Wednesday, October 21, 2015

You don't understand? How to say so in Spanish

British English / American English
I don't understand

French: Je ne comprends pas
German: Ich verstehe nicht

Italian translation: Non capisco
Spanish translation: No entiendo; No comprendo
Portuguese : eu não entendo

French - ne and pas are the bracket words for not around a verb. A bit like not/don't - at all

German uses the negative at the end of the sentence after the verb 
like the English sentence construction I think not
(In English positive would be I think so; negative I think not.)

Italian and Spanish and Portuguese have the negative first. If you learned Latin at school you will be familiar with o at the end of the verb to signify the speaker is I.

Spanish forms the bridge to remembering the Spanish and Portuguese.

The Italian starts NON, like the French Edith Piaf song Non, je ne regret r i e n (Sorry - I have to separate the letter because spellcheck turns the word into risen.)

Italian - wave your arms about and say it: Non c a p i s c o. (Sorry - spellcheck thinks I want to word capsize. Yes, I would like capitals in big size and yes the spelling is capsizing.)
Non c a p i s c o. Non c a p i s c o.

Say it three times because your memory will disregard anything seen only once. Twice signals you might need to remember this. Three times confirms, yes, please remember this. if you come back to my postulator today or email it to yourself or another of your email addresses you can remind yourself. 
Non capisco. Italian. You will say non ca p i s c o  to them. They will say non c a p i s c o to you. 

In English exams you take/do a paper in comprehension, a grand word for understanding.

Spanish give you two ways of saying I don't understand.
No comprendo. Comprendo is like a short way of saying comprehend. 
no c o m p r e n d o you say to them. (I had to separate the letters. Spellcheck again.) 
They reply no c o m p r e n d o.
Let's say it a third time to be sure we remember. No c o m p r e n d o.

Remember comprehension starts with the letter c.


But if you prefer to remember a vowel, like the word Understand (yes English and Spanish both have two words) the Spanish is No e n t i e n d o . (Spellcheck is suggesting entwined.)
No e n t i e n d o you say to them. 
No e n t i e n d o the Spaniards reply. 

Finally Portuguese.
eu não entendo (to save time in getting the accent over the a correct, I copied and pasted).
You can add the word n a d a meaning nothing on the end of the sentence.
How do you pronounce it. Here's my way of remembering.
ay - oo now en tend o nar dah

  https://www.howtopronounce.com/portuguese/eu-não-entendo-nada/

Angela Lansbury, English and French teacher, author, travel writer and photographer, speaker. 

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