No entiendo su expresión cuando hablo tan rápido en español.

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Breakdown of No entiendo su expresión cuando hablo tan rápido en español.

• en: in
• cuando: when
• tan: so

Questions & Answers about No entiendo su expresión cuando hablo tan rápido en español.

Why does the sentence start with No entiendo instead of putting no somewhere else?

In Spanish, the basic rule for negation is:

no + conjugated verb

So you normally put no immediately before the conjugated verb:

• No entiendo – I don’t understand
• No hablo – I don’t speak
• No quiero – I don’t want

You cannot put no at the end of the sentence, as in English “I understand not.” That sounds archaic or poetic in English and is simply wrong in normal Spanish.

So No entiendo su expresión… is the standard, correct word order.

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Why is there no yo? Could I say Yo no entiendo su expresión…?

Spanish usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is:

• entiendo = I understand
• entiendes = you (tú) understand
• entiende = he/she/you (usted) understands

So (Yo) no entiendo su expresión… both mean “I don’t understand their/your expression…”.

You only need yo if you want to emphasize I, for example:

• Yo no entiendo su expresión, pero ellos sí.
  I don’t understand their expression, but they do.

In your sentence, leaving out yo is the most natural, neutral option.

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What exactly does su mean here? Is it his, her, their or your? Why not ?