dile a tu mamá
/dile a tu mama/from spelling rules
To say "tell your mom" in Spanish, you say dile a tu mamá.
The phrase is a request to convey a specific piece of information to the listener's mother.
Which one should you use?
While dile a tu mamá means "tell your mom", you can use díselo a tu mamá if you want to say "tell it to your mom", where the lo represents the specific thing being told. Additionally, replacing tu with su changes the phrase to "tell his/her/your (formal) mom", resulting in dile a su mamá.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Spanish, when using an indirect object pronoun like le with a specific person, it is standard to also include the explicit indirect object phrase a tu mamá for clarity and emphasis.
How do you pronounce it?
/dile a tu mama/
Did you know?
- In Argentina and Uruguay, you might hear mi vieja used to refer to one's mother. While it literally means 'my old lady', it is often a term of deep affection rather than a comment on age.
- The word mamá entered the Spanish lexicon via the French maman, showing how influential French culture was on the development of modern Spanish familial terms.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the phrase dile a tu mamá can be used as a playful or sarcastic retort to a child or a peer who is acting too dependent or 'spoiled', similar to the English phrase 'go tell your mommy'.
Examples in context
- Dile a tu mamá que llegué bien.Tell your mom that I arrived safely.
- Dile a tu mamá que la llamaré más tarde.Tell your mom that I will call her later.
- Dile a tu mamá que gracias por la cena.Tell your mom thank you for the dinner.
Example conversation
Daniel and María are talking on the phone after a party.
- Daniel¿Cómo estuvo la fiesta?How was the party?
- MaríaFue muy divertida, gracias por invitarme.It was very fun, thanks for inviting me.
- DanielDe nada. Dile a tu mamá que nos vemos pronto.You're welcome. Tell your mom that we'll see each other soon.
- MaríaSe lo diré, Daniel.I will tell her, Daniel.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, mamá, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
