¿qué dijeron?
The English phrase "what did they say?" is translated into Spanish as ¿qué dijeron?
This phrase is used to ask about information or words that a group of people previously spoke.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form ¿qué dijeron? is also used to ask "what did you (plural) say?" when addressing a group of people formally.
Did you know?
- In some Latin American dialects, speakers may use ¿qué dijeron? as a rhetorical way to express disbelief or shock at a piece of news, similar to saying 'what on earth did they say?'
- In Spain, people often use ¿Qué han dicho? to refer to events that happened very recently, whereas Latin Americans prefer ¿qué dijeron?
- The word qué shares the same Proto-Indo-European root as the English word 'what', specifically from the root *kʷid, which evolved into the Latin 'quid'.
Examples in context
- ¿Qué dijeron sobre la película?What did they say about the movie?
- ¿Qué dijeron los médicos?What did the doctors say?
Example conversation
Javier and María are talking in the kitchen about their neighbors.
- JavierLos vecinos estaban hablando en el jardín.The neighbors were talking in the garden.
- María¿Qué dijeron?What did they say?
- JavierNo estoy seguro, pero parecían alegres.I'm not sure, but they seemed happy.
- MaríaQué bueno que no dijeron nada malo.It's good that they didn't say anything bad.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dijeron, qué, CC BY-SA 4.0.
