díselo

Question

What verb does this come from?

e.g. Comenta con tu compañero por qué unas veces se dice y otras . Díselo al profesor.

Thankyou.

Answer 1

Thank you very much for that comprehensive answer; those compound words keep stumping me!

Answer 2

Díselo is composed of 3 words:

1. Di Imperative form second person singular (tú) of the verb DECIR
2. se indirect personal pronoun third person singular = le'
3. lo direct personal pronoun third person singular

The compound meaning is: Say (di) it (lo) to him (se=le')

' The reason why "le" is substituted by "se" (Díselo) in this case is because you cannot have two third person pronouns together. ie "le" and "les" are substituted by "se" when they come before lo, la, los, las.

You can never say Dílelo but you could say Dile eso al profesor.

The reason why it´s all in one word is because when you have an affirmative imperative all pronouns come after it and joined to it. For example Cómpralo (buy it) or Cómpraselo (buy it for him/ her /them)

Also, notice the accent (tilde) on the í . As you elongate the word the strongest syllable become Di and you need to show that in writing by placing the tilde on the í