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What would you say
Scenario 1
A colleague says: “Let’s make sure we get back on track before the meeting with head office next week“. You don’t understand what ‘back on track’ means. What do you say?
Sorry I didn’t get everything you said, we do what before the meeting?
Sorry I missed a bit, what did you want us to do before the meeting next week?
Sorry what did you say?
Scenario 2
You’re on a conference call with 6 other people. You are having real difficulty understanding one of the speakers. He is speaking really fast and you’re not catching the gist of what he is saying. What do you say?
You’re speaking a little fast for me and I don’t think I got everything you said. Do you mind saying it again for me?
Scenario 3
You are with a group of friends. One of them asks you a question but you were slightly distracted and didn’t understand what she said. What do you say?
Sorry I was distracted; what was that?
Sorry I was a little distracted; can you say that again?
Scenario 4
You are in a meeting and a colleague says “The project could be possible …“. You’re not sure of his intention and meaning. (Does he mean that the project is feasible? Or that the project could happen depending on something else?) What do you say?
Sorry I’m not sure if I got your message right. Do you mean the project is feasible or it could happen depending on something else?
Can you tell me if I got it right. Did you mean the project is feasible or it could happen depending on something else?
I think you’re saying the project is feasible, am I right?
Just so that I’m clear, did you mean the project is feasible or it could happen depending on something else?
Scenario 5
You’re speaking to a supplier on the phone. He keeps saying a word over and over but you can’t make out what he is saying and you don’t understand the meaning. What so you say?
xxx? I don’t think I understand xxx. What does it mean? Can you spell it for me?
Scenario 6
A friend says “I don’t agree with Mark whatsoever. I think he’s acted atrociously towards Jemma. If I were her, I’d leave him in a heartbeat!” Reformulate in your own words what she said to check you understand.
Do you mean if Mark acted atrociously towards you as he did to Jemma, you’d leave him?
Did I get you right? If you were her, you’d leave him?
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Scenario 7
A colleague says “We need to increase sales by 37% I guess.” Check the number that he said.
Sorry, increase sales by what percent?
(Would this also work? : Sorry, increase sales by how many percent?)
Scenario 8
Your friend says: “I’ll pick you up first, then…actually no! I’ll pick up Jenny first, then swing by yours about 9ish, okay?” Reformulate what he said to check you’ve understood.
Ok, so you’re going to pick me up after picking up Jenny?
So I’ll wait for you about 9 o’clock and you’ll come with Jenny?
So you’re picking up Jenny
first then picking me up? -
3 Replies
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Great stuff @so.lee 💪
I would suggest in scenario 2 adding: Do you mind saying it again for me a bit more slowly? Just to reiterate that speed is the issue rather than understanding the actual words
Scenario 7
(Would this also work? : Sorry, increase sales by how many percent?) – you’d need to use
Sorry, increase sales by how MUCH percent?
You could also say, Sorry, by how much?
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That’s great, thanks for reviewing my sentences.
It’s funny I thought ‘how much percent’ as well but an Australian friend said ‘how many percent’ so I thought I was wrong 🤨😁
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😅 You were right! Never trust a native speaker when it comes to grammar!
I should point out (just to be clear!) that it is correct to say ‘How much?’ in this situation because you are checking a number that you didn’t catch.
However, you couldn’t say for example: By how much percent did the sales rise?
Instead you would say: What percent(age) did the sales rise by?
‘Percent’ relates to an entity being divided into 100 equal parts and taking a portion of those parts as a measured amount. Percent IS that amount.
“How many/much percent of” makes no standard English sense. In other words ‘Percent’ itself relates to a single measure, therefore it cannot be ‘many’!
That’s why you can say “WHAT percent[age] of [an entity]….”. So, if you say ‘Half’ then that is “50 percent”.
Hope that is clear!
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