How to conjugate Decir in Spanish
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Indicative tenses of Decir
- Decir in the Indicative Present
- Decir in the Indicative Preterite
- Decir in the Indicative Imperfect
- Decir in the Indicative Future
- Decir in the Indicative Conditional
- Decir in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Decir in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Decir in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Decir in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Decir
- Decir in the Subjunctive Present
- Decir in the Subjunctive Imperfect
- Decir in the Subjunctive Future
- Decir in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
- Decir in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
- Decir in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
- Imperative tenses of Decir
- Decir in the Imperative Affirmative
- Decir in the Imperative Negative
- Example sentences and usage
Introduction
Decir is the Spanish verb meaning "to say / to tell". For example: "What did you say?" or "I swear to tell the truth". In Spain, it is used when answering the phone - you will hear "¿Diga?" meaning "hello" or "¡Digame!", literally translating to "tell me". It can also be used to express rumours and opinions - "they say it's going to rain all next week" and "What do you say, will we go on holidays in June?"
Similar verbs to decir include: articular (to articulate), comentar (to mention), expresar (to express), mentionar (to mention).
| Spanish | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | decir | to say, to tell |
| Past participle | dicho | said |
| Gerund | diciendo | saying |
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Indicative Tenses of Decir
Decir in the Indicative Present
The Indicative Present of decir is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, "digo hola al profesor", meaning "I say hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | digo | I say |
| Tú | dices | you say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | dice | s/he say, you (formal) say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | decimos | we say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | decís | you (plural) say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dicen | they say, you (plural formal) say |
Decir in the Indicative Preterite
The Indicative Preterite of decir is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, "dije hola al profesor", meaning "I said hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | dije | I said |
| Tú | dijiste | you said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | dijo | s/he said, you (formal) said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | dijimos | we said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | dijisteis | you (plural) said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dijeron | they said, you (plural formal) said |
Decir in the Indicative Imperfect
The Indicative Imperfect of decir is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, "decía hola al profesor", meaning "I used to say hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | decía | I used to say |
| Tú | decías | you used to say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | decía | s/he used to say, you (formal) used to say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | decíamos | we used to say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | decíais | you (plural) used to say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | decían | they used to say, you (plural formal) used to say |
Decir in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of decir is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "diré hola al profesor", meaning "I will say hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | diré | I will say |
| Tú | dirás | you will say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | dirá | s/he will say, you (formal) will say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | diremos | we will say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | diréis | you (plural) will say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dirán | they will say, you (plural formal) will say |
Decir in the Indicative Conditional
The Indicative Conditional of decir is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, "diría hola al profesor", meaning "I would say hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | diría | I would say |
| Tú | dirías | you would say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | diría | s/he would say, you (formal) would say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | diríamos | we would say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | diríais | you (plural) would say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dirían | they would say, you (plural formal) would say |
Decir in the Indicative Present Perfect
The Indicative Present Perfect of decir is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, "he dicho hola al profesor", meaning "I have said hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he dicho | I have said |
| Tú | has dicho | you have said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha dicho | s/he has said, you (formal) have said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos dicho | we have said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis dicho | you (plural) have said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han dicho | they have said, you (plural formal) have said |
Decir in the Indicative Past Perfect
The Indicative Past Perfect of decir is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, "había dicho hola al profesor", meaning "I had said hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había dicho | I had said |
| Tú | habías dicho | you had said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había dicho | s/he had said, you (formal) had said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos dicho | we had said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais dicho | you (plural) had said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían dicho | they had said, you (plural formal) had said |
Decir in the Indicative Future Perfect
The Indicative Future Perfect of decir is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, "habré dicho hola al profesor", meaning "I will have said hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré dicho | I will have said |
| Tú | habrás dicho | you will have said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá dicho | s/he will have said, you (formal) will have said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos dicho | we will have said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis dicho | you (plural) will have said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán dicho | they will have said, you (plural formal) will have said |
Decir in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
The Indicative Conditional Perfect of decir is used to talk about something that would have happened in the future but didn’t due to another action. For example, "habría dicho hola al profesor", meaning "I would have said hello to the teacher".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría dicho | I would have said |
| Tú | habrías dicho | you would have said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría dicho | s/he would have said, you (formal) would have said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos dicho | we would have said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais dicho | you (plural) would have said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían dicho | they would have said, you (plural formal) would have said |
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Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.
Subjunctive Tenses of Decir
Decir in the Subjunctive Present
The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, "diga", meaning "I say".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | diga | I say |
| Tú | digas | you say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | diga | s/he say, you (formal) say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | digamos | we say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | digáis | you (plural) say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | digan | they say, you (plural formal) say |
Decir in the Subjunctive Imperfect
The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, "dijera", meaning "I said".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | dijera | I said |
| Tú | dijeras | you said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | dijera | s/he said, you (formal) said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | dijéramos | we said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | dijerais | you (plural) said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dijeran | they said, you (plural formal) said |
Decir in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used For example, "dijere", meaning "I will say".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | dijere | I will say |
| Tú | dijeres | you will say |
| Ella / Él / Usted | dijere | s/he will say, you (formal) will say |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | dijéremos | we will say |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | dijereis | you (plural) will say |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | dijeren | they will say, you (plural formal) will say |
Decir in the Subjunctive Present Perfect
The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, "haya dicho", meaning "I have said".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya dicho | I have said |
| Tú | hayas dicho | you have said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya dicho | s/he has said, you (formal) have said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos dicho | we have said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis dicho | you (plural) have said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan dicho | they have said, you (plural formal) have said |
Decir in the Subjunctive Past Perfect
The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, "hubiera dicho", meaning "I had said".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera dicho | I had said |
| Tú | hubieras dicho | you had said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera dicho | s/he had said, you (formal) had said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos dicho | we had said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais dicho | you (plural) had said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran dicho | they had said, you (plural formal) had said |
Decir in the Subjunctive Future Perfect
The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used For example, "hubiere dicho", meaning "I will have said".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere dicho | I will have said |
| Tú | hubieres dicho | you will have said |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere dicho | s/he will have said, you (formal) will have said |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos dicho | we will have said |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis dicho | you (plural) will have said |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren dicho | they will have said, you (plural formal) will have said |
Imperative Tenses of Decir
Decir in the Imperative Affirmative
The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, "diga", meaning "(to you formal) say!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | di | (to you) say! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | diga | (to you formal) say! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | digamos | (to we) say! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | decid | (to you plural) say! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | digan | (to you plural formal) say! |
Decir in the Imperative Negative
The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, "no diga", meaning "(to you formal) don't say!".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no digas | (to you) don't say! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no diga | (to you formal) don't say! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no digamos | (to we) don't say! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no digáis | (to you plural) don't say! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no digan | (to you plural formal) don't say! |
Example sentences and usage
- Les dije que me mandaran otro boleto. I told them to send me another ticket.
- ¡Yo sólo lo digo! I'm just saying!
- "Confía en mí", dijo él. "Trust me," he said.
- Haz lo que te diga. Do whatever he tells you.
- "Buenos días", dijo Tom con una sonrisa. "Good morning", said Tom with a smile.
- Yo nunca dije que fuera frágil. I never said I was fragile.
- Eso suena interesante. ¿Qué le dijiste? That sounds interesting. What did you tell her?
- Quiero que me digas la verdad. I want you to tell me the truth.
Want to explore other verb conjugations?
Why not check out llevar – to carry, to take, to bring, to wear or see the complete list of verbs here.
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Ella Verbs guides you through 30 levels of bite sized lessons and verb drills, helping you to master the 16 main Spanish tenses from our verb library of over 1,000 verbs.
