Hablar vs Decir vs Contar: What’s the difference?

¿Hablamos? ¿Te cuento? ¿Te digo? (Shall we talk? Shall I tell you? Shall I say?)

Which one is better? What’s the difference? What’s going on with these verbs?

HABLAR vs DECIR vs CONTAR: What’s the difference?

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Today, we’re going to explore the difference between hablar vs decir vs contar. Spring Spanish teacher Maura is ready to explain everything to you!

Let’s begin!

1. Decir (To say)

Let’s talk about them separately first. At the end of the lesson, we’ll bring them together and compare them.

What does “decir” do?

“Decir” is the most literal of the three. It’s about expressing or pronouncing specific information like words or phrases. It’s the most specific. It’s information that comes from a person.

So we say things like:

Spanish	English	Explanation
¡Qué locura! ¿Y qué te dijo? ¿Y tú qué le dijiste?	What madness! And what did he/she tell you? And what did you tell him/her?	Whenever you’re recreating a conversation or gossip, you’ll use “decir”.
Yo nunca dije eso. No seas mentirosa.	I never said that. Don’t be a liar.	–
Es importante decir la verdad.	It’s important to tell the truth.	There are certain chunks that simply go with one and not with another. “Decir la verdad” is one of them.

There are other chunks like:

Spanish	English	Explanation
¡No me digas!	You don’t say!	You use this to express surprise.
¿Cómo se dice “decir” en inglés?	How do you say “decir” in English?	Whenever you ask about the translation to another language, you’ll use “decir”.
Digamos que el mundo se acaba mañana, ¿qué harías hoy?	Let’s say the world ends tomorrow, what would you do today?	Please tell me what you would do in the comments. At the end of the video, I’ll tell you what I would do. Now, the chunk “digamos que” is always used to create hypotheses.

“Decir” also sometimes works as a synonym for “llamar” (to call). But not “llamar” on the phone. Rather: to call someone in a certain way.

Look at the examples:

Spanish	English	Explanation
¡No le digas “tonta” a tu hermana!	Don’t call your sister “stupid”!	Here we could say “no llames ‘tonta’ a tu hermana” and it would be the same.
Se molestó porque le dije sifrina.	She got upset because I called her sifrina.	It would be the same to say “se molestó porque la llamé sifrina”. “Sifrina” is the Venezuelan version of: fresa (Mexico), pija (Spain), cheta (Argentina), gomelo (Colombia).

“Sifrina” is the Venezuelan version of: fresa (Mexico), pija (Spain), cheta (Argentina), gomelo (Colombia).

2. Hablar (To talk)

“Hablar” is no longer something that comes from one person.

“Hablar” is a bit broader than “decir“. It refers to the ability to express oneself. It usually happens between two or more people. It’s closer to “conversar” (to converse). Here we’re not talking about specific information, but about more open topics.

Look at the examples:

Spanish	English	Explanation
Ayer vi a Carla y estuvimos hablando un rato.	Yesterday I saw Carla and we talked for a while.	You can use “hablar” as a synonym for “catching up” with someone.
La llamé, pero no hablamos sobre la operación.	I called her, but we didn’t talk about the operation.	–
Tengo tiempo sin hablar con Mauricio.	It’s been a while since I’ve talked to Mauricio.	–
Vale, gracias. Chao, hablamos.	Okay, thanks. Bye, we’ll talk.	You can use it to say goodbye and it means the same as “we’ll keep in touch”.
Yo hablo inglés desde que tengo memoria.	I’ve spoken English for as long as I can remember.	Since “hablar” is the ability to express oneself, it’s the only one of the three that refers to languages.

You can also use “hablar” to say whether or not you’re in contact with someone. Even if you have or don’t have an active relationship with someone.

Like:

Spanish	English	Explanation
Yo la conozco, pero no hablamos.	I know her, but we don’t talk.	Don’t take it literally. It’s not about never speaking to that person. It’s about not being in constant contact. We’re not close friends, basically.
¿Ustedes se hablan?	Are you two on speaking terms?	Sometimes it’s even about people you’ve had problems with. You can say that you “no longer speak” to someone because something bad happened.
Me cae muy bien Amanda. Últimamente nos estamos hablando más.	I really like Amanda. Lately we’ve been talking more.	It can also be the opposite of the previous example. Sometimes something positive happens and the relationship becomes closer.

And, since “hablar” deals with topics, it’s used to talk about the subject of a movie, a conference, a talk, etc.

Like:

Spanish	English
El ponente habló sobre el calentamiento global.	The speaker talked about global warming.
La película habla sobre la guerra.	The movie is about war.
Este artículo habla sobre la alimentación.	This article is about nutrition.

In Mexico, “hablar” is also used as a synonym for “llamar por teléfono” (to call on the phone). Right, Paulísima?

It’s possible that this happens in other Latin American countries. We all understand it the same way.

3. Contar (To tell)

“Contar” is the biggest.

It’s about narrating stories.

“Contar” needs a story, a tale. A complete piece of gossip. Not something specific that someone “said”. Remember that in the end we’ll compare all three to see when they come together.

Let’s look at examples of “telling a story to someone”:

Spanish	English	Explanation
Cuéntame todo sobre el viaje.	Tell me everything about the trip.	–
Te voy a echar un cuento, pero no le cuentes a nadie.	I’m going to tell you a story, but don’t tell anyone.	–
No me cuentes el final de la película.	Don’t tell me the ending of the movie.	Whenever you talk about parts of a story, whether it’s a book or a movie, you’ll use “contar” for it.
Ella no me cuenta nada nunca.	She never tells me anything.	When you want to complain that someone doesn’t share their things with you, you’ll also use “contar”.

“Contar” is also a verb that means: to count numbers or quantities. And, “contar con alguien” which means to be able to rely on someone.

It’s good for you to know, but those uses have nothing to do with “decir” and “hablar“.

4. Let’s compare: Hablar vs Decir vs Contar

Now let’s look at what happens when these verbs come together.

The first thing is that “hablar” is the ignored brother. “Hablar” can’t substitute “decir” or “contar” or vice versa. But “contar” and “decir” do come together.

For example:

“Decir” and “Contar“- These two can come together in uses like:

Spanish	English
No le digas a nadie or no le cuentes a nadie.	Don’t tell anyone.
Me dijo que venía mañana or me contó que venía mañana.	He/She told me he/she was coming tomorrow.
No me digas de qué trata la historia or no me cuentes de qué trata la historia.	Don’t tell me what the story is about.

In these cases, they are quite interchangeable. It doesn’t make any important difference.

Now let’s see how the three differ. This is what would happen if we use them in the same sentence:

Spanish	English	Explanation
No me cuentes	Don’t tell me	This is about not wanting to know something. Like the end of a series or a piece of gossip you’re not interested in.
No me digas	You don’t say	This expresses surprise. It means “I can’t believe you!” It has nothing to do with wanting to know something or not.
No me hables	Don’t talk to me	This means you’re angry with the other person. You really don’t want to talk to them.

Therefore, you can have sentences like:

Spanish	English
Le dije que no me contara, se molestó y me dejó de hablar.	I told him/her not to tell me, he/she got upset and stopped talking to me.
Me dijo que necesitaba hablar conmigo, pero no me contó nada importante.	He/She told me he/she needed to talk to me, but didn’t tell me anything important.
Ayer Carla y yo hablamos un rato y le conté lo que me dijiste.	Yesterday Carla and I talked for a while and I told her what you told me.

We hope this has helped you.

You can continue a new lesson by learning how to conjugate “decir” with our dearest Paulísima. Thank you for being here and see you!