se lo diré
/se lo diɾe/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "I will tell him" is translated as se lo diré.
This phrase is used to promise that information will be passed on to a male person in the future.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of se (to him/her/them), lo (it) and diré (I will tell).
Which one should you use?
If you are not including the object "it" (lo) in your sentence, you can simply say le diré.
How does it change in a sentence?
The pronoun se is used here because le (to him) changes to se when followed by the object pronoun lo. To change the phrase from the future tense to the past tense, replace diré with dije to say "I told him". To express a conditional "I would tell him", use the conditional form diría instead of the future diré.
How do you pronounce it?
/se lo diɾe/
Did you know?
- Because se is used for 'him', 'her', and 'them', the phrase se lo diré is identical regardless of whether you are telling a man, a woman, or a group of people.
- Even though you are telling 'him', the pronoun se is used to avoid the awkward sound of two 'l' sounds appearing together in le lo.
- While se lo diré is the future tense, using the present tense se lo digo often acts as a 'promise of immediate action', effectively meaning 'I will do it right now'.
Examples in context
- No te preocupes, se lo diré.Don't worry, I will tell him.
- Si veo a su padre, se lo diré.If I see his father, I will tell him.
- Mañana se lo diré personalmente.I will tell him personally tomorrow.
Example conversation
Lucía wants Javier to give a message to a male colleague.
- JavierHola, Lucía. ¿Necesitas algo?Hello, Lucía. Do you need something?
- LucíaDile a Pablo que la reunión cambió.Tell Pablo that the meeting changed.
- JavierEntendido, se lo diré ahora mismo.Understood, I will tell him right now.
- LucíaMuchas gracias, Javier.Thank you very much, Javier.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
