ellos decían

they were saying, they used to say

d e ˈθ i a n → decir
dec to say, to tell + ían 3rd person plural imperfect (indicative or subjunctive)
verb · third plural · imperfect indicative Rare #24,464
they were saying, they used to say Imperfect tense (third person plural) of "decir".
SP: Decían que el restaurante era muy bueno.
EN: They were saying that the restaurant was very good.
Conjugation of decir
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First decía decíamos
Second decías —
Third decía decían
Subjunctive imperfect
SingularPlural
First decía decíamos
Second dijeras —
Third decía decían

Eso decían frente al periodo porno de Picasso.

That's what they said about Picasso's pornographic period.

— Laurence Anyways (2012)

Y todos me decían loco cuando decía que quería jugar rugibol.

And everyone called me crazy when I said I wanted to play rugby.

— GOAT: Como cabras (2026)

Se decían cosas terribles de Don Ciccio.

Terrible things were said about Don Ciccio.

— Divorcio a la italiana (1961)

El espectáculo resultó tan decepcionante como decían.

The show was as disappointing as they said.

Había hombres que decían ser agentes del Servicio Exterior.

There were men who claimed to be Foreign Service agents.

Tom y Mary hacían lo que les decían.

Tom and Mary did what they were told.

A vos te decían el Che y a mí me encanta que me digan Sally.

They used to call you Che, and I love being called Sally.

— Diarios de motocicleta (2004)

Nos decían lo que entraba y lo que salía.

They told us what came in and what went out.

— Uno de los nuestros (1990)

Tim, así le decían.

Tim, that's what they called him.

— Buena suerte, pásalo bien, no mueras (2026)

Y ustedes, ¿qué decían?

And what were you saying?

— Perfectos desconocidos (2016)

Todos me decían esa tontería.

Everyone kept telling me that nonsense.

— P.K. (Peekay) (2014)

Le decían a la gente que fuese ahí.

They told people to go there.

Decían algo en japonés.

They were saying something in Japanese.

Sounds similar to