Ils ont dit oui.

English Translation

They said yes.

Isn’t it supposed to be “Ils ont dit que oui”? This is something I am often corrected on in classes - e.g., it is “peut-être que non”, and not “peut-être non”

You like to scratch into subtle grammatical questions!

Ils ont dit que oui is correct and suggests a citation.

Ils ont dit oui is correct and only conveys the meaning of what they said.

The verb dire (and répondre) can be used in that form with a few key words: oui, non, bonjour, bonsoir, adieu, au revoir, merci, ouf, zut and… merde.

French grammar being duly infernal, note that dire que bonjour / merci / ouf / zut, etc… are not correct, but dire que oui/non/si is …

You’re welcome :grin:

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Ha! Makes perfect sense that verbs like “dire” and “répondre” have more complex rules.

Grateful for the depth of the explanation, and for your patience! :pray:

I’m by no means an expert in french, but I would have expected it to be the other way around, namely that “que” introduces the unquoted meaning?

That would match with what @paris2020 said, that “peut-être non” is wrong - because you can’t quote “peut-être” but you can quote “ils”, and with what @Anxos said, that “dire que bonjour” is wrong - because “bonjour” is not a meaning or fact and can only be quoted.

I don’t mean to correct anything, just asking to clarify because I’m curious and confused.

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