El chico dice «Con permiso» y pasa.

and

Breakdown of El chico dice «Con permiso» y pasa.

• decir: to tell
• pasar: to pass
• el chico: the boy

Questions & Answers about El chico dice «Con permiso» y pasa.

Why does the sentence start with El chico instead of just chico?

In Spanish, it is very common to use an article with a noun when talking about a specific person or thing.

• el chico = the boy
• chico by itself would usually sound incomplete in this kind of sentence

So El chico dice... is the natural way to say The boy says...

Why is there no él before dice or pasa?

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

• dice already shows that the subject is he/she/it
• pasa also shows he/she/it

Because El chico is already mentioned, adding él would usually be unnecessary.

So Spanish prefers:

• El chico dice... y pasa.

rather than:

• El chico él dice...

What tense is dice? Why isn’t it dijo?