diría

Diría is the present conditional form of the Spanish verb decir, meaning “to say” or “to tell.” It is used to express what someone would say under certain conditions or to hedge a statement. The full set of present conditional forms for decir is: yo diría, tú dirías, él/ella/usted diría, nosotros diríamos, vosotros diríais, ellos/ellas/ustedes dirían. Note that the form diría is identical for the first-person singular and the third-person singular; the subject is determined by context.

The stem dir- is irregular in decir, and the conditional inherits this irregular stem rather than following the regular -r- infinitive pattern. This mirrors how decir behaves in other tenses, such as the preterite dije and present dice, and shows the verb’s overall irregularity across forms.

Usage and nuance: diría is used to speak of hypothetical statements, polite or cautious claims, and conditional propositions. It often appears in clauses expressing a condition or when hedging a judgment. Examples include: “Diría que es buena idea.” (I would say it’s a good idea.) “Si tuviera tiempo, diría la verdad.” (If I had time, I would tell the truth.) It can also introduce indirect speech or reported opinions, especially in conjectural or tentative contexts: “Según él, diría que lo aprobarán” (According to him, he would say they will pass).

Etymology: diría derives from decir, whose Latin origin is dicere. The conditional form uses the irregular stem dir- that appears in several tenses of decir.

See also: decir, verb conjugation in Spanish, conditional mood in Spanish.