How to Say ‘Sorry, I misunderstood you.’ in Spain Spanish
Perdone, le he entendido mal.
pehr-DOH-neh leh eh en-ten-DEE-doh mahl
[pehr-DOH-neh leh eh en-ten-DEE-doh mahl]
🇪🇸 In Spain: Owning the mix-up yourself defuses things quickly. It keeps a fare dispute from turning tense.
Phrase Breakdown
Perdone,
pehr-DOH-neh
Sorry / Excuse me,
This is the polite way to apologise. Stress falls on 'per-DO-ne'.
Perdone, ¿qué hora es?
Excuse me, what time is it?
Words in this phrase
Perdone
[pehr-DOH-neh]
excuse me / pardon me
Perdone is a polite way to get attention, apologize lightly, or say pardon me.
Perdone, ¿me puede ayudar?
Excuse me, can you help me?
le he entendido mal.
leh eh en-ten-DEE-doh mahl
I misunderstood you.
'Le' is the polite 'you'. The h in 'he' is silent. Say it smoothly: 'le-e-en-ten-DI-do-mal'.
Creo que le he entendido mal.
I think I misunderstood you.
Words in this phrase
le
[leh]
you / to you
Indirect object pronoun used formally for 'you' in polite speech.
Le esperamos a las ocho en punto.
We are expecting you at eight o'clock sharp.
he
[eh]
I have
Auxiliary 'haber' for the present perfect, used before a past participle.
He comido mucho.
I have eaten a lot.
entendido
[en-ten-DEE-doh]
understood
Past participle meaning understood; often used with haber in perfect tenses.
He entendido mal dónde debía esperar el taxi.
I misunderstood where I was supposed to wait for the taxi.
mal
[mahl]
badly
Used to say something was done incorrectly or there was misunderstanding.
El conductor entendió mal la dirección.
The driver understood the address badly.
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