Log inSign up

Un grand-père lit un conte et dit un poème.

Un grand-père lit un conte et dit un poème.
A grandfather reads a tale and says a poem.
From Lesson 86:Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)·French

Questions & Answers about Un grand-père lit un conte et dit un poème.

Both lit and dit end in -it. Do the verbs lire (to read) and dire (to say) follow the same conjugation pattern?
They look identical in their singular forms (je lis/dis, tu lis/dis, il lit/dit). However, they are different in the plural! For example, with vous, it is vous lisez (you read) but vous dites (you say).
Do I pronounce the final -t on lit and dit?
No, the final -t is silent in both of these verbs. You pronounce them simply as 'lee' and 'dee'.
The English translation is 'says a poem'. Is it normal to use dire for poetry instead of 'to recite'?
Yes! While French does have the verb réciter (to recite), using dire (literally 'to say' or 'to tell') is a very common and natural way to talk about performing, speaking, or reading a poem out loud.
What is the difference between un conte and une histoire?
Une histoire is a general word for any 'story' (or 'history'). Un conte specifically means a 'tale', like a fairy tale (un conte de fées) or a traditional folklore story, which is exactly what a grandfather might read to a child!
Un poème ends in an 'e', so why is it masculine?
While many French nouns ending in -e are feminine, there are exceptions. Words ending in -ème, which often come from ancient Greek, are usually masculine. Other common examples are un problème (a problem) and un système (a system).

Learn Un grand-père lit un conte et dit un poème and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →