--> What did you say (to me)?
Let's take a closer look at ONE verb:
>> d e c i r <<
Decir es un verbo muy irregular en casi todos los tiempos. (Decir is a verb that is very irregular in almost every tense.) The only tense where it's conjugation is regular is...
you guessed it... the imperfect tense.
Dichos (sayings, expressions):
Dicho y hecho. (No sooner said than done.)
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. (Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.)
De decir a hacer hay mucho que ver. (There is a great difference between saying and doing.)
Useful info:
es decir... (that is to say...; meaning)
a decir de... (according to...)
según se dice (reportedly)
decir lo que se piensa (to speak one's mind)
Nouns related to decir:
un dicho (a saying, expression)
el dictado (dictation)
el dictador (dictator)
Check out the moods/tenses...
Indicative mood
Also...
imperfect: (yo) decía [regular]
future: dir- + future endings
conditional: dir- + conditional endings
present progressive: estar + present participle
present participle: diciendo
perfect tenses: haber + past participle
past participle: dicho
Imperative mood
tú: di / no digas
Ud: (no) diga
nosotros/as: (no) digamos
vosotros/as: decid / no digáis
Uds: (no) digan
Subjunctive mood
present: (yo) diga...
imperfect: (yo) dijera...
Stuff I might say:
no me digas
>> hang tight, this can mean a few things
- idiom: you don't say; no way; are you kidding me
- interjection: indeed!
- used literally (imperative, tú): don't tell me
- used literally (subjunctive): you don't tell me
Ej: Te haré preguntas sencillas para que no me digas más de lo que necesito saber.
(I'll ask you simple questions so that you don't tell me more than I need to know.)
dime
- used literally (imperative, tú): tell me
- colloquial (slang): shoot
Ej: ¿Te puedo hacer una pregunta? - Dime.
(Can I ask you a question? - Shoot.)
- to answer the phone (Spain): hello
¿dime? (imperative, tú) >> ¿diga? (imperative, Ud.)
*bueno - to answer the phone (Mexico)*
¿Qué me dijiste?
¿Qué me dijo usted?
- What did you say (to me)? / What did you tell me?
¿Qué me dices?
¿Qué me dice usted?
- What do you say (to me)? / What do you tell me?
- What do you think/say?; You don't say!; Well I never! (surprise); You're kidding! (disbelief)
Más ejemplos:
Te digo la verdad.
(I tell you the truth. / I'm telling you the truth.)
¡Porque yo lo digo y punto!
(Because I say so, period!)
¿Qué tan libres son para decir lo que piensan (hay censura)?
(How free are they to say what they think (is there censorship)?)
Como he dicho antes, lo que queremos son hechos y no palabras.
(As I said earlier (As I have already said), what we want is action and not words.)
Entre esos derechos figura la libertad de decir lo que se piensa y rendir culto como se quiera.
(Among those rights is the freedom to speak your mind and worship as you please.)
Si dijera todo lo que pienso, estaría en serios problemas.
(If I said everything that I think, I would be in serious trouble.)
Convo:
J: ¿Tú cómo lo dirías? (How would you say it?)
R: ¿Cómo lo diría yo? (How would I say it?)
J: Sí. (Yes.)
Well, I hope these examples and grammar review help you get more comfortable with using decir. This is a very common verb and is often used with an indirect object pronoun.
¡Que disfrutes el aprendizaje!
(May you enjoy learning!)
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