Он дважды сказал неправду.

to say

Breakdown of Он дважды сказал неправду.

• он: he
• неправда: the untruth; that is not true
• дважды: twice

Questions & Answers about Он дважды сказал неправду.

Why is сказал used here, and what form is it?

Сказал is the past tense masculine singular form of сказать, which means to say / to tell in the perfective aspect.

• сказать = to say something once, as a completed act
• сказал = he said

The -л marks past tense, and the masculine form has no extra ending after it:

• сказал = he said
• сказала = she said
• сказало = it said
• сказали = they said

Because он is masculine, сказал is the correct form.

Why is it сказал, not говорил?

This is about aspect and meaning.

• сказать usually means to say something as a complete, single act
• говорить usually means to speak / to talk / to say in a more general, ongoing, or repeated sense

In this sentence, the idea is that he told a lie twice, with each act viewed as completed. So сказал fits better.

Compare:

• Он дважды сказал неправду. = He told an untruth twice / He lied twice.
• Он говорил неправду. = He was speaking untruthfully / He used to say untrue things.

So сказал sounds more natural here because it refers to distinct completed occasions.