No Entiendo: Saying You Do Not Understand
No entiendo keeps communication honest without bringing it to a halt. Add a request for repetition or clarification so the other person knows how to help.
Learning objective
Explain that you do not understand without ending the conversation.
No entiendo means I do not understand. Entiendo is the speaker form of entender, to understand, and no makes it negative. This honest signal does not have to end an exchange. Treat it as the first rung of a repair ladder that tells the other person what support would help.
On the second rung, narrow the problem. No entiendo la pregunta means I do not understand the question. No entiendo esta palabra means I do not understand this word. Pregunta means question, palabra means word, and esta is a feminine pointing word matching palabra.
On the third rung, request an action: ¿Puede repetir?, Can you repeat?, or Más despacio, por favor, More slowly, please. The listener then knows whether to repeat or change pace. Nodding silently can hide the difficulty; a specific repair phrase keeps both people collaborating.
No comprendo is another widely understood way to say I do not understand. Some speakers or regions may favour one expression in a given setting, but neither needs to be labelled universally better. Begin with no entiendo because it connects directly to the common verb entender.
Examples
No entiendo.
I do not understand.
The short phrase clearly signals a comprehension problem.
No entiendo la pregunta.
I do not understand the question.
La pregunta identifies what is unclear.
No entiendo esta palabra.
I do not understand this word.
Esta matches the feminine noun palabra.
No entiendo. ¿Puede repetir?
I do not understand. Can you repeat?
The second sentence requests a useful repair.
Common mistake
- Instead of
- Yo no entender.
- Try
- Yo no entiendo. / No entiendo.
Entender is an infinitive, the unchanged dictionary form, so it does not yet match the speaker. Entiendo is the needed yo form. The pronoun yo can remain for emphasis or disappear, but no must stay immediately before the conjugated verb.
Practice
Try it yourself
Climb the repair ladder for a difficult question. Write rung one as the general signal, rung two naming la pregunta, and rung three asking the speaker to repeat. Then say all three without looking.