Asking for clarification means telling the other speaker, in French, exactly what you missed and what you need. It keeps a role-play moving when you mishear a time, a price or a word, and it is genuine communication, not a sign of failure.
This lesson sits inside speaking preparation and interaction. Check the current Cambridge syllabus page for how role-plays and conversations are assessed in your exam year.
Why does clarification matter?
Nobody understands everything in a real conversation. Silence or a random guess ends communication, while a clear request restarts it. A speaker who can repair a problem sounds more confident than one who simply hopes it does not happen.
Good requests are specific. Instead of saying that you did not understand everything, name the missing piece and ask for that piece.
Which phrases should I keep ready?
| What you need | French | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat | Pardon, pouvez-vous répéter, s’il vous plaît ? | Polite and short |
| Slow down | Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plaît ? | Useful on the phone |
| Word meaning | Qu’est-ce que « … » veut dire ? | Put the word in the gap |
| Spelling | Comment ça s’écrit ? | For names and places |
| Check a guess | Vous avez dit « … » ou « … » ? | Offer two options |
| Partial understanding | J’ai compris …, mais pas … | Say what you did get |
With a friend, change to tu: Tu peux répéter, s’il te plaît ? and Tu peux parler plus lentement ?
Worked example
Situation: you phone a bike-hire shop in a French town to hire a bike on Saturday. The employee speaks quickly.
Employé : Allô, Location Vélo Soleil, bonjour. Vous : Bonjour. Je voudrais louer un vélo samedi, s’il vous plaît. Employé : Oui. Nous ouvrons à neuf heures et demie, et le vélo coûte douze euros pour la journée. Vous : Pardon, vous avez dit neuf heures et demie ou dix heures et demie ? Employé : Neuf heures et demie. Vous : D’accord, merci. Et le prix, c’est douze euros ? Employé : Oui, c’est ça.
Look at what the caller did. They did not say that they understood nothing. They picked the one detail they doubted, offered two options, and then confirmed the price in a second short question.
Each request was short, polite and in the vous form, which fits a shop. The conversation continued without any long pause.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to say only that you do not understand, then stop.
Employé : Nous ouvrons à neuf heures et demie, et le vélo coûte douze euros.
Mistaken reply: Je ne comprends pas.
The employee has no clue which part caused the problem, so the most likely result is the same fast sentence again. The learner is no closer to the answer.
The correction is to say what you did understand and ask only for the missing part: J’ai compris le jour, mais pas l’heure. Pouvez-vous répéter l’heure, s’il vous plaît ? One precise request replaces a vague one.
Check yourself
Write or say each reply, then compare.
1. The speaker is talking too quickly. What do you say politely, using vous?
Show answer
Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement, s’il vous plaît ? Adding Pardon at the start also sounds natural.
2. You heard Le train part à quinze heures, but you are not sure whether it was quinze or cinq. Check your guess.
Show answer
Pardon, vous avez dit quinze heures ou cinq heures ? Offering both options shows exactly what you are unsure about.
3. A friend says On se retrouve devant la mairie. You do not know the word mairie. What do you ask, using tu?
Show answer
Qu’est-ce que « la mairie » veut dire ? or Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire, « la mairie » ? Both are correct, and the second sounds more like everyday speech.
Where this leads next
Now combine clarification with full answers in rehearsing a two-way conversation. If your answers are still very short, go back to expanding a short answer, then try the speaking preparation practice set. Careful listening also helps, as in listening for key information.
A repair phrase learned on paper can still vanish under pressure. That is why our teachers rehearse live in online one-to-one French tuition.