Did I get this right? ¿Tengo razón?

Question

I want to say "I'm sorry I didn't understand what you said on the phone."

Is this correct?:

Lo siento que no lo entendiera que me dijiste por teléfono.

Thanky you for the question- I really appreciate a question where we can think about some of the more complex issues and not just answer the same basic questions over and over. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Perdón, no entendí lo que (*me) dijiste (o *dijo) por teléfono. Lamento / Lo siento both seem out of context here. - jphip, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 1

Lo siento, no entendí lo que me dijiste por teléfono.

No subjunctive here either. - Jubilado, Aug 23, 2014

Neat. - annierats, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 2

I cannot say I am good enough to say anything is wrong and can't be said in Spanish, although I am fairly confiedent it is "lo que me dijiste".

My try:

Siento/lamento no entender lo que me dijiste por teléfono.

or

Siento/lamento no haber entendiendo lo que me dijiste por teléfono.

Edit to add:

I think going with a que clause and subjunctive is not needed when the subject is obvious and you can go with an infinitve- otherwise without "yo" the listener is wondering if you are regretting that someone else did not understand them.

Siento que no entendiera lo que me dijiste por teléfono.

I am sorry that he did not understand what you told me by phone. In a context when there was a third person listening in this could be a real interpretation. Otherwise it is just unnecessarily complex.

I was wondering if the past subjunctive was needed. I like your 2 tries - no subjunctive needed! We'll see what others think. - Jubilado, Aug 23, 2014

I edited to add a comment on why I chose not to go with subjunctive. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Why 'me'? - 003e54f5, Aug 23, 2014

I was just working with what he said, you are right, Pablo, he said "said" not "told me". :) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Or "said to me" - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Answer 3

It doesn´t matter if you use Perdón, Lo siento, Disculpe, etc. The second clause here is nothing more than a recounting of two actions started and completed in the past, so no need for subjunctive.

The need for subjunctive is the same in past tense as it is in present tense, ie: Quería que arregláramos todo por teléfono pero no te entendí / Quiero que arreglemos ........ Or in different past / present tense situations but using the same word combinations, ie: Ayer te vi antes de que llegaras a casa / Llámame antes de que llegues a casa.

me cuesta escribir como no hablo, espero que ellos sepan que 'perdón y lo siento' es lo mismo :) - 003e54f5, Aug 24, 2014

Pablo, Yo sé y supongo que los demás sepan. - Jubilado, Aug 24, 2014

Julian, muy bien dicho y es más claro ahora para mí. Muchas gracias. - Jubilado, Aug 24, 2014

Answer 4

Jubilado, for me it's:

Perdón, no entendí lo que dijo por teléfono.

Answer 5

I'm putting this in the answer box (something I hate to do on my own post) because I want to comment on bosquederoble's answer again and I can't vote for him again.

I think it is a good point not to use the subjunctive clause set up with sentir because the subject of the main verb sentir and entender is the same. I never thought about that before just focused on use of past subjunctive.

Gex Thunderstorm is a native speaker so obviously his answer is correct and he probably doesn't want to have a grammar discussion.

Now let's turn it around to "I'm sorry you didn't understand what I told you on the phone."

Siento que no me entendieras lo que te dije por teléfono

Does that sound right?

PS I'm going to be off line for a while. I will get back to everyone later if needed.

"Siento que no entendieras lo que te dije por teléfono" sounds good to me, no "me". :) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Gex said- I am sorry, I did not understand what you told me by telephone. Not I am sorry (that) I didn't understand.... The distinction is subtle, but there. I interpreted it as the latter. ;) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

¿lo que te dije? or ¿Lo que dijiste - lo que dijo? - 003e54f5, Aug 23, 2014

He said- "what I told you" in this sentence- isn't that "lo que te dije"???? - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

ah yep jeje - 003e54f5, Aug 23, 2014

I suspect the question is more about how to properly use the subjunctive than how to express a concept in the most simple way. ;) - bosquederoble, Aug 23, 2014

Puede que me haya equivocado pues no sabía que era el subjunctive, si es así creo que estaría bien decir: - GexThunderstrom, Aug 24, 2014

Lamento no entender lo que me dijiste por teléfono. - GexThunderstrom, Aug 24, 2014

Thanks Gex, very clear and good. - annierats, Aug 24, 2014