SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. Maybe you are
catching up with what has been happening. Maybe you are in the
process of making some decision. The other person knows that other
people have been giving you advice and says to you something like:
"tell me, what do people tell you to do?".
In
Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:
Dime,
¿qué te dice la gente que hagas?
On the
other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:
Dígame,
¿qué le dice la gente que haga (usted)?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say what other people (third parties) tell you
to do. When saying what third parties tell you to do, you DO
NOT need to be concerned about the level of formality in the
other person's question. Your main concern should be about
communicating what third parties say. Perhaps you want to say that:
- A single person (third party) tells you to do something;
- A single person (third party) tells you not to do something;
- Two or more people (third parties) tell you to do something;
- Two or more people (third parties) tell you not to do something;
- People in general tell you to do something;
- People
in general tell you not to do something;
Here are some
examples of how you could reply:
- Pedro me dice que aprenda español* (Pedro tells me to learn Spanish);
- Pedro me dice que no trabaje tanto * (Pedro tells me not to work so hard);
- Pedro y Ana me dicen que aprenda español* (Pedro and Ana tell me to learn Spanish);
- Pedro y Ana me dicen que no trabaje tanto * (Pedro and Ana tell me not to work so hard);
- La gente me dice que aprenda español* (people tell me to learn Spanish);
- La gente me dice que no trabaje tanto * (people tell me not to work so hard);
Now you should
practice further replying to someone who says to you:
Dime,
¿qué te dice la gente que hagas?
*Please
see grammar below
Grammar-Subjunctive
Please
note these are typical examples of the use of subjunctive mood. When the Spanish verb “decir”
(to
tell)
is used as a verb of influence*, it requires the use of a subjunctive
mood in the corresponding subordinate/ dependent clauses.
*NB
An alternative and frequent use of the Spanish verb “decir”
is when used as a reporting verb in indirect speech. It should be
noted that when used as a reporting verb, subjunctive mood should not
be used in subordinate/ dependent clauses of the verb “decir”.
This is the subject of a separete post in this blog.
Some examples of
the use of the subjunctive in subordinate/ dependent clauses of this
type are:
- Le digo a Pedro que te llame (I will tell Pedro to call you);
- ¿Me dices que no lo haga? (are you telling me not to do it?);
- Pedro nos dice que vayamos a su casa (Pedro is telling us to go to his house);
- Te estamos diciendo que vengas hoy (we are telling you to come today);
- ¿Ahora nos decís que no vayamos? (now are you telling us not to go?)
- Marta y Alfonso nos dicen que no lo hagamos (Marta and Alfonso tell us not to do it);
Now you should
practise this use of the subjunctive with some more sentences of your
own
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2 comments:
¡Que deje de fumar!
Y tú, ¿qué les dices?
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