How to Ask Someone to Say It Again in Japanese: もういちどおねがいします

When you do not catch what someone said in Japanese, use もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) — one more time, please. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to ask someone to repeat themselves politely instead of pretending you understood.

The phrase to use

Imagine you are ordering at a café and the staff member asks you a question in Japanese. You recognise a few words, but you miss the important part. Say もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu): One more time, please.

The phrase has two parts. もういちど (mou ichido) means “one more time” or “once again,” and おねがいします (onegai shimasu) means “please” in this kind of request. Together they make one short, complete request:

You do not need a long sentence. In the right situation, this clearly asks the other person to repeat what they just said.

When would you use it?

Use もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) when you heard someone speaking but did not catch enough to understand them.

At a station, you might miss an announcement or an explanation from staff. In Japanese class, your teacher might say something too quickly. At work, you might understand most of a sentence but miss one important detail. In a shop or café, you might simply not recognise the question you were asked.

In any of these situations, you can say すみません、もういちどおねがいします (sumimasen, mou ichido onegai shimasu): Sorry, excuse me, one more time, please.

Adding すみません (sumimasen) makes the interruption a little softer.

This phrase does not mean “Please explain it differently.” It asks for repetition. If the problem is speed rather than hearing the sentence once, a different phrase is more useful.

Make the phrase more useful

The shortest useful version is もういちどおねがいします. If you want to explicitly ask someone to “say” something again, use もういちどいってください (mou ichido itte kudasai):

1. もういちどいってくださいMou ichido itte kudasai.Please say it again.
2. すみません、もういちどいってくださいSumimasen, mou ichido itte kudasai.Sorry, please say that again.

Both lines ask someone to repeat their words directly; the second softens the request with すみません.

If the real problem is that the person is speaking too quickly, ask for speed instead with ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu):

And you can combine the two needs, asking someone both to repeat themselves and to speak more slowly:

That is especially useful for beginner conversations because simply hearing the same fast sentence twice may not solve the problem.

You can also name exactly what you missed. Put it in front of をもういちどおねがいします, as when you did not catch someone’s name or need to hear a phone number accurately:

1. なまえをもういちどおねがいしますNamae o mou ichido onegai shimasu.Your name one more time, please.
2. でんわばんごうをもういちどおねがいしますDenwa bangou o mou ichido onegai shimasu.The phone number one more time, please.

Similar phrases

もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) vs わかりません (wakarimasen)

These solve different problems.

もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu), “One more time, please,” is for when you want to hear the message again. わかりません (wakarimasen), “I don’t understand,” is for when you do not understand.

You might hear every word clearly and still not understand the meaning. In that case, repetition alone may not help.

もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) vs ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu)

もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) asks for repetition, and ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu) asks for slower speech. If you need both, say もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu): One more time, slowly, please.

Common mistakes

Asking for repetition when speed is the real problem

If someone spoke too quickly, saying only もういちどおねがいします may result in hearing the same sentence again at roughly the same speed. Try もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu) instead: One more time, slowly, please.

Assuming repetition and explanation are the same thing

もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) asks someone to repeat something. It does not necessarily tell them that you do not know what the words mean. If you still do not understand after hearing it again, say わかりません (wakarimasen): I don’t understand.

Giving up after missing one sentence

Beginners often feel pressure to answer immediately even when they did not hear the question properly. Asking for repetition is a normal communication tool.

A simple すみません、もういちどおねがいします (sumimasen, mou ichido onegai shimasu), “Sorry, one more time, please,” can keep the conversation going.

Practise saying it

Say these three lines aloud. Each solves a slightly different listening problem:

1. もういちどおねがいします。 Mou ichido onegai shimasu. One more time, please.
2. すみません、もういちどいってください。 Sumimasen, mou ichido itte kudasai. Sorry, please say that again.
3. もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします。 Mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu. One more time, slowly, please.

For the substitution exercise, start with the frame ___ をもういちどおねがいします (___ o mou ichido onegai shimasu), “___ one more time, please.” Fill it with なまえ (namae), name, or でんわばんごう (denwa bangou), phone number.

Then match each situation to the phrase it needs:

• You did not hear the sentence: もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu), “One more time, please.”
• The speaker is too fast: ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu), “Slowly, please.”
• You need both: もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu), “One more time, slowly, please.”

A short role-play

Someone gives you a time, you miss it, ask for it again, and then check that you heard correctly:

• A: あしたははちじにきてください。 (Ashita wa hachiji ni kite kudasai.) Please come at eight tomorrow.
• B: すみません、もういちどおねがいします。 (Sumimasen, mou ichido onegai shimasu.) Sorry, one more time, please.
• A: あしたは、はちじにきてください。 (Ashita wa, hachiji ni kite kudasai.) Please come at eight tomorrow.
• B: はちじですね。 (Hachiji desu ne.) Eight o’clock, right?

Now imagine someone has just spoken too quickly for you. How do you say “One more time, slowly, please” in Japanese? The answer is もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu).

Quick check

Choose the best phrase for each situation.

1. You did not catch what someone said.

• A. もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu)
• B. ありがとう (arigatou)

2. You can hear the speaker, but they are speaking too quickly.

• A. ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu)
• B. もういちど (mou ichido)

3. You heard the sentence clearly but do not understand its meaning.

• A. わかりません (wakarimasen)
• B. おはよう (ohayou)

4. How do you explicitly say “Please say it again”?

• A. もういちどいってください (mou ichido itte kudasai)
• B. もういちどいきます (mou ichido ikimasu)

5. How do you ask for both repetition and slower speech?

• A. もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu)
• B. ゆっくりわかりません (yukkuri wakarimasen)

Answers

1. A. もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu) — One more time, please.
2. A. ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu) — Slowly, please.
3. A. わかりません (wakarimasen) — I don't understand.
4. A. もういちどいってください (mou ichido itte kudasai) — Please say it again.
5. A. もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu) — One more time, slowly, please.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “Say that again, please” in Japanese?

A useful phrase is もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu), “One more time, please.” You can also explicitly ask someone to say it again with もういちどいってください (mou ichido itte kudasai), “Please say it again.”

How do you ask someone to speak more slowly in Japanese?

Say ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu), “Slowly, please.” If you also need them to repeat the sentence, say もういちど、ゆっくりおねがいします (mou ichido, yukkuri onegai shimasu), “One more time, slowly, please.”

What does もういちど mean in Japanese?

もういちど (mou ichido) means “one more time” or “once again,” as in もういちどおねがいします (mou ichido onegai shimasu), “One more time, please.”

Is もういちどおねがいします polite?

Yes. It is a polite, useful request when you need someone to repeat something. You can add すみません (sumimasen), “excuse me” or “sorry,” as in すみません、もういちどおねがいします (sumimasen, mou ichido onegai shimasu).

What should I say if repeating it does not help?

If you heard the sentence again but still do not understand, say わかりません (wakarimasen), “I don’t understand.” You can then ask for slower speech with ゆっくりおねがいします (yukkuri onegai shimasu), “Slowly, please.”

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