Communication Verbs: Complete Reference | Italian Grammar

Italian communication verbs are notoriously fussy about the structures that follow them. Each one demands its own combination of preposition, mood, and case marking — and the choice often changes the meaning. This page collects the fifteen most important verbs and lays out their syntactic frames in one place, so you can stop guessing and start predicting.

The deeper logic to internalize: Italian distinguishes what is reported as fact (indicative) from what is reported as a wish, doubt, or instruction (subjunctive or infinitive). And it distinguishes same-subject reporting (di + infinitive) from different-subject reporting (che + finite verb). Once those two axes click, the table below stops looking like a list of arbitrary patterns.

The four main syntactic frames

Almost every communication verb on this page enters into one or more of these four frames:

Frame	Meaning	Example
verb + che + indicativo	Report a fact	Dice che piove.
verb + che + congiuntivo	Report a wish, opinion, doubt, command	Suggerisce che tu venga.
verb + di + infinito	Same subject for both verbs	Promette di tornare.
verb + a + person	Mark the addressee	L'ho detto a Marco.

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The single most important rule: when both verbs share the same subject, Italian uses di + infinito, not che + finite verb. "I promise that I'll come" is Prometto di venire, never *Prometto che io venga. This applies to every verb on this page that allows an infinitive complement.

The fifteen verbs at a glance

Verb	che + indic.	che + cong.	di + inf.	a + person
dire	yes (report)	yes (order)	yes (same subj.)	yes
parlare	—	—	yes (di = about)	yes (a = to)
raccontare	yes	—	yes	yes
chiedere	yes (ask whether)	yes (request)	yes	yes
domandare	yes	yes	yes	yes
rispondere	yes	—	yes	yes (a = to)
annunciare	yes	—	yes	yes
dichiarare	yes	—	yes	—
comunicare	yes	—	yes	yes
confermare	yes	—	yes	yes
negare	—	yes	yes	—
promettere	yes	yes (rare)	yes	yes
suggerire	—	yes	yes	yes
consigliare	—	yes	yes	yes
proporre	—	yes	yes	yes

Reporting verbs: dire, raccontare, annunciare, dichiarare, comunicare, confermare

These verbs report something as fact and therefore take che + indicativo. They also take a + person to mark the addressee, and di + infinito when the speaker reports their own action.

Dice che il treno è in ritardo.

He says the train is delayed.

Mi ha raccontato che hanno litigato di nuovo.

She told me they fought again.

Il sindaco ha annunciato che il festival si terrà a giugno.

The mayor announced that the festival will be held in June.

Ti confermo che arrivo alle otto.

I confirm to you that I'll arrive at eight.

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Dire shifts mood depending on meaning. Dico che è tardi (I say it's late — report) takes the indicative. Dico che tu venga (I'm telling you to come — order) takes the subjunctive. The verb is the same; the meaning changes the mood.

Asking verbs: chiedere, domandare, rispondere

Chiedere and domandare are largely interchangeable, with chiedere more common in everyday speech. Both take the indicative when asking for information ("ask whether") and the subjunctive when making a request ("ask that"). See chiedere vs domandare for the full distinction.

Mi ha chiesto se ero stanco.

He asked me if I was tired.

Le ho chiesto di chiudere la porta.

I asked her to close the door.

Chiede che tutti siano puntuali.

She asks that everyone be on time.

Le ho risposto che non potevo venire.

I answered her that I couldn't come.

Note that rispondere takes a for the person addressed (rispondere a Marco, not rispondere Marco) — a frequent transfer error from English.

Speaking: parlare

Parlare is the odd one out. It rarely takes a sentential complement (no parlo che...); instead it takes di for the topic and a or con for the interlocutor. To report what someone actually said, switch to dire or raccontare.

Parlo spesso con mia madre al telefono.

I often talk with my mother on the phone.

Abbiamo parlato di politica per tutta la sera.

We talked about politics all evening.

Ne ho parlato a Luca ieri.

I talked to Luca about it yesterday.

For the full breakdown, see dire vs parlare vs raccontare.

Promising and denying: promettere, negare

Promettere behaves like a normal reporting verb when promising a future fact (indicativo), but switches to di + infinitive when promising one's own action — which is how it appears most of the time.

Ti prometto di chiamarti domani.

I promise to call you tomorrow. (same subject — di + infinito)

Mi ha promesso che mi aiuterà.

He promised me he would help me. (different subjects — che + indicative)

Negare ("to deny") always takes che + congiuntivo, because denying frames the proposition as not-fact:

Nega che sia stato lui a chiamare.

He denies that it was him who called.

Negano di sapere qualcosa dell'incidente.

They deny knowing anything about the incident.

Suggesting and proposing: suggerire, consigliare, proporre

These three verbs always trigger the subjunctive when followed by che, because suggesting and advising frame an action as desired-but-not-yet-real. With same-subject statements, they take di + infinitive.

Ti consiglio di provare il ristorante in piazza.

I recommend you try the restaurant in the square.

Suggerisco che ci troviamo alle sette.

I suggest we meet at seven.

Hanno proposto di fare una pausa.

They suggested taking a break.

Propongo che ognuno porti qualcosa da mangiare.

I propose that each person bring something to eat.

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English makes no clear difference between "I suggest that we meet" (subjunctive in formal English, indicative in casual) and "I say that we meet". Italian is rigid: suggerire and proporre always take the subjunctive, because the action is being put forward as a proposal, not reported as fact.

Indirect speech and tense backshifting

When you report past speech, the embedded verb usually backshifts. Presente becomes imperfetto, passato prossimo becomes trapassato, and futuro becomes condizionale composto. This is identical to English "He says he is tired" → "He said he was tired."

Dice che è stanco.

He says he is tired.

Ha detto che era stanco.

He said he was tired. (presente → imperfetto)

Mi ha promesso che sarebbe venuto.

He promised me he would come. (futuro → condizionale composto)

Ha annunciato che aveva venduto la casa.

She announced that she had sold the house. (passato prossimo → trapassato)

Common mistakes

❌ Prometto che io vengo domani.

Incorrect — same subject requires di + infinitive, not che + indicative.

✅ Prometto di venire domani.

Correct — I promise to come tomorrow.

❌ Ho parlato Marco ieri.

Incorrect — parlare requires the preposition a or con before a person.

✅ Ho parlato con Marco ieri.

Correct — I talked with Marco yesterday.

❌ Ti consiglio che provi quel ristorante.

Awkward — consigliare with same subject as the request goes more naturally with di + infinitive.

✅ Ti consiglio di provare quel ristorante.

Correct — natural Italian word order.

❌ Nega che è stato lui.

Incorrect — negare always takes the subjunctive.

✅ Nega che sia stato lui.

Correct — denying triggers the subjunctive.

❌ Le ho risposto Marco.

Incorrect — rispondere takes a + person, not a direct object.

✅ Ho risposto a Marco.

Correct — I replied to Marco.

Key takeaways

The fifteen verbs above cover almost all communication situations in Italian. The pattern that ties them together is the four-way frame: che + indicativo for facts, che + congiuntivo for wishes/orders/denials, di + infinitivo for same-subject reporting, and a + person for the addressee.

Three points to internalize:

Same subject = di + infinitive. This is the single most common transfer error from English. Promise to come is prometto di venire, never prometto che vengo.
Suggesting and denying always take the subjunctive. Suggerire, proporre, consigliare, and negare all frame actions as desired-but-not-real or denied-as-real, both of which require congiuntivo with che.
Parlare is unique — it does not take sentential complements. To report what was said, switch to dire or raccontare.

For deeper treatments, see dire vs parlare vs raccontare, chiedere vs domandare, and the communication verbs overview. The companion family is the thought verbs, which follow many of the same patterns.

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