Breakdown of El paciente me dijo que la sesión lo ayudaba.
ayudar
to help
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
me
to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)
lo
it / him (m)
decir
to say / to tell
el paciente
the patient
la sesión
the session
Questions & Answers about El paciente me dijo que la sesión lo ayudaba.
Why is ayudaba in the imperfect tense here rather than the preterite?
This is the main rule of reported speech in the past! The patient's original words were likely in the present tense: 'The session helps me' (La sesión me ayuda). Because the reporting verb (dijo) is in the past, that present tense shifts backward into the imperfect (ayudaba) to show it was an ongoing reality at that time in the past.
Why does the pronoun change to lo if the patient was talking about himself?
In reported speech, you have to adjust the pronouns to match who is reporting the story. The patient originally said 'me ayuda' (helps me). Since you are now talking about him, you change the me to lo (helps him).
Is it also correct to say le ayudaba instead of lo ayudaba?
Yes! The verb ayudar officially takes a direct object, which is lo for a masculine person. However, in Spain it is extremely common to use le for masculine people. This is called 'leísmo,' and using le ayudaba here would sound perfectly natural to a Spaniard.
Can we drop que like we drop the word 'that' in English?
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