Log inSign up

Ellos me dijeron el significado de la palabra.

Ellos me dijeron el significado de la palabra.
They told me the meaning of the word.
From Lesson 135:Preterite j-stems (dije, traje, conduje)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ellos me dijeron el significado de la palabra.

Why is it dijeron and not "dijieron"?
Dijeron is the "ellos" (they) form of decir in the preterite (past) tense. Because decir is an irregular verb whose stem ends in a "j" (dij-), it drops the "i" that normally appears in the regular -ieron ending. That is why it becomes dijeron instead of "dijieron".
The translation says "told me", but doesn't decir usually mean "to say"?
Yes, decir means both "to say" and "to tell". Spanish doesn't use two different verbs for this like English does. Because this sentence includes the pronoun me (to me), decir naturally translates as "to tell someone".
Why does me come before the verb here?
Me is an indirect object pronoun that shows to whom they told the meaning. In Spanish, these object pronouns are placed directly before the conjugated verb. Since dijeron is conjugated, me sits right in front of it.
Is the noun significado related to the English word "signify"?
Exactly! El significado comes from the verb significar (to mean or to signify). In Spanish, it is very common to use a word ending in -ado as a noun to represent the result of an action. Here, it translates perfectly to "the meaning".

Learn Ellos me dijeron el significado de la palabra and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →