Dico: To Say

Dīcō means “say,” “tell,” “state,” “call,” or “declare.” Its principal parts are dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictum. The present system is mostly regular third conjugation, but the perfect changes dīc- to dīx-, the supine uses dict-, and the singular command is the short dīc, not dīce.

The central syntactic distinction is between what is said and the person addressed. The content may be a quotation, an accusative-and-infinitive statement, or an object such as sententiam; the ordinary addressee is dative. Classical ad + accusative with dīcō is chiefly specialized, as when an advocate pleads before a judge, not a free substitute for that dative.

Indicative: Complete Active Paradigm

Subjunctive: Complete Active Paradigm

First-person dīcam is future indicative or present subjunctive. A future adverb and independent assertion favor future; ut, nē, a question in indirect speech, or another subjunctive environment favors subjunctive.

Passive Voice

The perfect passive system uses dictus, -a, -um plus the appropriate form of sum: perfect indicative dictus sum, pluperfect dictus eram, future perfect dictus erō; perfect subjunctive dictus sim, pluperfect dictus essem. Change the participle for the subject’s gender and number and conjugate the auxiliary for person. Passive dīcitur often introduces reported information (formal/literary).

In the second example, nominative Caesar is the subject of both passive dīcitur and the infinitive phrase. English has the same “is said to” architecture, but Latin participial adventūrus agrees with Caesar.

Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms

The singular present active imperative is dīc; plural dīcite. It belongs with the four familiar short commands dīc, dūc, fac, fer. The fuller dīce occurs in (early/archaic) Latin but is not the neutral Classical default. The active future imperative has dīcitō (second or third person singular), dīcitōte (second plural), and dīcuntō (third plural). Present passive dīcere, dīciminī and future passive dīcitor, dīcuntor exist but are rare. Traditional grammars extend the short singular to compounds, as in praedīc, although compound imperatives of dīcō are uncommon in surviving Classical prose.

In future passive dictum īrī, dictum is the invariant supine, not a participle agreeing with the subject. The construction is rare; recognizing it matters more than producing it in elementary prose.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech quotes the speaker’s own words: dīxit: “veniō.” Indirect statement normally uses an accusative subject plus infinitive: dīxit sē venīre “he said that he was coming.” The infinitive’s relative tense matters: venīre simultaneous, vēnisse earlier, ventūrum esse later.

Do not add English “that” as ut. Ut plus subjunctive expresses other clause types; reported assertion after dīcō uses accusative-and-infinitive. See accusative-and-infinitive.

Assertions, Questions, and Instructions

The kind of message controls the complement. An assertion uses accusative-and-infinitive: dīcit Mārcum venīre. An indirect question uses a question word or particle plus subjunctive: dīcit cūr Mārcus veniat “he says why Marcus is coming.” An instruction can use ut plus subjunctive when dīcō has the force “tell/order.”

Here dative mīlitibus identifies the people addressed, while imperfect subjunctive clauderent reflects the past reporting verb. This is not an assertion that the soldiers were closing the gates. If the intended meaning were “he said that the soldiers were closing the gates,” Latin would use dīxit mīlitēs portās claudere.

The pluperfect subjunctive marks departure earlier than the past act of speaking. Thus “what kind of utterance?” must be answered before selecting ut, an interrogative clause, or accusative-and-infinitive.

Addressee, Topic, and Idioms

The person addressed is commonly dative: tibi dīcō “I tell you.” In Classical forensic language, ad + accusative can identify the person or tribunal before whom one pleads: ad iūdicem dīcere. It is not the ordinary prose equivalent of “tell someone.” Dē + ablative marks the topic: dē bellō dīcere “speak about the war.”

Compounds

Compounds preserve dīc- but often develop specialized meanings: addīcō, addīcere, addīxī, addictum “award, assign”; ēdīcō, ēdīcere, ēdīxī, ēdictum “proclaim”; interdīcō “forbid”; praedīcō, praedīcere, praedīxī, praedictum “foretell”; contrādīcō “contradict.” Their perfect -dīx- and supine -dict- remain recognizable. Do not confuse third-conjugation praedīcō, praedīcere “foretell” with first-conjugation praedicō, praedicāre “proclaim, praise”: vowel quantity and principal parts distinguish them.

Compounds can change government: interdīcō commonly takes the dative of the person and ablative of the thing forbidden, or a prohibitive clause. Learn the construction with the lexical verb.

Common Mistakes

Regularizing the perfect

Restoring the regular-looking -e

Giving the addressee the accusative

Using ut for an indirect assertion

Key Takeaways

• Memorize dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictum and the short command dīc.
• Present dīc-, perfect dīx-, and supine dict- identify the tense system.
• Reported assertions normally use accusative-and-infinitive; the addressee is usually dative.
• Passive dīcitur supports the personal “is said to” construction.
• Compounds preserve the stem changes but may introduce new case government.