When to use it
Use it when someone explained something too quickly.
The sentence in English — “I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?”
"I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?" has a negative past with "didn't" and a request with "can you".
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- didn't
- contractiondo · tense: past · contraction of "did not"; makes the negative in the past
- understand
- verbunderstand · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "didn't" the verb stays in its base form
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- instructions
- nounplural noun
- can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun
- repeat
- verbrepeat · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
The sentence in German — “Ich habe die Anweisungen nicht verstanden, können Sie sie bitte wiederholen?”
"Ich habe die Anweisungen nicht verstanden" is in the Perfekt, with "nicht" before the participle. The request "können Sie sie bitte wiederholen?" needs the object "sie" (them).
- Ich
- pronoun"I"
- habe
- auxiliary verbhaben · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: first · number: singular · auxiliary of the Perfekt
- die
- determinerdefinite article, plural: "the"
- Anweisungen
- nounfeminine plural noun: "instructions"
- nicht
- particle"not"
- verstanden
- verbverstehen · form: past participle · "understood"
- können
- auxiliary verbkönnen · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: third · number: plural (polite Sie) · "can" with the polite Sie
- Sie
- pronounpolite "you"
- sie
- pronoun"them", the instructions
- bitte
- adverb"please"
- wiederholen
- verbwiederholen · form: infinitive · "to repeat"
English × German — What changes from one language to the other
English uses "didn't" plus the base form; German uses the Perfekt with "nicht". German needs "sie" (them) after "wiederholen"; English can leave it out. The two "Sie/sie" differ only by the capital letter.
Example conversation
— Ich habe die Anweisungen nicht verstanden, können Sie sie bitte wiederholen?
— I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat them, please?
— Natürlich, ich spreche langsamer.
— Of course, I'll speak more slowly.