The Verb "Decir" in Spanish and How to Use It

The verb decir in Spanish means "to say" or "to tell." 

We use this verb in English all the time. 

Since decir is known as an "ir verb" in Spanish, we use the following verb endings:

-o (yo "I" form)

-es (tú "you"form)

-e (3rd person singular form, él/ella/usted)

-imos [nosotros(as) "we" form]

-ís [vosotros(as) "you all" (in Spain) form]

-en [3rd person plural form (ustedes/ellos/ellas)]

Decir is also an irregular verb in many ways in the present tense. It's a "go" verb, meaning that the "yo" form ends with "go", and it's also an E-I stem changing verb. We will get into those later. So, our gut would tell us to conjugate "decir" in the "yo" form to "yo deco" to say "I say". This is one time where you need to throw your gut out the window.

Here are the correct conjugations for decir in the present tense:

yo digo = I say

tú dices = you say

él/ella/usted dice = he/she/you (formal) say(s)

*nosotros(as) decimos = we say

*vosotros(as) decís = you all (Spain) say

ellos/ellas/ustedes dicen = they/you all (everywhere)(formal in Spain) say

Notice that I have and asterisk before the nosotros and vosotros forms. This is because these forms DO NOT stem change from E (like the E in DECIR) to I like the other forms. I will have an entire lesson in more detail explaining E-I (and other) stem changing verbs in the future.

Now, let's see some example sentences with decir:

1. Yo digo la verdad. = I tell the truth.

2. Tú dices muchas mentiras. = You tell many lies.

3. Él dice que vive en la avenida Monroe. = He says that he lives on Monroe Avenue.

4. Nosotros decimos nuestros nombres en voz alta. = We say our names out loud.

5. Vosotros nos decís si habéis hecho la tarea. = You guys (Spain) tell us if you've done the homework.

6. Ellos dicen que ella es muy bonita. = They say that she is very pretty.

Hope you enjoyed this lesson on how to use the present tense of the verb "decir" in Spanish. Follow me for more Spanish language lessons.

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