–¿Vas a ir a la universidad?
‘Are you going to the university?’
–¿Cómo?,
Sorry?
–Que si vas a ir a la universidad.
‘Are you going to the university?’
Note that si, ‘if’, ‘whether’, is not used with questions beginning with interrogative
words such as¿cómo?, ‘how’?,¿cuándo?, ‘when’:
–¿Cuándo va a volver?
‘When is he/she going to come back?’
–¿Cómo has dicho/dijiste?
‘Sorry, what did you say?’
–Que cuándo va a volver.
‘When is he/she going to come back?’
With imperatives simply use que:
–No tardes mucho.
‘Don’t take long!’
–¿Cómo?
‘Sorry?’
–Que no tardes mucho.
‘Don’t take long!’18.3.1 (p. 91)
30.4 Making sure you understand and are understood
30.4.1 If you need to apologize for your Spanish, either because you cannot understand
what is being said or because you cannot express yourself properly, you can use
phrases like the following, with the verbs entender, ‘to understand’, and hablar, ‘to
speak’.
Perdóneme (usted)/perdóname, pero no (le/te) entiendo.
I’m sorry, but I don’t understand (you).
Discúlpeme (usted)/discúlpame, pero no entiendo/hablo muy bien
el español.
I’m sorry, but I do not understand/speak Spanish very well.
Note that when reference is to language or to something being said, most speakers will
use entender rather than comprender, ‘to understand’.
Comprender, much less common than entender, is generally used with reference to
more abstract things. Consider these examples:
No entiendo lo que dices.
I don’t understand what you are saying.
¿Entiendes mi letra?
Do you understand my handwriting?
No comprendo tu actitud.
I don’t understand your attitude.
Making sure you understand and are understood 30.4