The preterite of decir is used to express when you said something specific in the past. For example, you might say “I told her the truth yesterday,” indicating a single, completed act of communication.

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. It changes its stem to ‘dij-‘ throughout all conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Decir (to say/tell) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of decir indicates completed acts of speaking or telling in the past.

Direct Speech: Used for specific instances of saying something, for example Me dijo la verdad (He told me the truth). ¿Qué dijiste? (What did you say?)

Reported Speech: Common in storytelling and reporting past conversations, for example Le dijimos que no viniera (We told him not to come). Also used in common phrases like Como te dije antes (As I told you before).

Examples

Examples of Decir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Le dije la verdad a mi madre. (I told my mother the truth.)

¿Qué le dijiste al profesor? (What did you tell the teacher?)

Ella me dijo que vendría tarde. (She told me she would come late.)

Les dijimos sobre la fiesta sorpresa. (We told them about the surprise party.)

¿Por qué no me lo dijiste antes? (Why didn’t you tell me before?)

El doctor dijo que todo estaba bien. (The doctor said everything was fine.)

Te dije que esto pasaría. (I told you this would happen.)

Los niños dijeron la verdad. (The children told the truth.)

¿Quién te lo dijo? (Who told you?)

Le dijimos adiós a nuestros amigos. (We said goodbye to our friends.)

Mi jefe me dijo que llegara temprano. (My boss told me to arrive early.)

Nunca me dijiste tu nombre. (You never told me your name.)

¿Qué dijeron tus padres? (What did your parents say?)

Le dije que no se preocupara. (I told him/her not to worry.)

Me dijeron que eres muy inteligente. (They told me you are very intelligent.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Decir (to say/tell) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.