30.5 Signalling that one understands the speaker
Apart from the neutral word sí, ‘yes’, words which signal that one is following the
speaker tend to vary according to our reaction to the speaker’s words, which may be
surprise, annoyance, disappointment, or some other emotion, for example¡no!, ‘no!’
(surprise),¡uy!,‘oh!’ (annoyance),¡ah!, ‘aw!’, ‘oh dear!’ (disappointment). Intonation
plays an important part here, and often the same word serves to signal different kinds
of reactions to someone’s words. The word¡no!, for instance, may by itself express
surprise, annoyance, pity, depending on the intonation we use.
Ella tenía veinte años más que él, pero se casaron (¡No!). Claro que no
duraron mucho.
She was twenty years older than him, but they got married (No!).
Of course they didn’t last long... (surprise)
Te echaron la culpa a ti de lo que pasó (¡No!), ya que tú estabas allí...
They blamed you for what happened (No!), since you were there.
(annoyance)30.6 Asking how to pronounce or spell a word
30.6.1 To ask someone how to pronounce a word use the impersonal phrase¿Cómo se
pronuncia?, ‘how do you pronounce?’
¿Cómo se pronuncia su/tu nombre/apellido?
How do you pronounce your name/surname?
23.8 (p. 111); 23.9 (p. 111)
30.6.2 To ask someone to spell a word you can use either the impersonal phrase¿Cómo se
escribe?, ‘how do you spell it?’ or a sentence with the verb deletrear, ‘to spell’.
¿Cómo se escribe su/tu nombre/apellido?
How do you spell your name/surname?
¿Podría/s deletreármelo, por favor?
Could you spell it for me please?
¿Me lo deletrea/s?
Will you spell it for me?
Note the use of the present, deletrea/s, ‘you spell’ (formal/fam.) in the last sentence,
used commonly in requests.
68.1 (p. 381)
30.7 Interrupting a speaker
To interrupt someone during the course of a conversation use one of the following
expressions with perdonar, ‘to excuse’:
Perdone (usted)/perdona, pero... (formal/fam.)
‘Sorry, but.. .’Interrupting a speaker
30.7