How to translate “go on” or “you were saying?” ?

Question

I was having a conversation with a girl in French and I interrupted her to comment on something she was talking about, and it changed the direction of the conversation unintentionally, and I wanted to say, as I would in English, "Anyway, you were saying?"

And then separately we both started speaking at the same time and I stopped and wanted to say "Go on" to encourage her to just go ahead and indicate that I would wait.

How can I translate these English expressions?

(She recommended "bref" for "anyway, you were saying?" but I wonder if that really has quite the same "sens" as when I say those words in English and mean to indicate a genuine interest.)

Answer 1

Of course, it varies heavily on the tone of the conversation, the level of intimacy and the overall mood, but these are possibilities :

• [Oui / Bon / Bref], et donc, tu disais ?

• Vas-y, je t'en prie[, je t'ai coupée]. (slightly more polite or formal)

• Non, allez-y, je vous écoute. (this one is even more formal, I just hope for you that you have a better level of intimacy with the lady... ;-)

I used alternatively oui and non in the examples to make it a bit real, but of course it must match what the other person is saying at the very moment, as in these "little dialog wrecks" people tend to speak quite simultaneously, and without freaking Woody Allen filming it, what a waste.

Answer 2

Je dirais: "Mais pardon, je t'ai interrompue..."

C'est poli et suffisant pour indiquer que l'on souhaite reprendre la discussion là où elle a déraillé.