they were saying
Je ne comprenais pas ce qu'ils disaient.
I didn't understand what they were saying.
— Le Frère 2 (2000)
Ils disaient qu'ils voulaient te rencontrer.
They said they wanted to meet you.
Mais ils disaient que c'était ça qu'on me demandait.
But they said that was what I was being asked for.
— Apocalypse Now (1979)
En tout cas, c'est ce qu'ils disaient.
In any case, that's what they said.
— La Famille Tenenbaum (2001)
Ils disaient tout autre chose.
They were saying something completely different.
— L'Arche russe (2002)
Ils disaient qu'en cent ans, la jungle aurait tout recouvert.
They said that in a hundred years, the jungle would have covered everything.
— Une seconde mère (2015)
What were they saying?
That's what they said.