Learn Hardcore Catalan: Li vaig dir que aquella joguina gairebé sempre era a la meva bossa quan jo era petita. - I told her that that toy was almost always in my bag when I was little.

Li vaig dir que aquella joguina gairebé sempre era a la meva bossa quan jo era petita.

I told her that that toy was almost always in my bag when I was little.

Breakdown of Li vaig dir que aquella joguina gairebé sempre era a la meva bossa quan jo era petita.

Questions & Answers about Li vaig dir que aquella joguina gairebé sempre era a la meva bossa quan jo era petita.

What does li mean here?

Li is an indirect object pronoun. Here it means to him, to her, or to you (formal singular).

So:

Li vaig dir = I told him/her/you

Catalan often uses these short pronouns before the verb. By itself, li does not tell you whether the person is male or female; the context does that.

Does vaig dir literally mean I went to say?

No. In modern Catalan, vaig + infinitive is a very common past tense called the periphrastic past.

So:

dic = I say
vaig dir = I said / I told
he dit = I have said

Even though vaig originally comes from anar (to go), in this structure it does not mean movement. Vaig dir just means I said / I told.

Why is que used after dir?