Dizem que... (sujeito indeterminado)

They say...

Portuguese reports rumour without naming anyone, two ways:

Dizem que... — a bare third-person plural, nobody in particular: They say it is going to rain tomorrow.

Dizem que vai chover amanhã.

Diz-se que... — the impersonal se you know from pode-se: It is said that this restaurant is the best in town.

Diz-se que este restaurante é o melhor da cidade.

Both mean "people say" — the plural version is spoken, the se version a shade more written. The same pattern runs any verb of saying or believing: contam que, pensa-se que.

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