Decir Conjugation in Spanish
decir means “say” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 7 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for quoting words and messages, for giving information, and for saying yes or no to invitations. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of decir — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo digo la verdad todos los días.” — “I say the truth every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: decir
- English: to say
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (e → i)
- Irregular in: present, preterite, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: diciendo
- Past participle: dicho
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for decir. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | digo |
| tú | dices |
| él/ella/Ud. | dice |
| nosotros/as | decimos |
| vosotros/as | decís |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dicen |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | dije |
| tú | dijiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | dijo |
| nosotros/as | dijimos |
| vosotros/as | dijisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dijeron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | decía |
| tú | decías |
| él/ella/Ud. | decía |
| nosotros/as | decíamos |
| vosotros/as | decíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | decían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | diré |
| tú | dirás |
| él/ella/Ud. | dirá |
| nosotros/as | diremos |
| vosotros/as | diréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dirán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | diría |
| tú | dirías |
| él/ella/Ud. | diría |
| nosotros/as | diríamos |
| vosotros/as | diríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dirían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he dicho |
| tú | has dicho |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha dicho |
| nosotros/as | hemos dicho |
| vosotros/as | habéis dicho |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han dicho |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había dicho |
| tú | habías dicho |
| él/ella/Ud. | había dicho |
| nosotros/as | habíamos dicho |
| vosotros/as | habíais dicho |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían dicho |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré dicho |
| tú | habrás dicho |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá dicho |
| nosotros/as | habremos dicho |
| vosotros/as | habréis dicho |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán dicho |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría dicho |
| tú | habrías dicho |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría dicho |
| nosotros/as | habríamos dicho |
| vosotros/as | habríais dicho |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían dicho |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | diga |
| tú | digas |
| él/ella/Ud. | diga |
| nosotros/as | digamos |
| vosotros/as | digáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | digan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | dijera |
| tú | dijeras |
| él/ella/Ud. | dijera |
| nosotros/as | dijéramos |
| vosotros/as | dijerais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dijeran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | di |
| él/ella/Ud. | diga |
| nosotros/as | digamos |
| vosotros/as | decid |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | digan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | digas |
| él/ella/Ud. | diga |
| nosotros/as | digamos |
| vosotros/as | digáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | digan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | diciendo |
| Past participle | dicho |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo digo la verdad todos los días.” — “I say the truth every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú dijiste buenos días ayer.” — “You said good morning yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él decía que sí a la invitación antes.” — “He used to say yes to the invitation before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo diré la verdad mañana.” — “I will say the truth tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú dirías buenos días algún día.” — “You would say good morning someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Él ha dicho que sí a la invitación esta semana.” — “He has said yes to the invitation this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo había dicho la verdad antes de la fiesta.” — “I had said the truth before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú habrás dicho buenos días para mañana.” — “You will have said good morning by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Él habría dicho que sí a la invitación ayer.” — “He would have said yes to the invitation yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo diga la verdad.” — “It is important that i say the truth.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú dijeras buenos días.” — “I wish you said good morning.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Di que sí a la invitación!” — “Say yes to the invitation!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With decir this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No digas la verdad.” — “Do not say the truth.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with decir, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo digo la verdad todos los días.” — “I say the truth every day.”
- “Tú dijiste buenos días ayer.” — “You said good morning yesterday.”
- “Él decía que sí a la invitación antes.” — “He used to say yes to the invitation before.”
- “Yo diré buenos días mañana.” — “I will say good morning tomorrow.”
- “Tú dirías la verdad algún día.” — “You would say the truth someday.”
- “Él ha dicho que sí a la invitación esta semana.” — “He has said yes to the invitation this week.”
- “Yo había dicho la verdad antes de la fiesta.” — “I had said the truth before the party.”
- “Tú habrás dicho buenos días para mañana.” — “You will have said good morning by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él diga que sí a la invitación.” — “It is important that he say yes to the invitation.”
- “¡Di la verdad!” — “Say the truth!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo decir la verdad.”
✓ Right: “Yo digo la verdad.”
The infinitive decir never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form digo.
2. Confusing decir with hablar
✗ Wrong: “Yo hablo la verdad.”
✓ Right: “Yo digo la verdad.”
Decir is to say or tell something; hablar is to speak or talk.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy dicho la verdad.”
✓ Right: “Yo he dicho la verdad.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle dicho.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “dire”
✓ Right: “diré”
The accent on diré is part of the spelling in the future. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the e → i stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo dego la verdad.”
✓ Right: “Yo digo la verdad.”
decir changes its stem vowel in the present tense (e → i), so the yo form is digo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo dije la verdad antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo decía la verdad antes.”
The preterite dije describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect decía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on decir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of decir in the Present indicative?
- A) dices
- B) dice
- C) decimos
- D) digo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of decir in the Preterite?
- A) dijiste
- B) dijimos
- C) dijo
- D) dije
What is the nosotros/as form of decir in the Imperfect?
- A) decíais
- B) decíamos
- C) decía
- D) decías
What is the tú form of decir in the Future?
- A) dirás
- B) diré
- C) dirá
- D) diremos
What is the yo form of decir in the Conditional?
- A) dirías
- B) diríamos
- C) diríais
- D) diría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of decir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) digamos
- B) digáis
- C) diga
- D) digas
What is the yo form of decir in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) dijerais
- B) dijera
- C) dijeras
- D) dijéramos
What is the gerund of decir?
- A) diciendo
- B) podiendo
- C) yendo
- D) viendo
What is the past participle of decir?
- A) podido
- B) ido
- C) visto
- D) dicho
What does decir mean in English?
- A) to go
- B) to see
- C) to say
- D) to can
Answer key
- D) digo — the yo form of decir in the present indicative is digo. The other options (dices, dice, decimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) dijo — the él/ella/Ud. form of decir in the preterite is dijo. The other options (dije, dijiste, dijimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) decíamos — the nosotros/as form of decir in the imperfect is decíamos. The other options (decía, decías, decía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) dirás — the tú form of decir in the future is dirás. The other options (diré, dirá, diremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) diría — the yo form of decir in the conditional is diría. The other options (dirías, diría, diríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) diga — the él/ella/Ud. form of decir in the present subjunctive is diga. The other options (diga, digas, digamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) dijera — the yo form of decir in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is dijera. The other options (dijeras, dijera, dijéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) diciendo — the gerund of decir is diciendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) dicho — the past participle of decir is dicho; perfect tenses use haber + dicho. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to say — decir means “to say” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does decir mean in English?
decir means “to say”. You use it for quoting words and messages, for giving information, and for saying yes or no to invitations. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is decir regular or irregular?
decir is irregular — stem-changing (e → i), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, past-participle, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is diciendo and the past participle is dicho.
What are the gerund and past participle of decir?
The gerund is diciendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is dicho — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he dicho (I have said).
What is the difference between decir and hablar?
Decir is to say or tell something; hablar is to speak or talk. If you are unsure, check the full table for hablar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I say” in Spanish?
Say “Yo digo la verdad.” — “I say the truth every day.” The yo form of the present is digo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- decir in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- decir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Poder conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Ir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Ver conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise decir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise decir with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise decir with the interactive tool.