¿qué dijo?
The Spanish phrase ¿qué dijo? means "what did he say?"
This phrase is used to ask for the specific words or information that a male person has just spoken. It functions as a direct question regarding past speech.
Which one should you use?
While ¿qué dijo? is used to ask "what did he say?", it is also the exact form used to ask "what did you say?" when addressing someone using the formal pronoun usted.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word dijo is the third-person singular preterite form of the verb decir, which means "to say".
Did you know?
- While '¿qué dijo?' is a standard question, in many parts of Mexico, it is considered much more polite to say ¿mande? if you did not hear someone, rather than asking 'what did you say?' directly.
- The word qué is a direct descendant of the Latin word quid, which is also the root of the English word 'quid' used as slang for a British pound.
- In some formal settings, asking ¿qué dijo? might be seen as too blunt, leading speakers to use ¿cómo dijo? to sound more polite.
Examples in context
- Lo siento, no entendí lo que dijo el presentador.I'm sorry, I didn't understand what the presenter said.
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are talking about a message from a friend.
- DanielHola Sofía, ¿hablaste con Juan?Hi Sofía, did you talk to Juan?
- SofíaSí, me llamó hace un momento.Yes, he called me a moment ago.
- Daniel¿Qué dijo?What did he say?
- SofíaDijo que llegará tarde a la cena.He said that he will arrive late to the dinner.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dijo, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
