# "I don't speak..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399 "2012-02-01T07:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/21 "2012-02-02T01:23:15Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > “Ga”, not “o”! > > Nihongo ga dekimasen. Nihongo ga wakarimasen. Nihongo ga hanasemasen. > > Dekimasen is correct - it means “not able to do”. Wouldn’t you want wakaremasen (not able to understand)? ETA: Though I guess functionally they’re pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/22 "2012-02-02T01:23:58Z")
When dealing with an emotional girlfriend, just say, “I don’t speak girl.” 😃 (Sorry, I heard that once and have used it since even though I’m female. The thread reminded me of it. :)) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/23 "2012-02-02T01:24:58Z")
Hola, me Ilamo es Brian… Nosotros queremos ir con Ustedes… Uhhhh… Hey, that was pretty good, except when you said, “Me llamo es Brian,” you don’t need the “es,” just “Me llamo Brian.” Oh, oh, you speak English. No, just that first speech and this one explaining it. You…you’re kidding me, right? Qué? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/24 "2012-02-02T03:19:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I was taught that in German it is idiomatic to use the verb _kennen_ by itself to mean "to speak (a language). > > Thus: _Ich kann Deutch._ The OP wrote _Ich spreche nicht Deutsch_, which means literally “I don’t speak German.” **psychonaut** popped in with _Ich spreche kein Deutsch_, which is literally “I speak no German,” but is what one uses to say “I don’t speak German.” **jjimm** added _Ich kann nicht Deutsch sprechen_, which is “I can’t speak German,” and I assume he maybe misread _kein_ for _kann_? Then **Acsenray** (when did you cap the A, btw?) adds _Ich kann Deutsche_, which means “I can German,” when I assume you meant either _Ich kenne Deutsch_ or _Ich kenn’ Deutsch_, which is “I know German.” FTR, **psychonaut** has the right of it, but if you’re married to _nicht_ then say _Ich spreche Deutsch nicht_, which is also literally “I don’t speak German,” but with a word order that sounds more natural to me. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/25 "2012-02-02T03:46:56Z")
Fulfulde (West Africa): Mi nonnota Fulfulde. (me non-NAH-ta full-FULL-day). Translates as “I am not/will not be hearing Fulfulde.” ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/26 "2012-02-02T04:02:10Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Wouldn’t you want wakaremasen (not able to understand)? > > ETA: Though I guess functionally they’re pretty similar. “Wakaremasen”, in the sense of not being able to understand is not used. If you don’t get it, it’s always “wakarimasen”, the potential form is not needed. (The root verb “wakaru” also means “to split”, and “wakaremasen” can be used to mean “(I) can’t split it”.) Tacking “watashi wa” before “nihongo dekimasen” is a good way to emphasize that you don’t speak the language; fluent speakers never speak that way: the first person is always assumed if no context is given. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/27 "2012-02-02T05:26:28Z")
Hebrew: “Ani lo midaber Ivrit” or “Ani lo yode’a Ivrit”. The first is “I don’t speak Hebrew”; the second, “I don’t know Hebrew”. Both are acceptable. Pronounced: “ah-NEE low mih-dah-BEAR/yo-DEH-ah eve-REET.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/28 "2012-02-02T06:03:11Z")
There is a universal way of saying this that works in every language: when they start talking to you in a language you don’t understand, just shrug your shoulders and look bewildered\*. They’ll figure it out. \*If you really want to get the point across, wear a hat with a picture of the flag of your country of origin and point to that while shrugging. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/29 "2012-02-02T06:09:39Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > “Wakaremasen”, in the sense of not being able to understand is not used. If you don’t get it, it’s always “wakarimasen”, the potential form is not needed. (The root verb “wakaru” also means “to split”, and “wakaremasen” can be used to mean “(I) can’t split it”.) > > Tacking “watashi wa” before “nihongo dekimasen” is a good way to emphasize that you don’t speak the language; fluent speakers never speak that way: the first person is always assumed if no context is given. Thanks, I can speak Japanese decently, but I’m not always sure of nuances. Come to think of it, wouldn’t the negated potential form translate closer to “I am unable to understand” meaning more along the lines of “even if you taught me, I wouldn’t get it”? ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/30 "2012-02-02T06:25:21Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Thanks, I can speak Japanese decently, but I’m not always sure of nuances. Come to think of it, wouldn’t the negated potential form translate closer to “I am unable to understand” meaning more along the lines of “even if you taught me, I wouldn’t get it”? It doesn’t even mean that; if you wanted to express an impossibility to understand, you would say something like “_rikai dekimasen_”. “_Wakaru_”, by definition, expresses a potentiality, and thus has no potential form. Furthermore, “_wakareru_” exists as an intransitive verb, and that’s what anyone would hear it as. “_Nihongo ga wakaremasen_” only really parses as “Japanese doesn’t break up.” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/31 "2012-02-02T08:14:44Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > Then **Acsenray** (when did you cap the A, btw?) adds _Ich kann Deutsche_, which means “I can German,” when I assume you meant either _Ich kenne Deutsch_ or _Ich kenn’ Deutsch_, which is “I know German.” No, he had it right. “_Ich kann Deutsch_” is a perfectly good idiom for “I can speak German”. “_Ich kenne deutsch_”, on the other hand, would probably be considered a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/32 "2012-02-02T08:34:53Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > […] > Your Russian looks like it was transliterated by a German! I did it that way deliberately, because of the ambiguity of “y” which can be misunderstood as a vowel. How would **you** do it? ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/33 "2012-02-02T09:46:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > No, he had it right. “_Ich kann Deutsch_” is a perfectly good idiom for “I can speak German”. “_Ich kenne deutsch_”, on the other hand, would probably be considered a mistake. I sit corrected. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/34 "2012-02-02T11:09:28Z")
A quick stroll down memory lane and a dictionary later, the Latin version should be “Latinum non loquor” (phon.: lahteenoom non lokwor). Spanish is “(Yo) no hablo español”, though I suppose “no comprendo” would do in a pinch if you repeat it often enough 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/35 "2012-02-02T12:10:58Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > jjimm is saying: I don’t speak/talk “ordinary language”, or “common language”. “Poo tong” means “ordinary” or “common”, “hua” can be “speech, talk, language, dialect” but is less formal In standard (Mandarin) Chinese, the name of the standard (Mandarin) language is “Putonghua,” and means just as you describe. It’s generally the Beijing dialect. In a way, it’s like how we associate newscaster English as being kind of a “common” or standard English. It’s important to know that it’s a common, standard language because it’s the only really mutually intelligible language in China. There are lots and lots of dialects with different levels of intelligibility with Mandarin, plus a lot of languages that have nothing in common short of Hanzi (e.g., Cantonese). I suppose there’s the possibility that if you say you don’t speak Mandarin, there’s the possibility that you might speak Shanghaiese or Nanjingese or some other Chinese dialect. In any case, the word “Putonghua” is what my language teacher is teaching me to say. > [@](#): > > For mine, “jiang” is also “speak”, but not as much “talk”. And “tzong wen” literally is “Chinese language”, not just “language” because “Tzong” is short for “Tzong guo”, which is “China” or “Chinese” And this is the difference between Pinyin and other Romanization systems. Not writing “Zhongguo” (even without the diacritics) looks strange to me. And because I’m a bad student, I can’t really remember what I was taught about the spoken language versus the language in general. Instead of (English) “yingwen” (the English language) it’s something like “yingru” (spoken English). I can read a few different languages, and I can speak and understand about three others, and one of those really quite well, but Chinese isn’t one of them. This means that in the moment of truth, I freeze (uncharacteristically) and say “ting bu dong” as my way of saying, “I’m very sorry mate, but I’m unable to understand a single thing that you’re telling me in Chinese.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/36 "2012-02-02T12:43:25Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > No, he had it right. “_Ich kann Deutsch_” is a perfectly good idiom for “I can speak German”. “_Ich kenne deutsch_”, on the other hand, would probably be considered a mistake. Although it is not correct to say that \*kann \*is a form of the verb _kennen_, right? \*Kann \*is just like its English counterpart can, an auxiliary verb. That said, I believe that _kann/can_ and _kennen/know_ (and other similar words such as the Scottish _ken_) are all etymologically related. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/37 "2012-02-02T12:50:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I was taught that in German it is idiomatic to use the verb _kennen_ by itself to mean "to speak (a language). > > Thus: _Ich kann Deutch._ _Ich kann Deutsch_ is good, but that’s not a form of _kennen_ being used. It’s a form of _können_. Literally, it’s “I can German”. Can you German? Yes, I can. ETA: **Ximenean** has this right, including the etymological relationship. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/38 "2012-02-02T15:33:34Z")
I can’t resist posting a classic [Kids in the Hall sketch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h15OWCnZVL4) here. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/39 "2012-02-02T15:37:37Z")
You might as well just look on Babelfish or Google translate for your answers. If they’re slightly wrong, as many of the examples were, it doesn’t matter - in fact, it proves that you really _don’t_ speak the language. ---
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/40 "2012-02-02T15:57:19Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I did it that way deliberately, because of the ambiguity of “y” which can be misunderstood as a vowel. How would **you** do it? It’s tricky. The Cyrillic is Я не говорю по-русски, but there’s no real way to translate не phonetically. English speakers don’t make that sound. I always see it as nee (or Knee), but that doesn’t convey the Y sound. Russian e is pronounced like yeh. Closest I can think of would be: Yah n-yeh gah-var-you pah roose-key OR Ja n-yeh gah-var-ju pah roose-key (pronounce roose like loose) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399.md?page=3)