Presente: Dire (to say/tell) | Italian Grammar

Dire ("to say / to tell") is the verb behind every quoted utterance in Italian. It is irregular in the present and irregular in nearly every other tense too, but the irregularities are systematic — they all derive from the underlying Latin stem dic- (from dicere), which surfaces throughout the conjugation. Once you see this, dire becomes one of the easier irregular verbs.

The harder challenge is semantic. Italian splits "to say" / "to tell" / "to speak" / "to tell a story" into dire, parlare, raccontare — three verbs with non-overlapping territories. Reach for the wrong one and the sentence sounds wrong even when grammatically perfect.

The conjugation

Person	Conjugation	Stress
io	dico	dìco
tu	dici	dìci
lui / lei / Lei	dice	dìce
noi	diciamo	diciàmo
voi	dite	dìte
loro	dicono	dìcono

The Latin stem dic- explains everything:

Dire itself is the surface infinitive; the underlying stem is dic-, which is why the present tense looks like a regular -ere conjugation built on dic-: dico, dici, dice, diciamo, dite, dicono.
The 2pl form is dite (not dicete) — a relic of the syncopated Latin dicitis → dicte → dite. This is the only form where the stem looks reduced.
The pronunciation alternates: dico, dicono are pronounced with /k/ (hard c before o); dici, dice, diciamo with /tʃ/ (soft c before i, e). The spelling reflects standard Italian orthography — no h needed.
The 3pl is rizotonic: dìcono, stress on the first syllable. Dicòno is wrong.

Cosa dici? Non ti sento bene.

What are you saying? I can't hear you well.

Mia nonna dice sempre la stessa cosa.

My grandmother always says the same thing.

I miei colleghi non dicono mai cosa pensano davvero.

My colleagues never say what they really think.

Diciamo la verità: la riunione è stata noiosa.

Let's be honest: the meeting was boring.

Cosa dite voi della nuova proposta?

What do you guys say about the new proposal?

Auxiliary in compound tenses: avere

Dire is transitive — its direct object is whatever you say (a word, a sentence, a piece of information). It takes avere in compound tenses, with the irregular participio passato detto.

Te l'ho detto cento volte, non posso venire stasera.

I've told you a hundred times, I can't come tonight.

Cosa ti ha detto Maria?

What did Maria tell you?

Non ho mai detto una cosa simile!

I've never said such a thing!

The participio agrees only when preceded by lo, la, li, le, ne: L'ho detta (I said it — referring to la verità, fem.). This is the standard avere-agreement rule.

Dire vs parlare vs raccontare

This is the conceptual heart of the page. Italian splits the territory of English say / tell / speak across three verbs that do not overlap.

Dire — the content of what is said

Dire introduces the content of an utterance. You dire a word, a sentence, a piece of information, a fact, an opinion, a lie. Dire takes a direct object (the content) and an optional indirect object (the person you're telling).

Pattern: dire qualcosa a qualcuno ("to say/tell something to someone")

Marco dice sempre la verità.

Marco always tells the truth.

Cosa hai detto al direttore?

What did you say to the director?

Mi dici come si chiama tuo cugino?

Will you tell me what your cousin is called?

Non dirlo a nessuno, è un segreto.

Don't tell anyone, it's a secret.

Parlare — the act of talking, no content focus

Parlare describes the activity of speaking — the social or linguistic act, not what is said. It does not take a direct object of "what was said."

Patterns: parlare con qualcuno (talk to/with someone) — parlare di qualcosa (talk about something) — parlare una lingua (speak a language, exception that takes a direct object).

Devo parlare con il professore dopo lezione.

I have to talk with the professor after class.

Parliamo sempre dei nostri progetti durante il caffè.

We always talk about our plans over coffee.

Mio nonno parla quattro lingue.

My grandfather speaks four languages.

Non voglio parlare adesso, sono troppo arrabbiato.

I don't want to talk right now, I'm too angry.

The difference: parlare describes that you are doing the talking; dire introduces what you are saying. Parlo italiano (I speak Italian — I have the language); Dico "ciao" (I say "ciao" — that specific word).

Raccontare — to narrate, to tell a story

Raccontare is "to tell" in the narrative sense — telling a story, an anecdote, an account, news, a joke, a dream. The object is something with structure and length, not a single fact or sentence.

La nonna ci raccontava sempre delle storie bellissime.

Grandma used to tell us beautiful stories.

Raccontami com'è andata la tua giornata.

Tell me how your day went.

Ti racconto un aneddoto divertente.

Let me tell you a funny anecdote.

Mi ha raccontato tutto della sua infanzia.

He told me all about his childhood.

The boundary between dire and raccontare: dire is for short, factual content; raccontare is for narrative content with development. Mi ha detto che ha vinto (he told me he won — fact); Mi ha raccontato come ha vinto (he told me how he won — story).

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The clean test: if you would say "speak" in English with no content following, use parlare. If you would say "say" or "tell" with content, use dire (short content) or raccontare (narrative content). When asking "What did he say?" — dire. When asking "Tell me about your trip" — raccontare.

Reported speech: dice che vs dice di

This is one of the most important syntactic patterns built around dire. When reporting what someone says, Italian uses two structures depending on whether the reported content is a statement or a command/request.

Reported statement: dice + che + indicativo

For reporting what someone said as a statement, use dire + che + finite verb (in the indicative).

Marco dice che viene alle otto.

Marco says he's coming at eight.

Mia madre dice che fa troppo freddo per uscire.

My mother says it's too cold to go out.

Dicono che il nuovo film è bellissimo.

They say the new movie is wonderful.

The reported clause uses the indicative, even though English sometimes uses backshifted tenses. Italian preserves the original tense more often than English does.

Reported command/request: dice + di + infinito

For reporting a command, an instruction, or a request, use dire + a qualcuno + di + infinito.

Mia madre mi dice di studiare di più.

My mother tells me to study more.

Il dottore mi ha detto di riposare.

The doctor told me to rest.

Ci dicono di aspettare cinque minuti.

They're telling us to wait five minutes.

Ti ho detto mille volte di non toccare quella roba.

I've told you a thousand times not to touch that stuff.

The pattern matters: che + indicativo for statements, di + infinitive for commands. Mixing them produces ungrammatical sentences.

Italian	English	Type
Dice che viene domani.	He says he's coming tomorrow.	statement
Mi dice di venire domani.	He tells me to come tomorrow.	command/request
Dice che ho ragione.	He says I'm right.	statement
Mi dice di avere pazienza.	He tells me to be patient.	command/request

Italian does not distinguish say from tell

English has two verbs where Italian has one: say (no obligatory recipient) and tell (requires a recipient: "tell me"). Italian collapses both into dire, with the recipient marked by an optional indirect object.

Dico che è vero.

I say (that) it's true.

Ti dico che è vero.

I tell you (that) it's true.

Dimmi la verità.

Tell me the truth.

Glielo dico domani.

I'll tell him/her tomorrow.

The English habit of asking "should I say say or tell?" simply does not arise. Always dire; if there is a recipient, attach it as an indirect object pronoun (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi) or as a + person.

The imperative

The tu imperative of dire is one of the most distinctive in Italian: di' (with apostrophe) or dì (with grave accent). Both are accepted; the apostrophe form is older and more common in print.

The Lei form is dica (from the congiuntivo). The noi form is diciamo ("let's say").

Di' la verità!

Tell the truth!

Dimmi cosa è successo.

Tell me what happened.

Mi dica, signora, come posso aiutarLa?

Tell me, ma'am, how can I help you?

Diciamo che hai ragione, e adesso?

Let's say you're right — what now?

When pronouns attach to di', the consonant doubles: dimmi (tell me), dillo (say it), digli (tell him), dille (tell her). This is the same doubling that happens with fa', da', va', sta'.

The negative tu form uses non + infinitive: non dire (don't say / don't tell).

Non dire bugie.

Don't tell lies.

Non dirgli niente.

Don't tell him anything.

Common mistakes

❌ Marco mi parla che viene domani.

Incorrect — for reporting content, use dire, not parlare.

✅ Marco mi dice che viene domani.

Correct — dire introduces content; parlare is the act of talking.

❌ Mi ha raccontato che è arrivato in ritardo.

Awkward — for a single fact, use dire; for a story, raccontare.

✅ Mi ha detto che è arrivato in ritardo.

Correct — dire for short, factual reported content.

❌ Voi dicete sempre la stessa cosa.

Incorrect — the 2pl form is dite, not dicete.

✅ Voi dite sempre la stessa cosa.

Correct — dite is the syncopated 2pl form.

❌ Loro dicòno la verità.

Incorrect stress — dicono is rizotonic, with stress on the root.

✅ Loro dìcono la verità.

Correct — stress on the first syllable.

❌ Mi ha detto che venga alle sette.

Incorrect — for reported commands, use 'di + infinito', not 'che + congiuntivo'.

✅ Mi ha detto di venire alle sette.

Correct — di + infinitive for reported commands/requests.

❌ Ti dico parlare più piano.

Incorrect — needs the preposition 'di' before the infinitive.

✅ Ti dico di parlare più piano.

Correct — dire + di + infinitive.

❌ Sono detto la verità.

Incorrect — dire takes avere, not essere, in compound tenses.

✅ Ho detto la verità.

Correct — dire is transitive and uses avere.

Key takeaways

Dire conjugates as dico, dici, dice, diciamo, dite, dicono — note the syncopated 2pl dite and the rizotonic 3pl dìcono. The participio is detto.

Three-way split for English say / tell / speak:

Dire introduces the content — dico la verità, dico una bugia, dico che è tardi. Recipient is optional and marked by an indirect object.
Parlare describes the act of talking — parlo con Marco, parlo di sport, parlo italiano. No content as direct object (except languages).
Raccontare narrates a story or extended account — racconto una storia, racconto la mia giornata.

For reported speech: dire che + indicativo for statements; dire (a qualcuno) di + infinitive for commands.

The tu imperative is di' (or dì), with consonant doubling when pronouns attach: dimmi, dillo, digli.

Together with fare, dire handles a huge share of everyday Italian — both verbs derive from Latin verbs with the stem in -c-, and both reward early memorization.

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