Breakdown of En el ayuntamiento me dijeron que para renovar el carné necesito una fotocopia.
Questions & Answers about En el ayuntamiento me dijeron que para renovar el carné necesito una fotocopia.
- En el ayuntamiento means “At/In the town hall” (location).
- Al ayuntamiento = a + el and usually means “to the town hall” (movement/direction), e.g. Fui al ayuntamiento.
- It’s el ayuntamiento (masculine), so la ayuntamiento is incorrect.
Me dijeron is 3rd person plural (they). Spanish often uses plural like this when:
- the speaker doesn’t know/doesn’t specify who exactly said it (some staff member(s)), or
- it was more than one person, or
- it’s an impersonal “they” similar to English “they told me…”.
If you’re talking about one specific person, you could say me dijo.
- dijeron = “they said/told”
- me is the indirect object pronoun meaning “to me”. In Spanish, these pronouns normally go before a conjugated verb: me dijeron = “they told me”.
que is a conjunction meaning “that”, introducing reported speech:
- Me dijeron que… = “They told me that…” You can’t normally omit it the way English sometimes can (e.g. “They told me I need…”). In Spanish, que is typically required.
Because the message is still currently true/relevant:
- They told me (in the past) that I need (still now) a photocopy.
Spanish commonly keeps the present in subordinate clauses when the requirement remains valid: Me dijeron que necesito…
You may also hear Me dijeron que necesitaba…, which frames it more as past reported speech; both can be used depending on context.
- para + infinitive is used to express purpose when the subject is the same:
(yo) necesito… para renovar… = “I need… in order to renew…” - por + infinitive is usually reason/cause (“because of renewing”), not purpose.
- para que + subjunctive is used when the subject changes:
Necesito esto para que mi padre renueve el carné.
renovar means to renew something (a document, subscription, contract).
You normally say renovar el carné / renovar el DNI / renovar el pasaporte.
renovarse is more like to renew itself / to be renewed (less common here), so for documents you generally stick with renovar + object.
el carné in Spain is a very common word for card/license/ID card, depending on context (e.g. carné de conducir = driving licence, carné de biblioteca = library card). Spelling:
- In Spain you often see carné (accented) as the recommended spelling.
- You may also see carnet (without accent), especially in other regions or informal writing.
Spanish often uses the definite article with specific, known items:
- renovar el carné = “renew the (my/that) card” You can specify whose: renovar mi carné, but el carné is very natural when the context makes it obvious which one.
una fotocopia means “a photocopy”—one copy is being requested, introduced as new information.
la fotocopia would refer to a specific photocopy already identified in the conversation (“the photocopy we talked about”).
On its own, una fotocopia just means a photocopy, and Spanish often leaves the object understood from context (e.g. photocopy of your ID, passport, old card, etc.).
If you want to specify, you’d add de:
- una fotocopia del DNI
- una fotocopia de mi pasaporte
Yes, it’s flexible:
- En el ayuntamiento me dijeron… highlights the place first.
- Me dijeron en el ayuntamiento… is also correct and more neutral. Both are common; Spanish often moves location phrases to the front for emphasis or context-setting.
No. Spanish usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject:
- necesito = “I need” You’d add yo only for emphasis/contrast, e.g. …pero yo necesito una fotocopia y él no.