Traditional Chinese - Clarification

Lesson 8 of 152

A learner in a Taiwan café points to a menu and asks for clarification in Traditional Chinese, practicing Taiwan Mandarin phrases for checking meaning.

Goal: Tiny phrases for when your ears say, “Wait… what?”

Free traditional Chinese lessons with Taiwan Mandarin audio and speaking practice.

Confusion is not failure—it is just your brain asking for subtitles. In this lesson, you’ll learn friendly ways to slow things down, point, check, and make sure you understood.

Level A1: this lesson gives you quick rescue phrases for real conversation moments: asking someone to rephrase, checking “which one,” and confirming if you heard or did something correctly. You’ll practice phrases like 可以換個說法嗎？ (Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?) and 我聽不清楚。 (Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.) so you can stay in the conversation instead of freezing. Yak Yacker tip: when in doubt, yack back politely.

After this lesson you'll be able to:

  • Ask someone to rephrase with 可以換個說法嗎？ (Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?).
  • Clarify an item with 哪一個？ (Nǎ yí ge?) and 這個嗎？ (Zhège ma?).
  • Check an action or answer with 這樣嗎？ (Zhèyàng ma?) and 這樣對嗎？ (Zhèyàng duì ma?).
  • At A1, handle unclear speech with 我聽不清楚。 (Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.) and 你剛剛說___嗎？ (Nǐ gānggāng shuō ___ ma?).
A friendly classroom scene with Traditional Chinese notes on a whiteboard, showing a beginner learning Taiwan Mandarin clarification phrases.

Ready? Let's go!

When you tap play on phrases, we track your progress through this lesson.

1. Reading + Listening Practice

Hear core phrases, repeat aloud.

可以換個說法嗎？

Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?

Can you say it another way?

Meaning: 可以換個說法嗎？ (Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?) means “Can you say it another way?”

When to use: Use it when you heard the words, but the meaning is still unclear. It is polite and very useful with teachers, friends, or shop staff.

Tip: Do not use this when you simply cannot hear the sound. For bad audio or a quiet voice, use 我聽不清楚。 (Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.) instead.

可以換個說法嗎？我不太懂。

Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma? Wǒ bù tài dǒng.

Can you say it another way? I don’t really understand.
這個有點難，可以換個說法嗎？

Zhège yǒudiǎn nán, kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?

This is a little hard. Can you say it another way?

哪一個

Nǎ yí ge?

Which one?

Meaning: 哪一個？ (Nǎ yí ge?) means “Which one?”

When to use: Use it when there are two or more items and you need to know which item the person means.

你要這個還是那個？哪一個？

Nǐ yào zhège háishì nàge? Nǎ yí ge?

Do you want this one or that one? Which one?
不好意思，哪一個？

Bù hǎoyìsi, nǎ yí ge?

Sorry, which one?

這樣嗎

Zhèyàng ma?

Like this?

Meaning: 這樣嗎？ (Zhèyàng ma?) means “Like this?”

When to use: Use it while showing an action, shape, pronunciation, or way of doing something.

Tip: 這樣嗎？ (Zhèyàng ma?) checks the way you are doing something. For “Is this answer correct?” 這樣對嗎？ (Zhèyàng duì ma?) is clearer.

老師，是這樣嗎？

Lǎoshī, shì zhèyàng ma?

Teacher, is it like this?
我這樣寫，這樣嗎？

Wǒ zhèyàng xiě, zhèyàng ma?

I write it like this—like this?

這樣對嗎

Zhèyàng duì ma?

Is this correct?

Meaning: 這樣對嗎？ (Zhèyàng duì ma?) means “Is this correct?”

When to use: Use it to check whether your answer, writing, choice, or action is right.

我寫好了，這樣對嗎？

Wǒ xiě hǎo le, zhèyàng duì ma?

I finished writing. Is this correct?
我的發音這樣對嗎？

Wǒ de fāyīn zhèyàng duì ma?

Is my pronunciation correct like this?

這個字是什麼

Zhège zì shì shénme?

What is this word?

Meaning: 這個字是什麼？ (Zhège zì shì shénme?) means “What is this word?” or “What is this character?”

When to use: Use it when you are pointing to a written Chinese character or word that you can see.

Tip: Use 字 (zì) for a written character or word you are looking at. If you are asking about a spoken word you heard, use 你剛剛說___嗎？ (Nǐ gānggāng shuō ___ ma?) to check.

不好意思，這個字是什麼？

Bù hǎoyìsi, zhège zì shì shénme?

Sorry, what is this word?
我看不懂，這個字是什麼？

Wǒ kàn bù dǒng, zhège zì shì shénme?

I can’t understand it. What is this word?

我聽不清楚

Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.

I can't hear you.

Meaning: 我聽不清楚。 (Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.) means “I can’t hear you clearly.”

When to use: Use it when the person is too quiet, the phone signal is bad, or the audio is unclear.

不好意思，我聽不清楚。

Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.

Sorry, I can’t hear you clearly.
電話有點吵，我聽不清楚。

Diànhuà yǒudiǎn chǎo, wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.

The phone is a little noisy. I can’t hear clearly.

你剛剛說___嗎？

Nǐ gānggāng shuō ___ ma?

You said ___?

Meaning: 你剛剛說___嗎？ (Nǐ gānggāng shuō ___ ma?) means “You said ___?”

When to use: Use it to check whether you heard a word or phrase correctly. Put the word you think you heard in the blank.

你剛剛說咖啡嗎？

Nǐ gānggāng shuō kāfēi ma?

You said coffee?
你剛剛說明天嗎？

Nǐ gānggāng shuō míngtiān ma?

You said tomorrow?

這個嗎

Zhège ma?

This one?

Meaning: 這個嗎？ (Zhège ma?) means “This one?”

When to use: Use it while pointing to or choosing an item, to check if it is the right one.

你要這個嗎

Nǐ yào zhège ma?

Do you want this one?
這個嗎？還是那個？

Zhège ma? Háishì nàge?

This one? Or that one?

2. Conversational Listening Practice

Hear phrases in a real mini-conversation.

Anna and David are looking at a Mandarin worksheet together.

Anna and David look at a worksheet together in Taiwan Mandarin class, using Traditional Chinese phrases to ask which word, which item, and whether something is correct.

What is Anna trying to clarify?

Portrait of Anna in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

Anna

David，這個字是什麼？

David, zhège zì shì shénme?

David, what is this word?

Portrait of David in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

David

這個是「茶」

Zhège shì “chá.”

This is “tea.”

Portrait of Anna in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

Anna

我聽不清楚。你剛剛說「茶」嗎？

Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ. Nǐ gānggāng shuō “chá” ma?

I can’t hear clearly. You said “tea”?

Portrait of David in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

David

對，茶。像這樣寫。

Duì, chá. Xiàng zhèyàng xiě.

Right, tea. Write it like this.

Portrait of Anna in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

Anna

這樣嗎

Zhèyàng ma?

Like this?

Portrait of David in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

David

差不多。你看這個。

Chàbùduō. Nǐ kàn zhège.

Almost. Look at this one.

Portrait of Anna in a Traditional Chinese lesson dialogue

Anna

這個嗎？這樣對嗎？

Zhège ma? Zhèyàng duì ma?

This one? Is this correct?

3. Guided Practice

Quizzes and matching to lock in meaning.

You understand the sound, but not the meaning. What can you ask?

You are pointing at an item and checking if it is the right one. What do you say?

You want to check whether your writing or pronunciation is correct. Which phrase fits best?

The phone connection is noisy. What should you say?

The teacher speaks too fast, and Anna says: Can you say it another way?

老師講得很快，Anna 不懂，想請老師用別的話說，Anna 說：___

David points to two drinks, and Anna asks: Which one?

David 指著兩杯飲料說：「我要這個。」Anna 不知道他要哪杯，問：___

Anna points at a word on the menu and asks: What is this word?

Anna 看不懂菜單上的一個字，指著那個字問老師：___

Match the core phrases

Match the extra phrases

4. Speaking Practice

Say phrases yourself (mic/recording).

Recording stays on your device only. Check speech uses your browser's speech tools when available.

Say this phrase out loud:

可以換個說法嗎？

Kěyǐ huàn ge shuōfǎ ma?

Can you say it another way?

Say this phrase out loud:

哪一個

Nǎ yí ge?

Which one?

Say this phrase out loud:

這樣嗎

Zhèyàng ma?

Like this?

Say this phrase out loud:

這樣對嗎

Zhèyàng duì ma?

Is this correct?

Say this phrase out loud:

這個字是什麼

Zhège zì shì shénme?

What is this word?

Say this phrase out loud:

我聽不清楚

Wǒ tīng bù qīngchǔ.

I can't hear you.

Say this phrase out loud:

你剛剛說___嗎？

Nǐ gānggāng shuō ___ ma?

You said ___?

Say this phrase out loud:

這個嗎

Zhège ma?

This one?