Hablame vs Digame

Question

Can someone tell me what is the difference between these two and please provide an example too.

Gracias!

I have not been to Sarawak but I have been to Sabah two times and liked it very much. I am sure Sarawak would be great also - kirk1, Mar 20, 2013

Well Sabah and Sarawak are pretty much the same but if you are into natures and wild life Sarawak offers you the best! Cheers ;) - coolfadhli, Mar 20, 2013

Answer 1

Digame while this may appear abrupt to English ears is a very common way of answering the phone, sometimes, si: digame Another use I have seen is where you go into a bar or shop where you are known and there is a conversation going on. The owner turns to you for a moment gestures and says : Digame: listens to your order and prepares your, say, cortado while continuing and maybe including you in the conversation. It's casual but friendly in such cases. Spanish conversation can be quite loud and spirited in comparison with say and Edinburgh exchange in Morningside

Yes, it's the most normal way to answer the phone, digame or dime. You hear it all the time. - annierats, Mar 20, 2013

Answer 2

"Digame" means "tell me." The first part of the phrase is the usted command form of decir (which is the same as the imperative form) and the second part is the direct object pronoum "me". I guess "hablame" would mean "speak to me" but I have not heard that phrase used.

Answer 3

Just echoing Kirk´s great answer, digame is a very common thing to here. Hablame, though grammatically valid, I don´t think I´ve heard at all spoken, and maybe not even written. If it´s used at all, I don´t think it´s very common, or is a regionalism.

Answer 4

I guess any significant differences would be dictated by context, of which we have none.

I will add that besides using dígame to answer the phone, you may also hear it used in when you want to ask someone a question:

A: Perdon, pero tengo una pregunta

B: Dígame (informal - Dime)

Outside of that not being a native speaker the only thing I can think of is dígame is "tell me" while "háblame" is talk to me.

If we look at these sentences:

Háblame de tí / Tell me about yourself

Dígame de uds / Tell me about yourself

I think the first sentence is more natural and more common than the second. A search in Google seems to confirm this. I don't know , it just "feels" right.

I know this doesn't help much, but it's all I got.

Thanks! - coolfadhli, Mar 22, 2013

Answer 5

Just as an aside, both words need an accent to allow them to be stressed in the right place.

Háblame vs Dígame

Answer 6

It's more common to hear "dime" in less formal conversation especially on the telephone.