El líder decidió renunciar.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with professions, roles, or people being identified in context. El líder means the leader.

If you said only líder, it would usually sound incomplete in this sentence. Spanish often requires the article where English might sometimes omit it.

• El líder decidió renunciar. = The leader decided to resign.

Also, líder is a masculine noun here, so it takes el. For a female leader, you could say:

• La líder decidió renunciar.

In modern Spanish, líder itself usually stays the same for masculine and feminine; the article changes.

The written accent in líder shows where the stress falls: LÍ-der.

Without the accent, Spanish spelling rules would suggest a different stress pattern. The accent mark tells you clearly that the stress is on the first syllable.

So you pronounce it roughly like:

• LEE-der

This word is originally a borrowing from English leader, but in Spanish it has been adapted to Spanish spelling and stress.

Decidió is the third person singular preterite of decidir.

That means it corresponds to:

• he decided
• she decided
• it decided
• you decided (formal usted)

In this sentence, it matches el líder, so:

• El líder decidió... = The leader decided...

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past.

After decidir, when you say what someone decided to do, Spanish normally uses an infinitive.

So:

• decidió renunciar = decided to resign
• decidió salir = decided to leave
• decidió esperar = decided to wait

The infinitive form is the basic verb form ending in -ar, -er, or -ir. Here, renunciar is the infinitive.

Renuncia is not the right form here. It could be:

• a noun: la renuncia = the resignation
• a verb form in another context: él renuncia = he resigns / is resigning

But after decidió, you need the infinitive: renunciar.

Not always. Renunciar has a broader meaning than just to resign.

It can mean:

1. to resign from a job or position

   • El líder decidió renunciar.

2. to give up or to renounce something

   • Renunció a sus privilegios. = He gave up his privileges.

A very common pattern is:

• renunciar a + noun/pronoun

For example:

• renunciar al cargo = to resign from the post
• renunciar a algo = to give something up

In your sentence, because of the context, renunciar is naturally understood as to resign.

Not necessarily.

Renunciar often appears with a when the thing being given up is stated:

• renunciar al puesto = to resign from the position
• renunciar a sus derechos = to give up his rights

But if the object is understood from context, Spanish can simply say:

• renunciar

So:

• El líder decidió renunciar.
  is perfectly natural and means The leader decided to resign.

You do not need to add a unless you are specifying what is being resigned from or given up.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• El líder decidió renunciar. = The leader decided to resign.
• El líder renunció. = The leader resigned.

The first sentence focuses on the decision.
The second focuses on the action itself.

So decidió renunciar suggests the moment of deciding, while renunció states that the resignation happened.

In standard Spain Spanish, decidió is pronounced approximately:

• deh-see-DYOH

The stress is on the last syllable: -dió.

A few pronunciation notes:

• c before i is pronounced like the th in thin in most of Spain, so deci- sounds like deh-thi- in much of Spain.
• In parts of Spain and throughout Latin America, it may sound more like s instead.

So in much of Spain, it is roughly:

• deh-thi-DYOH

Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

Here:

• decidió already shows he/she/usted decided

Since the noun el líder is already there, adding él would be unnecessary:

• El líder decidió renunciar.

Spanish generally prefers not to repeat the subject unless there is a reason for emphasis or contrast.

Yes. Líder can refer to either a man or a woman. The article or other words around it usually show the gender.

• El líder = the male leader
• La líder = the female leader

In many cases, líder does not change its ending for gender.

So if the sentence were about a woman, you could say:

• La líder decidió renunciar.

No. In this meaning, the normal verb is renunciar, not renunciarse.

For resigning or giving something up, you use:

• renunciar
• often renunciar a algo

So:

• El líder decidió renunciar.

is correct.

Learners sometimes wonder whether a verb should be reflexive because English uses expressions like to resign oneself, but that is a different idea. In this sentence, renunciar is not reflexive.

No. After decidir, Spanish does not use de before the infinitive.

Correct:

• decidió renunciar

Incorrect:

• decidió de renunciar

This is an important pattern to remember:

• decidir + infinitive

Examples:

• Decidí llamar. = I decided to call.
• Decidieron quedarse. = They decided to stay.

The present-tense version would be:

• El líder decide renunciar.

That means:

• The leader decides to resign
• or, depending on context, is deciding to resign

Compare:

• decide = present
• decidió = preterite past

So the original sentence is clearly about a completed past decision.