Learn how to ask someone to repeat what they said
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| There will be many times when the French around you or coming at you is fast and furious, and you may not catch all of it or any of it. In instances like this, asking the speaker to say it again can prove the difference between understanding a crucial piece of information or spending the rest of the day trying to figure out just what was said. So that you can get a feel for the language and tune your ear, you should use the following phrase over and over. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In French, "Once again, please;" is Répétez, s'il vous plaît. Répétez, s'il vous plaît. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Ré-pé-tez, s'il vous plaît. |
| Now, let's hear it once again, Répétez, s'il vous plaît. |
| The first word, Répétez means "repeat." |
| Let's break this word down and hear it one more time. Ré-pé-tez, and répétez. |
| This is followed by S'il vous plaît, which in French is "please," as we learned in a previous lesson. |
| So, altogether, we have Répétez, s'il vous plaît. Literally, this means, "Repeat it, if it pleases you." |
| Another common way of inciting someone to repeat what they have just said is to say, "Comment." Comment. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Com-ment. |
| Now, let's hear it once again, Comment. |
| This literally means "how," and is similar to "I'm sorry" or "What's that?" |
| At times, even repetition of what is said isn't enough to understand the speaker as the words are still too fast. For instances like this, you can use the phrase "Slowly please." |
| In French, "Slowly please" is Doucement, s'il vous plaît. Doucement, s'il vous plaît. |
| Let's break it down once again. Dou-ce-ment, s'il vous plaît. |
| This first word, Doucement, literally means "softly" or "sweetly," and is translated as slowly. |
| Let's break this word down and hear it one more time. Dou-ce-ment, and doucement. |
| This is also followed by S'il vous plaît, which we saw in the earlier phrase. |
| So, altogether, we have Doucement, s'il vous plaît. Literally, this means, "Softly, please." |
| These phrases, "Once again, please;" and "Slowly, please;" can be used together as in "Once again. Slowly, please." Répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît. Répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît. |
| In order to make this phrase even more courteous, we can add "can you" to the front of it. Making, "Can you say it once again, please?" or Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Pour-ri-ez-vous ré-pé-tez, s'il vous plaît? |
| In French, "Can you?" is Pourriez-vous. Pourriez-vous. |
| Let's break it down by syllable: Pour-ri-ez-vous. |
| Now, let's hear it once again: Pourriez-vous. The first word, Pourriez, means "can." |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time. Pour-ri-ez, and pourriez. |
| This is followed by Vous, which in French is, as we have learned, "you." |
| So, to recap here, we have Pourriez-vous. Literally, this means "Can you?" |
| So, altogether, we have Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| This can be used together with slowly or Doucement to make, "Can you say it once again slowly, please?" Pourriez-vous répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît? Pourriez-vous répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay. To close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what we've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it out loud in French. You'll have just a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, bonne chance. That means "good luck" in French. Okay. Here we go. |
| "Once again, please." |
| Répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| Répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| Répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| "I'm sorry?" or "What's that?" |
| Comment? |
| Comment? |
| Comment? |
| "Slowly, please." |
| Doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| Doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| Doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| "Once again slowly, please." |
| Répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| Répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| Répétez doucement, s'il vous plaît? |
| "Can you say it once again, please?" |
| Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| Pourriez-vous répétez, s'il vous plaît? |
| This is the end of today's lesson. See you soon! À bientôt! |
Comments
Hide