El hombre dice: «Buenas tardes».

to tell

Breakdown of El hombre dice: «Buenas tardes».

• buenas tardes: good afternoon
• el hombre: the man

Questions & Answers about El hombre dice: «Buenas tardes».

Why is it el hombre and not just hombre?

In Spanish, singular countable nouns usually need an article when you are talking about a specific person or thing. So el hombre means the man.

You could say just hombre in some special contexts, but not normally in a neutral sentence like this one.

Why is it el and not un?

El is the definite article, so it points to a specific man: the man.
Un would mean a man, introducing him less specifically.

So:

• el hombre = the man
• un hombre = a man

What does dice mean grammatically?

Dice is the third-person singular present tense of the verb decir (to say / to tell).

So:

• yo digo = I say
• tú dices = you say
• él / ella / usted dice = he / she / you say

Here, dice matches el hombre, which is third-person singular: the man says.