Breakdown of El hombre responde que el chisme no es verdad.
ser
to be
no
no, not
el hombre
the man
la verdad
the truth
que
that / than
responder
to answer, to reply
el chisme
the gossip
Questions & Answers about El hombre responde que el chisme no es verdad.
In English, I could just say 'The man replies the gossip is not true.' Can I drop que in Spanish?
No, you can't. In Spanish reported speech, you must always use que (that) to connect the reporting verb (responde) to the statement (el chisme no es verdad), even though we often skip 'that' in English.
Why does it say no es verdad instead of using an adjective for 'true' like verdadero?
Is chisme an uncountable word like 'gossip' is in English?
Not quite! While it translates to 'gossip', chisme is a regular countable noun in Spanish. You can have one piece of gossip (un chisme) or multiple rumors (los chismes).
What is the infinitive of responde, and could I use dice instead?
The infinitive is responder (to reply or to answer). You could definitely use dice (says) here, which is the most common verb for reported speech, but responde gives the specific meaning that he is reacting to a question or an accusation.
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