él dijo
/el dixo/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "he said" is translated as él dijo.
él dijo is used to report that a male person spoke or stated something in the past. In many contexts, the pronoun él can be omitted because the verb conjugation dijo already implies the third-person singular subject.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, the word dijo can be replaced with soltó to convey that someone blurted or let something out.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase él dijo uses the preterite indicative of the verb decir (to say) to indicate a completed action in the past. This differs from él decía, which uses the imperfect tense to describe a habitual action or an ongoing state in the past (he was saying or he used to say).
Did you know?
- While él dijo is the standard translation, speakers often use the phrase según él to mean 'he said' when reporting a claim they might not actually believe.
- The root of dijo comes from the Latin dīcō, which is also the distant ancestor of the English words 'dictation' and 'dictionary'.
- The pronoun él is actually a linguistic descendant of the Latin word ille, which originally meant 'that one' rather than 'he'.
Examples in context
- Él dijo que vendría.He said he would come.Tatoeba #640414 by Shishir, translation #620724 by CM
- Él dijo que era pobre.He said he was poor.Tatoeba #1252193 by hayastan, translation #1384393 by CK
- Él dijo: «Déjame solo».He said: "Leave me alone."Tatoeba #898411 by Shishir, translation #288324 by Swift
- Él dijo que llegaría tarde.He said he would be late.
- Él dijo que va a salir.He said he is going out.
- Mi amigo comentó que le gustó la película.My friend commented that he liked the movie.
- Juan contó que se le rompió el coche.Juan said that his car broke down.
- 112 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
María and Javier are discussing a previous conversation with a coworker.
- María¿Qué pasó con el jefe?What happened with the boss?
- JavierÉl dijo que no vendría hoy.He said that he wouldn't come today.
- María¿Estás seguro de eso?Are you sure about that?
- JavierSí, él dijo eso claramente.Yes, he said that clearly.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dijo, él, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
