Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

The verb dire

The verb dire (to say, to tell) is a highly common irregular -re verb. Notice that its vous form is exceptionally irregular: it ends in -tes instead of the usual -ez.

The verb lire

The verb lire (to read) is another irregular -re verb. Unlike dire, its vous form is regular (vous lisez), but it adds an s to the stem for all plural pronouns.

Reading and Literature

When talking about literature and print media, you will often use words like un roman (a novel), un auteur (an author), or la presse (the press).

You can also describe reading material as passionnant (fascinating).

Telling vs. Narrating

While dire means "to tell" (like telling the truth or a secret), the regular -er verb raconter means "to tell" in the sense of narrating a story.

Poetry and Tales

Finally, let's look at a few more literary formats like un conte (a tale) or un poème (a poem). Here we can see both dire and lire used together, including the irregular vous dites form.