Breakdown of Dicen que el diablo no existe.
no
no, not
decir
to say, to tell
existir
to exist
el diablo
the devil
Questions & Answers about Dicen que el diablo no existe.
Who exactly is the "they" in dicen, and why isn't the word ellos used here?
The "they" isn't a specific group of people; it means "people in general." When you want to express an impersonal "they say," you just use the third-person plural verb (dicen) without a subject pronoun. Adding ellos would actually change the meaning to refer to a specific group of people (like "Those specific guys say...").
Could I use the passive "se" and say "Se dice que..." instead of "Dicen que..."?
Why is existe in the indicative mood? Doesn't the topic of something not existing trigger the subjunctive?
The mood of the second verb depends on the main verb, which here is dicen (they say). Because decir is simply reporting a statement or a declared belief, it takes the standard indicative mood (existe). You would only need the subjunctive if the main verb itself expressed doubt or denial, such as Dudan que el diablo exista (They doubt that the devil exists).
Can I leave out que like we sometimes leave out "that" in English?
No, in Spanish, the conjunction que (that) is strictly required to connect the two clauses. You can never drop it, even though omitting "that" is completely normal in English (e.g., "They say the devil doesn't exist").
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