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So I went to Germany for a week and my German is, especially with regards to hearing and speaking, not very great, to say the least.

If I was being asked a question in a store or a restaurant and could not immediately understand it, I tended to respond with: "entschuldigung?" to have them maybe repeat or rephrase the question.

I could tell from their body language that they were somewhat offended by my response. This happened at least a couple of times. For example, the lady at the bakery's frowned and raised both of her hands in a way that said: I'm sorry I asked.

Is this reply considered impolite? What should I have responded instead?

This was in the Black Forest region, if that matters.

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    You sure this was an offended response and not a "don't bother if you didn't get it, no worries" one?
    – tofro
    Commented Aug 5 at 8:29
  • @tofro well no, hence the question. It certainly seemed that way though. They were asking what I wanted to buy/eat so "don't bother if you didn't get it, no worries" does not make sense.
    – Bossie
    Commented Aug 5 at 9:19
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    "Sorry?" is also very common in Germany, and has less potential for misunderstanding in this situation.
    – Stefan
    Commented Aug 5 at 18:11
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    There is definitely a German language question here but I want to also stress that the bakery encounter is not completely atypical even for Germans who are perfectly fluent in German. Customer service is not a priority in Germany and anything that causes extra hassle for a Verkäufer(in) can be met with exasperation at times! Do don't worry too much and for a fun new German word look up Servicewüste ;-)
    – user2705196
    Commented Aug 7 at 12:32

6 Answers 6

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Saying "Entschuldigung" doesn't make it obvious that you want the sentence repeated. You could say "Können Sie das bitte wiederholen" or "Ich habe Sie nicht verstanden", with or without "Entschuldigung". From my experience with native English speakers it might help you if you ask them to speak slower.

The single word "Entschuldigung?" as a question can also mean "did you really say that?". So it is possible that they were trying to figure out why you were offended by their question.

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    "Entschuldigung" is a more or less literal translation of "Excuse me", which also has several meanings, but in the given context an English speaker would automatically take the meaning as "Could you repeat that?" But English and German are different languages and literal translations often don't work; this seems to be a case in point. Perhaps the moral here is that when there's a communication gap then try to say exactly what you mean. But that's not always practical advice since people may not realize what subtle differences exist between corresponding phrases in different languages.
    – RDBury
    Commented Aug 5 at 20:10
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    @RDBury In English 'Excuse me' can also me 'did you really say that?' so this is more about implied context than meaning of the words.
    – quarague
    Commented Aug 6 at 3:44
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    It depends a lot on the tonality how it is asked, both in English and in German.
    – vsz
    Commented Aug 6 at 4:32
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    @quarague - I did say "in the given context". In the circumstances it's unlikely think you'd mean "did you really say that?", and you wouldn't say it like that either. (Yes, tonality is important, but I'm assuming "Entschuldigung" is said with roughly the same tonality as "Could you repeat that?").
    – RDBury
    Commented Aug 6 at 13:58
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    Even as a native German I'd have trouble bringing across "Entschuldigung" to mean "Can you repeat that?" in an informal context. It does have that meaning but isn't used as such a lot.
    – DonQuiKong
    Commented Aug 7 at 8:41
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I am surprised no one has suggested the standard phrase "Wie bitte?"

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    It is in fact suggested in two other answers already.
    – infinitezero
    Commented Aug 6 at 21:19
  • And it could have the same effect as "Entschuldigung".
    – Paul Frost
    Commented Aug 20 at 17:18
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It is polite and proper. But doesn't necessarily suffice to indicate that you need the words repeated, but rather 'Entschuldigung' as interjection in a conversation indicates that you want to add something or say something - and they waited for that question of yours.

The better response to not having understood is to make clear that you need it repeated. Just asking for forgiveness may not make this clear, and can - same as in English - be sometimes interpreted as indignation at what was said in a tone of "don't dare to repeat that".

Suggestions on how you could answer:

  • Wie bitte? Ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden.

  • Entschuldigung? Ich habe Sie nicht richtig verstanden.

  • Können Sie das nochmal (langsamer) wiederholen?

oder auch

  • Sorry, ich hab' das nicht (ganz) verstanden.
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    But „Entschuldigung“ alone can have a connotation of „how dare you“ or implying that the speaker feels slightly offended. See the answer by Ralf.
    – Stephie
    Commented Aug 5 at 9:57
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    @Stephie Read my whole answer. That is why i wrote '(...) sometimes interpreted as indignation at what was said in a tone of "don't dare to repeat that".'
    – planetmaker
    Commented Aug 5 at 15:39
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    "Wie bitte?" is sufficient to indicate that you want something repeated. You could also just say "Was?", but only in very informal contexts, e.g. with friends or family.
    – arne
    Commented Aug 6 at 4:47
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    Actually, "wie bitte?", if you get the intonation wrong, can also be considered impolite, same as "Entschuldigung?" (there was even a TV show with this name where the title was meant not really politely: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wie_bitte%3F!). So I would recommend "sorry", even if it's not really German. Plus it has the advantage of being much shorter, then you can follow it up with "ich hab' Sie/dich nicht verstanden" or similar.
    – rob74
    Commented Aug 6 at 13:29
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    @arne: I remember sitting in the U-Bahn when a mother with two children sat down vis-a-vis. She said something and the son answered with "Hä?" To which the mother answered (in dialect): "Das heißt nicht 'hä?', das heißt 'wos?'".
    – bakunin
    Commented Aug 7 at 14:57
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Since your question is about "Entschuldigung?" with a question mark at the end, I guess you mean to raise the intonation at the end. I would further distiguish between "?" and "?!" to additionally raise the voice.

Just a soft "Entschuldigung?" is used e.g. if you want to pass by someone who is in your way. This is not impolite, but it is not the scenario you ask for.

Your scenario is different. Responding to what someone said with "Entschuldigung?" could be understood as impolite (and raising the voice and widening the eyes would definitely be impolite), since it sounds like you cannot believe what you just heard. It is like saying, "Did you really say that?" (as @RalfFriedl pointed out).

With falling intonation, "Entschuldigung.", it would not be impolite but confusing, because it does not fit in this scenario. It means "Sorry" as if you just did something you did not want to do, like pushing someone accidentially.

An idiomatic way to say that you did not understand what that person said is to use "Wie bitte?" with non-emphasized intonation.

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Entschuldigung is a tricky word. If use an upwards tone at the end, you phrase it as a question and then it doesn't mean sorry but

Entschuldigung? — I beg your pardon?

So you told them that you don't believe what they said.

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It depends on the context and melody. If there's any kind of indicating a question ("Entschuldigung?") or even more emphasized ("Entschuldigung?!?"), then it has rather the meaning of: "Seriously?" or "Are you crazy?"

It is more common to say a whole sentence: "Entschuldigen Sie bitte, können Sie das bitte wiederholen? Ich habe das leider nicht verstanden."

It is more colloquial (and in use) to say "Tschuldigung bitte", so the first syllabe is hidden. If you are with somebody on a first name base, then you could say: "Tschuldige, kannst du bitte wiederholen?"

Moreover, we wouldn't say so much "Ich habe das leider nicht verstanden." in first place, because it sounds a little bit offensive, like "You explained that so badly, that I didn't understand." So we're more used to give the direction first ("Entschuldigung, können Sie das bitte wiederholen?") and provide an explanation afterwards ("... ich habe das leider nicht verstanden."). This might be one of the many "Thema-Rhema" differences between English and German...

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