Mi amiga dijo que el freno no respondía igual cuando íbamos muy rápido.

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Breakdown of Mi amiga dijo que el freno no respondía igual cuando íbamos muy rápido.

• muy: very
• cuando: when
• nosotros: we

Questions & Answers about Mi amiga dijo que el freno no respondía igual cuando íbamos muy rápido.

Why is it mi amiga and not mi amigo?

Because amiga is feminine, meaning female friend. The possessive mi does not change for masculine/feminine in the singular, so:

• mi amigo = my male friend
• mi amiga = my female friend

So mi stays the same, but the noun changes.

Why is it dijo here?

Dijo is the preterite form of decir for él/ella/usted: he/she said.

It is used because the sentence refers to a completed act of speaking in the past: your friend said something at a particular moment.

• Mi amiga dijo... = My friend said...

If you used decía, that would sound more like was saying / used to say, which has a different nuance.

What does que do in this sentence?

Here que means that and introduces the reported statement.

• Mi amiga dijo que... = My friend said that...

In English, that is often optional: My friend said the brake...
In Spanish, que is normally required after verbs like decir when introducing what someone said.

Why is it el freno and not plural?