Verbo say en inglés: conjugación completa
Diego De La Croix
Profesor bilingüe francés-español
El verbo inglés to say significa «decir» en español. Es un verbo irregular, lo que significa que sus formas de pasado simple y participio pasado no siguen la regla estándar de añadir -ed y deben memorizarse. Se usa para reportar habla directa: She said "hello". A diferencia de tell, no requiere un objeto indirecto obligatorio. Atención: says se pronuncia /sez/, no /seɪz/.
Conjugación de say en indicativo
Present simple (presente simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | say |
| you | say |
| he/she/it | says |
| we | say |
| they | say |
Present continuous (presente continuo)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | am saying |
| you | are saying |
| he/she/it | is saying |
| we | are saying |
| they | are saying |
Present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | have said |
| you | have said |
| he/she/it | has said |
| we | have said |
| they | have said |
Past simple (pasado simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | said |
| you | said |
| he/she/it | said |
| we | said |
| they | said |
Past continuous (pasado continuo)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | was saying |
| you | were saying |
| he/she/it | was saying |
| we | were saying |
| they | were saying |
Past perfect (pluscuamperfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | had said |
| you | had said |
| he/she/it | had said |
| we | had said |
| they | had said |
Future simple (futuro simple)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | will say |
| you | will say |
| he/she/it | will say |
| we | will say |
| they | will say |
Future perfect (futuro perfecto)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | will have said |
| you | will have said |
| he/she/it | will have said |
| we | will have said |
| they | will have said |
Conjugación de say en condicional
Present (presente)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | would say |
| you | would say |
| he/she/it | would say |
| we | would say |
| they | would say |
Past (pasado)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| I | would have said |
| you | would have said |
| he/she/it | would have said |
| we | would have said |
| they | would have said |
Conjugación de say en imperativo
Conjugación de say en participio
Present (presente)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| - | saying |
Past (pasado)
| Persona | Conjugación |
|---|---|
| - | said |
Ejemplos
She said hello.
Ella dijo hola.
What did you say?
¿Qué dijiste?
He says he's busy.
Dice que está ocupado.
I would say it's a good idea.
Yo diría que es una buena idea.
That is to say...
Es decir...
They say it's going to rain.
Dicen que va a llover.
It goes without saying.
No hace falta decirlo.
Say cheese!
¡Di "patata"! (para una foto)
I have nothing to say.
No tengo nada que decir.
Needless to say, he was late.
Ni que decir tiene, llegó tarde.
Expresiones
easier said than done
del dicho al hecho hay un trecho
say the word
dar la orden / decir cuándo
have a say
tener voz y voto
Errores frecuentes
Olvidar la -s de la tercera persona: He say en vez de He says
Correcto: He/She/It says
En el present simple, la tercera persona del singular (he/she/it) siempre añade -s o -es al verbo. Es el error más frecuente entre hispanohablantes.
Regularizar el pasado: sayed en vez de said
Correcto: Past simple: said — Past participle: said
«say» es irregular: sus formas de pasado no siguen la regla estándar de añadir -ed. Deben aprenderse de memoria.
Formar preguntas sin do/does: You say? en vez de Do you say?
Correcto: Do you say? / Does he/she say?
En español, la pregunta se forma con la entonación. En inglés, el present simple y past simple necesitan el auxiliar do/does/did para preguntas y negaciones.
Confundir present simple con present continuous: I say vs I am saying
Correcto: Hábito/general → I say | Ahora mismo → I am saying
El present simple se usa para hábitos y verdades generales, mientras que el present continuous se usa para acciones en progreso. En español a menudo se usa el mismo tiempo para ambos.
Antónimos
Comparación inglés / español
| Aspecto | Inglés | Español |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | I say | yo digo |
| Present simple (3rd person) | he/she says | él/ella dice |
| Present continuous | I am saying | yo estoy diciendo |
| Past simple | I said | yo dije |
| Present perfect | I have said | yo he dicho |
| Future simple | I will say | yo diré |
| Negative | I don't say | yo no digo |
| Question | Do you say? | ¿tú dices? |