The verb in Spanish for say, to tell
decir

decir

- Spanish for to say, to tell

... which sounds a bit like DESIRE ...

Imagine that DESIREE the singer, DESIRES to say what she means,
and to to tell the truth ....

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Below see all the conjugations for you of decir, the verb in Spanish for say, to say.

Each tense has a sample sentence with one of the verb conjugations in action. Read these all aloud, three times. You may also find it useful to write the tables of this very useful verb out in full!
Memorise it... then learn the conjugations in the various Spanish verb tenses.

It is from the same route word as the English word - discuss, discourse.

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Present Participle	Past Participle
diciendo = saying	dicho = said

The past participle is highly important as it is used to form the various compound tenses, seven of which are used in modern Spanish conversation and writing. Check out the tenses in the tables below, and check out the sample sentences using the Spanish for say.

Verb decir fully conjugated. The Spanish for say, to tell

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The 7 Simple Tenses of the conjugated Spanish verb decir - to say

Present Tense - Presente
yo	digo	I (am)	- say - saying - do say
tú	dices	you (are) (inf.sing)
él, ella ----- usted	dice	he, she, it (is) ----- you (are) (form.sing)
nosotros	decimos	we (are)
vosotros	decís	you (are) (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	dicen	they (are) (m/f) ----- you (are) (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the present indicative tense:

Yo digo la casa es hermosa.
I say the house is beautiful.

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Imperfect Indicative Tense Imperfecto de Indicativo
yo	decía	I (was)	- said - saying - used to say
tú	decías	you (were) (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	decía	he, she, it (was) ----- you (were) (form.sing)
nosotros	decíamos	we (were)
vosotros	decíais	you (were) (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	decían	they (m/f) you (were) (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the imperfect indicative tense:

Tu decías que la niña era linda.
You used to say that the girl was pretty.

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Preterit Tense - Pretérito
yo	dije	I	said
tú	dijiste	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	dijo	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	dijimos	we
vosotros	dijisteis	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	dijeron	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the preterit tense:

Él dijo que la ropa estaba sucia.
He said that the clothes were dirty.

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Future Tense - Futuro
yo	diré	I	- will say - will be saying
tú	dirás	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	dirá	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	diremos	we
vosotros	diréis	you (inf.pl)
ellos ellas ustedes	dirán	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, to tell, conjugated in the future tense:

Nosotros diremos que él ganará.
We will be saying that he’ll win.

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Conditional Tense - Potencial Simple
yo	diría	I	would say
tú	dirías	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	diría	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	diríamos	we
vosotros	diríais	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	dirían	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example sentence of the verb decir Spanish for say, conjugated in the conditional tense:

Vosotros diríais que mañana sera un hermoso día.
You would say that tomorrow will be a beautiful day.

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Present Subjunctive Tense - Presente de Subjuntivo
yo	diga	I	- may say - may be saying
tú	digas	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	diga	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	digamos	we
vosotros	digáis	you (inf.pl)
ellos ellas ustedes	digan	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the present subjunctive tense:

Intentemos que ellosdigan el discurso.
(We intend) It is our intention that they present (say) the speech.

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Imperfect Subjunctive Tense -ra version - Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
yo	dijera	(that) I	(maybe) said (in the past)
tú	dijeras	(that) you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	dijera	(that) he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	dijéramos	(that) we
vosotros	dijerais	(that) you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	dijeran	(that) they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive –ra version tense:

Si yo dijiera que Alemania es el mejor país, yo estaría loco.
If I (had) said that Germany is the best country, I would be mad.

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Imperfect Subjunctive Tense -se version - Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
yo	dijese	(that) I	(maybe) said (in the past)
tú	dijeses	(that) you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	dijese	(that) he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	dijésemos	(that) we
vosotros	dijeseis	(that) you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	dijesen	(that) they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive –se version tense:

Si yo dijese que la escuela es una perdida de tiempo, yo estaría loco.
If I (had) said that school is a waste of time, I would be crazy.

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The 7 Compound Tenses of decir, the verb in Spanish for to say, to tell.

All compound tenses are composed of the conjugated auxiliary verb
haber and the past particple of decir.

haber + dicho

Present Perfect Tense - Perfecto de Indicativo
yo	he dicho	I	have said
tú	has dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella ----- usted	ha dicho	he, she, it ----- you (form.sing)
nosotros	hemos dicho	we
vosotros	habéis dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	han dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example sentence of decir Spanish for say, to say, to tell with the verb conjugated in the present perfect (perfecto de indicativo) tense:

Tú has dicho que la mesa estaba limpia.
You have said that the table was clean.

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Past Perfect Tense Pluscuamperfecto de Indicativo
yo	había dicho	I	had said
tú	habías dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	había dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	habíamos dicho	we
vosotros	habíais dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	habían dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example sentence of the verb decir Spanish for say, conjugated in the past perfect (pluscuamperfecto de indicativo) tense:

Él había dicho que no era su trabajo.
He had said that it wasn’t his job.

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Future Perfect Tense - Futuro Perfecto
yo	habré dicho	I	will have said
tú	habrás dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	habrá dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	habremos dicho	we
vosotros	habréis dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	habrán dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the Future Perfect tense:

Nosotros habremos dicho que estábamos perdidos.
We will have said that we were lost.

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Conditional Perfect Tense - Potencial Compuesto
yo	habría dicho	I	would have said
tú	habrías dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	habría dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	habríamos dicho	we
vosotros	habríais dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	habrían dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir, Spanish for say, conjugated in the Conditional Perfect:


Tú habríasdicho eso si no sabías la verdad.
You would have said that if you didn’t know the truth.

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Preterit Perfect Tense Pretérito Perfecto or Anterior (used mostly in formal writing)
yo	hube dicho	I	had said
tú	hubiste dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	hubo dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	hubimos dicho	we
vosotros	hubisteis dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	hubieron dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example sentence of the verb decir, the verb in Spanish for to say conjugated in the Preterit Perfect Tense (Also known as pretérito anterior - past anterior):


"Como Jesús hubo dicho estas cosas, salióse con sus discípulos."
"As (after) Jesus had said these things, he left with his disciples." John 18:1

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Present Perfect Subjunctive Tense Perfecto de Subjuntivo
yo	haya dicho	I	(may) have said
tú	hayas dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	haya dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	hayamos dicho	we
vosotros	hayáis dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	hayan dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir conjugated in the Present Perfect Subjunctive Tense:


Espero que ellos hayan dicho lo correcto.
I hope that they have said the right thing.

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Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense -ra version - Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo
yo	hubiera dicho	I	(may) had said
tú	hubieras dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	hubiera dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	hubiéramos dicho	we
vosotros	hubierais dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	hubieran dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir conjugated in the Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense -ra version - Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo:


Yo hubiera dicho que el era inocente, si ustedes me hubiesen pagado.
I may had said that he was innocent, if you had paid me.

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Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense -se version - Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo
yo	hubiese dicho	I	(may) had said
tú	hubieses dicho	you (inf.sing)
él, ella usted	hubiese dicho	he, she, it you (form.sing)
nosotros	hubiésemos dicho	we
vosotros	hubieseis dicho	you (inf.pl)
ellos, ellas ustedes	hubiesen dicho	they (m/f) you (form.pl)

Example Spanish sentence of the verb decir conjugated in the Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense -se version:

Yo hubiese dicho la verdad, si ustedes no me hubiesen golpeado.
I may had said the truth, if you hadn’t hit me.

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Imperative Imperativo		Say!	Don't say!
you (inf.sing)	tú	¡di!	¡no digas!
you (form.sing)	usted	¡diga!	¡no diga!
(Let) us	nosotros	¡digamos!	¡no digamos!
you (inf.pl)	vosotros	¡decid!	¡no digáis!
you (form.pl)	ustedes	¡digan!	¡no digan!

Note: The Spanish upside down exclamation mark (¡) is required before a command/exclamation and a normal exclamation mark (!) following it.

¡Di a ellos que se callen!
Tell them to be quiet!

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Notes and other meanings of decir, the verb in Spanish for say: to say

¡Porque lo digo yo! Because I say so! ¿Que dice?
What does it/he/she/you (form.sing) say? / What is he/she saying?

Decirle algo a algiuen.
To tell something to somebody
Decirle al oído a alguien.
to whisper in someone’s ear.

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decirse to say ie. to oneself or to each other
¿Cómo se dice? = how do you say? Lit. how does one say?
¿Cómo se dice en español?

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Also means to tell

Sabes qué me dijeron? Do you know what they told me?

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to show, to reveal, to call

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decir por decir = talking for talking's sake

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querer decir - to mean

Quiero decir que ... I mean that ( I want to say that) ….

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Es decir (que) = that’s to say (that) …

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So to speak!

como quien dice so to speak / as they say
or
Por así decirlo. so to speak

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¡No me digas! You don’t say! Really!?

¿Qué me dices?
What are you saying (to me)? / What are you telling me?

Dijo que sí. Dijo que no.
He/she said yes. He/she said no.

No digas esas cosas. Don’t say such things.

¡Y que lo digas! You bet!

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¡Diga! ¡Dígame!
In a shop: Can I help you?
On the phone: Hello? (particularly in Spain)

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un decir (m) a familiar saying, figuratively speaking.
Es un decir. = It’s a saying.

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Dicho y hecho. – No sooner said than done.

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decir as a suffix

These are all conjugated in exactly the same irregular way as the verb, decir.

bendecir - to bless or to say grace (before a meal)
contradecir(se) - to contradict (oneself)
desdecir de algo - to to deny, diminish something
Note: The prefix des = undo, diminish, deny
desdecirse - to go back on one’s word.
maldecir - to speak badly of, to curse.
predecir - to predict.

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Spanish Verb Conjugations for decir- the verb in Spanish for say.