressions to be used in three communication contexts: the formal one, therefore a context in which we would use the polite form with whom we speak; an informal context in which we would give say "tu"; and then a familiar / colloquial context, where we can use much more relaxed expressions. Obviously I want to tell you only those expressions and those sentences which are widely used and which are also short, if you will. Often they are just words, because when we don't understand something, when we have to ask to repeat, sometimes we don't want to interrupt the conversation and hold it for too long, right? So we need words that make the interlocutor understand that we have not understood and that, at the same time, do not block the conversation. Could you repeat? Can you repeat? Repeat? Could you repeat that? Can you repeat? Repeat? So this is the polite form with Lei; this is informal, can you repeat?; and this is familiar / colloquial, there is only the verb "to repeat". It seems a bit of an imperative form, but there is a question mark, so it's not really an imperative. We say: "Repeat?". It's not "Repeat!", But it's "Repeat?", so the pitch goes upward. Then, "I beg your pardon?". We find this also here, but it becomes sarcastic, okay? So if I say "I beg your pardon?" in an informal context or familiar / colloquialit becomes sarcastic, as if to say "I beg your pardon?" so someone said something stupid or it could even be the beginning of a fight. Ok? So I would suggest to use it only in a formal context. Then we have the classic: - Sorry? - Sorry? - Sorry? So "Excuse me / Sorry (Lei)?", Formal; then "sorry (you)", which is repeated in an informal and also familiar / colloquial context. Then we have Could say it again? (She) Can you say it again? (you) and I would say that in the familiar / colloquial there is not really an alternative related to these two, therefore we can also put nothing. Could/Can you say that again? Then What did you say? What did you say? What did you say? Do you see how it changes in the family / colloquial register? The "come" becomes "che", "che dici?". Attention to intonation, okay? Because if I say "what are you saying?" I am shocked by what is being said. Instead the intonation here is different, "what did you say?" because I did not understand. "Come dici?" (you) "Come dice?" (She) Then here we have: What? Here we have: What? What? So in the informal register we alternate "Come?" and "cosa?". In the family / colloquial register we have "Cosa?" and "che?". "Che?" is to be avoided in the formal register, because it sounds a little too direct, a little rude. So let's repeat all these questions. Could you repeat that? Can you repeat? Repeat? I beg your pardon? I beg your pardon? (sarcastic) I beg your pardon? (sarcastic) Only informal and familiar / colloquial, for the formal register "I beg your pardon" is an excellent choice. Sorry? Sorry? Sorry? What did you say? What did you say? What? We just saw a table where we had various options for the three registers, so there were several options. But now I'm going to tell you other expressions or questions which are only used in the formal context and in a family / colloquial register, ok? A very relaxed conversation. I write "very relaxed". So, the expression or question that is used only in a formal context is: I beg your pardon? We find this question only in a formal context, we don't have alternatives for the other two contexts. Therefore: I beg your pardon? it is formal, very elegant. As for the expressions that we can only use in a family / colloquial register, therefore when the conversation is very relaxed, when the communicative context is very relaxed. We have: What did you say? Attention to intonation, because if I say "what did you say?" I sound angry, because I understood very well what was said, simply - let's say - I want the person to repeat because maybe the they won't repeat that same thing. Instead in this case, "what did you say ?, I did not understand, so I simply ask to repeat. And then we have sounds. These two sounds are used only in a very relaxed family / colloquial context. That's because, you see? They are not even words, they are sounds. Therefore: Hmm? Eh? These used in a formal context, could be very rude. So that's all for today. I hope this video is useful to you, I hope you will use all this information in your conversations or in real life anyway. If you have any questions or doubts, leave a comment below. Share this video with your friends who study Italian. Thanks for watching this lesson. I will see you in the next one. See you soon bye!