How to ask for clarification in English

15,545 views ・ 2021-12-21

Learn English with Cambridge


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
Hello, hello guys.
0
720
1409
00:02
I don’t know about you, but for me, even after
1
2430
2210
00:04
all these years studying English, sometimes I feel confused when some
2
4740
3949
00:08
people are expressing, or telling me something.
3
8789
3570
00:12
And literally, I need to ask for clarification,
4
12720
3270
00:16
just to make sure I understood what they were saying.
5
16289
2520
00:19
Today, let me tell you about some expressions
6
19530
2388
00:22
you can use when you need to ask for clarification,
7
22019
2869
00:24
or the other way around, when you need to give clarification.
8
24989
3480
00:37
Of course everything starts with you explaining that you didn’t understand
9
37469
3799
00:41
the message very well.
10
41369
1231
00:43
And for that you can say...
11
43439
2070
00:49
I’m not quite sure I follow.
12
49530
1829
00:53
I’m not quite sure I follow. I don’t see what you mean.
13
53460
3058
00:59
I don’t see what you mean. Wait, I’m not sure I got your point.
14
59850
3930
01:06
Wait, I’m not sure I got your point.
15
66329
2250
01:09
What are you getting at or what are you trying to say?
16
69659
2041
01:12
What are you getting at?
17
72629
810
01:18
What are you trying to say?
18
78659
1170
01:22
There is also the possibility of asking for clarification
19
82049
3560
01:25
straight away, for which you can say...
20
85709
3141
01:28
Ah, I’m sorry, could you say it another way?
21
88950
2090
01:31
Ah, I’m sorry, could you say it another way?
22
91140
4620
01:37
When you say...?
23
97340
929
01:38
Here you repeat what they said.
24
98750
1840
01:40
Do you mean...? Here you explain what you understood.
25
100730
2979
01:44
So, wait, when you say you know that place,
26
104939
3570
01:48
do you mean that you’ve been there before?
27
108750
1829
01:51
What do you mean by that?
28
111780
959
01:55
What do you mean by that?
29
115769
1041
01:59
Could you give me an example? Could you give me an example?
30
119060
5049
02:05
Would you mind elaborating for me?
31
125090
1388
02:09
Would you mind elaborating for me?
32
129090
2060
02:12
The opposite can happen, where someone doesn’t understand
33
132689
2779
02:15
you very well and asks you for clarification.
34
135569
2820
02:18
To which you can respond with the following expressions to
35
138560
2610
02:21
explain yourself.
36
141270
959
02:26
Okay, let me put it another way...
37
146370
1859
02:30
Okay, let me put it another way... What I mean is...
38
150139
4930
02:38
What I mean is... My point is...
39
158219
3930
02:44
My point is... I mean...
40
164610
3869
02:50
I mean... In other words...
41
170330
3399
02:56
In other words...
42
176550
1109
02:59
That’s all for today, guys.
43
179669
1470
03:01
Last but not least never forget to be polite.
44
181319
3201
03:04
And to thank the person for taking the time to explain to you what they meant.
45
184620
4319
03:09
It’s been fun speaking with you once again.
46
189240
2609
03:12
Don’t forget to subscribe, and to click on the bell button.
47
192330
3689
03:16
If you want to see more videos with different alternatives,
48
196409
2820
03:19
I’ll recommend you a couple more from the channel in the description box.
49
199500
3868
03:23
Bye.
50
203879
991
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7