Please give a literal translation of "¿Qué le digo?".

Question

"¿Qué le digo?" can be translated as "What am I saying to you / him". However it is an opening remark that does not seem to fit in context with the next sentence which is "Que está usted conforme con el proyecto" which I translate as "I hope that you are in agreement with the project"

• Welcome to SpanishDict Dave, hope you stick around. - rabbitwho Jan 24, 2012
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Answer 1

what should i tell him/her

• Yay! I was right *dance* - rabbitwho Jan 24, 2012
• Many thanks, it makes sense now - davebritton Jan 24, 2012

Answer 2

If the next sentence was had a meaning of "hope" wouldn't it be "que esté" - Subjunctive?

Qué le digo could also mean "what will I say to him?" because the present simple is used to talk about the future a lot in Spanish

AND

The "le" could mean "you" as opposed to "him" since you're speaking formally.

Does that help?

To me it means

"What will I tell him?

(will I tell him) that you are in agreement with the project?"

OR

Person A: "What will I tell him?

Person B: (tell him) that you are in agreement with the project.

• good answer - Heidita Jan 24, 2012
• Thanks Heidi :) - rabbitwho Jan 24, 2012

Answer 3

Just remember the le could be referring to him/her/you(formal).

And digo = I tell/say or I am telling/saying.

Thus there are a lot of options to translate including the will and should options mentioned in the other posts.

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Although for should I would include deber.

¿Qué le debo decir? What should I tell/say to him/her/you?

Answer 4

Muy interesante. Cuando me estaba quedando (quedaba?) en un pueblito rural mexicano, una frase común entre la gente que yo oí era "Yo te digo." Su frase es semejante.