Phrase · 📢 Reporting news and promises
—¿Qué te dijo el médico? —Que descansara y tomara mucha agua.
"What did the doctor tell you?" "To rest and drink plenty of water."
B2reportingAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
—¿Quépronounwhatteobject pronoun(to) youtú · 2nd sing. · indirect objectdijoverbtold, saiddecir · past · 3rd sing.eldeterminerthemasc. · sing. · definitemédiconoundoctormasc. · sing.?—Que1conjunction(he said) todescansara1verbI restdescansar · subjunctive · imperfect · 1st sing.yconjunctionandtomara2verbI drinktomar · subjunctive · imperfect · 1st sing.muchadeterminera lot ofmucho · fem. · sing.agua3nounwaterfem. · sing..
- dijo → descansara: mood
- dijo → tomara: mood
- dijo → te: iobj
- agua → mucha: agree
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1A short answer that reports an order: Que + imperfect subjunctive = "(He told me) to…". Me dijo is understood. Reported speech II: commands, questions and time shifts →
- 2tomar agua = to drink water, the everyday Latin American verb (Spain prefers beber). Imperfect subjunctive: forms and uses →
- 3agua is feminine: mucha agua, el agua fría. It takes el only because it starts with a stressed a.
Variations
- —¿Qué te dijo el médico? —Que descansase y tomase mucha agua.