What is the correct way to say "I decided to.." in Spanish? Is is "Me decidí..." or "Decidí...."

Question

Hi!

What is the correct way to say "I decided to.." in Spanish? Is is "Me decidí..." or "Decidí...."

Thanks.

Answer 1

None of the options is more correct than the other one; they are just different. "Decidir" is a verb without any special connotations, whereas "decidirse" suggests that some time and/or effort has been taken before making the decision, which in English can be more or less expressed as "make up one's mind to..." The former is more generic, neutral, and widely used even in literature, while the latter is more subjective, expressive and slightly more common in spoken Spanish.

Thank you :) Impressed by how quickly the 3 of you have responded. I'll go for Me decidí.... ! as I'll taking about someone trying to change their life. - Shimmers, Apr 18, 2011

By someone- I of course mean 'Me' ! Thank you again. :) - Shimmers, Apr 18, 2011

Answer 2

Decidí ........

Also very common is Tomé la decisión .........

Thank you :) - Shimmers, Apr 18, 2011

Answer 3

"Me decidí" is more like "I made up my mind to...."

And "Decidí" is just plain "I decided"

Thank you. :) - Shimmers, Apr 18, 2011

Answer 4

Hello Shimmers and Welcome to the SpanishDict forurm

Julian and Luciente have already more than adequately answered your question. I thought I would add a point related to your question when you asked would it be: me decidí.?

I can understand your confusion since there are two verbs here which have similar meanings:

decidir = to decide

decidirse (pron verb)= to make up one's mind

Only verbs which are reflexive by nature; eg levantarse = to get up; afeitarse = to shave or those which are what are referred to as pronominal verbs, would include the reflexive pronoun endings eg peinarse to comb one's hair/to brush one's hair

Unless the verb uses these reflexive endings which are easily identified in a dictionary by the presence of se at the end of the infinitive eg decidirse or peinarse it would not be conjugated with the pronoun me, te se etc... before the verb

I hope I have made this clear

Thank you for your thorough explanation Mr Feliz- it has helped and yes, is much clearer now. :) Garcias. - Shimmers, Apr 18, 2011

You are welcome Feliz is not my real name so just ''Feliz'' will do :) - FELIZ77, Apr 18, 2011