In Spanish courses, to interrupt someone, I hear the term Perdón and also Perdón + 'ay' rhyming with Chardonnay! Could someone kindly advise when to use each of these terms? Also, which of Disculpe or Perdón more acceptable in a) Spain b) South America? thanks Kai

Hello kaichandler, I'm not quire sure what you mean by "Perdonay" but I think it may be more of a slang. So not to complicate things I would advise you to simply use "Perdon" every time that you want to say "Excuse me", be it to interrupt someone or a group, excuse yourself or to say sorry. “Disculpe” and “perdon” are so closely related that it does not really matter which one you use. Saying that keep in mind that "Perdon" is also used to say sorry, where as “disculpe” carries a meaning of excuse in advance anything I may say that may be wrong or offend someone. I hope that helps. Mauricio

very much! thanks regards Kai

[quo]*Quote from * Mauricio I'm not quire sure what you mean by "Perdonay" but I think it may be more of a slang. [/quo] I think what kaichandler means, is perdone, meaning pardon; forgive (e.g., perdóneme) if I'm right. Some resources for learning Spanish, give the English speaker an example, known as transcription letters, on how to pronounce certain Spanish words. Por ejemplo, in order to correctly pronounce the final e in perdone, an example for one who speaks native English, may be to use the spoken sound of the English alphabet and vowel, "a"(EY: [the transcription letters]). As kaichandler mentioned about Chardonnay, you take the pronunciation of the 'AY' in Chardonnay, and apply it to the pronunciation of the final e in perdone. There you have it! Also, another way to excuse yourself from a person or a group of people, is with "Con permiso", which is widely used in Mexico. For more details, check out these links: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=perdone, http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1442.

Yes, I was asked when to use perdón and perdoné. regards Kai ps. thanks for the reference to wordreference.com - it's a great resource isn't it?

Hola, kaichandler! ¡De nada y sí es genial!