Paul dit la vérité.

Paul tells the truth.

Breakdown of Paul dit la vérité.

• Paul: Paul
• la vérité: the truth
• dire: to tell

Questions & Answers about Paul dit la vérité.

What does dit mean here, and what tense/person is it?

dit is the third-person singular present of dire (“to say / to tell”). So Paul dit la vérité = “Paul tells the truth.” Present of dire:

• je dis
• tu dis
• il/elle/on dit
• nous disons
• vous dites
• ils/elles disent

Why is it la vérité and not le vérité?

Because vérité is a feminine noun. Most abstract nouns ending in -té are feminine (e.g., la liberté, la beauté, la santé), so it takes la: la vérité (“the truth”).

Can Paul dit la vérité also mean “Paul is telling the truth (right now)”?

Yes. French simple present often covers both English simple present and present progressive. Context tells you whether it’s habitual (“he tells the truth”) or right now (“he is telling the truth”).

Why does French use dire while English says “tell the truth,” not “say the truth”?

French dire covers both “say” and “tell,” and the fixed expression is dire la vérité. In natural English you’d say “tell the truth,” not “say the truth.”

How do you pronounce Paul dit la vérité?

Roughly: “pol dee la vay-ree-tay.”

• Paul: “pol” (like English “Paul,” not “pole”)
• dit: “dee” (the final -t is silent)
• la: “la”
• vérité: “vay-ree-tay” (French r in the throat; both é sound like “ay”) Note: the -t in dit is normally silent, but it’s pronounced in inversion before a vowel, e.g., dit-il [dee-til].

How do I turn it into a yes/no question?

Three common ways:

• Est-ce que Paul dit la vérité ?
• Paul dit-il la vérité ? (formal; note the hyphen)
• Paul dit la vérité ? (informal, speech only, rising intonation)

How do I negate it?

Use ne … pas around the verb: Paul ne dit pas la vérité.
In casual speech, ne often drops: Paul dit pas la vérité.

Can I use parler instead of dire?

No. Parler means “to speak” and usually takes à or de (e.g., parler à quelqu’un, parler de quelque chose). To express “tell the truth,” French uses dire: dire la vérité.
You can say parler de la vérité (“to talk about the truth”), but that’s different.

Can I drop the article and say Paul dit vérité?

No. In French you generally need a determiner with count/abstract nouns. Say Paul dit la vérité.
There is, however, the idiomatic alternative Paul dit vrai (“Paul is telling the truth”), where vrai functions adverbially.

How do I say “Paul told the truth”?

Use the passé composé: Paul a dit la vérité.
Note that the past participle is also dit. For a habitual/ongoing past sense, use the imparfait: Paul disait la vérité (“he used to/was telling the truth”).

What’s the difference between dit, dis, and dites?

They’re all forms of dire:

• je dis, tu dis → “I/you say”
• il/elle/on dit → “he/she/one says”
• vous dites → “you say” (formal singular or plural) Be careful: it’s vous dites, not “vous disez.”

How do I add “to someone,” as in “Paul tells the truth to Marie”?

• Full form: Paul dit la vérité à Marie.
• With an indirect object pronoun: Paul lui dit la vérité. (lui = to Marie/to him or her) If you also replace la vérité, the pronouns go before the verb in this order: direct object then indirect object → Il la lui dit.

How do I report what he says with a clause?

Use dire que + clause: Paul dit que c’est vrai. (“Paul says that it’s true.”)
Use dire à [personne] de + infinitive to report telling someone to do something: Paul dit à Marie de venir.

Are there idiomatic alternatives to dire la vérité?

Yes:

• Paul dit vrai. (He’s telling the truth.)
• Paul ne ment pas. (He isn’t lying.)
• Paul avoue. (He confesses/admits — stronger, often after hiding something.)

Any liaison or inversion quirks with dit?

Yes. The -t in dit is silent by itself, but in inversion before a vowel it’s pronounced: dit-il ? = [dee-til].
With a consonant-initial pronoun (e.g., dit-elle ?), you also hear the -t: [dee-tell].

Do the accent marks in vérité matter?

Absolutely. vérité is spelled with two acute accents: v-é-r-i-t-é. Accents are part of the spelling, affect pronunciation, and must be written.