Paul dit bonsoir avant la réunion.

Because Paul is he, so the verb dire has to be in the third person singular form.

Present tense of dire:

• je dis = I say
• tu dis = you say
• il / elle / on dit = he / she / one says

So:

• Je dis bonsoir
• Paul dit bonsoir

A very common beginner mistake is using dis for every subject, but French changes the verb form depending on the subject.

It is the present tense.

So Paul dit bonsoir literally means Paul says good evening, but in natural English it is often translated as Paul says good evening or Paul says hello/good evening depending on context.

French often uses the present tense in ways that match English quite closely in simple sentences like this one.

Because bonsoir is a fixed greeting in French. It is written as one word, not bon soir.

It works like:

• bonjour = hello / good morning / good day
• bonsoir = good evening

Even though it looks like bon + soir, you should learn bonsoir as a single expression.

It can do both, depending on the situation.

Most commonly, bonsoir is an evening greeting, like good evening when you meet someone. But in some contexts it can also feel a bit like good evening when leaving.

So in this sentence, dit bonsoir most likely means Paul greets people with good evening before the meeting.

Because dire bonsoir is a normal French pattern.

French often uses dire directly with greetings or words spoken:

• dire bonjour
• dire bonsoir
• dire merci
• dire oui
• dire non

So Paul dit bonsoir is completely natural. You do not need a preposition there.

Because French usually needs an article before a singular noun in this kind of phrase.

So:

• avant la réunion = before the meeting

French generally does not drop articles as often as English does. English can sometimes say before class, after dinner, during work, but French often prefers an article:

• avant la réunion
• après le dîner
• pendant le cours

Here la réunion refers to a specific meeting, or at least the meeting relevant in the situation.

Yes. Réunion is a feminine noun, so it takes la in the singular:

• la réunion = the meeting
• une réunion = a meeting

That is why you say:

• avant la réunion not
• avant le réunion

When learning nouns in French, it is best to learn the noun and its gender together: la réunion.

Avant means before.

It introduces something that happens earlier than something else:

• avant la réunion = before the meeting
• avant le déjeuner = before lunch
• avant de partir = before leaving

In this sentence, it tells you when Paul says bonsoir.

Yes, very normal.

The structure is:

• Paul = subject
• dit = verb
• bonsoir = what he says
• avant la réunion = time phrase

So the sentence follows a very common French order: subject + verb + object/expression + time phrase

You could move the time phrase for emphasis:

• Avant la réunion, Paul dit bonsoir.

That is also correct, but the original sentence is completely standard.

No, the final t in dit is normally silent.

So dit sounds roughly like dee.

In the sentence:

• Paul dit bonsoir

you do not pronounce the t of dit because the next word bonsoir begins with a consonant.

Réunion can be tricky for English speakers.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• ray-yu-nyon

More precisely, the ending -ion in French is often nasalized, so it does not sound exactly like English ee-on.

A helpful way to think of it:

• ré sounds like ray
• u is the French u sound, which may be difficult at first
• nion is something like nyon

Also, the accents matter:

• réunion has é, which gives the ay-like sound at the start

Yes, but it would change the greeting.

• bonjour is used earlier in the day
• bonsoir is used in the evening, or sometimes late afternoon/evening depending on context

So both sentences are grammatically fine, but they fit different times of day.

Not naturally in this sentence.

Dire can mean to say or to tell, but when followed by a greeting like bonjour or bonsoir, it is best understood as says:

• Paul dit bonsoir = Paul says good evening

If you wanted tell someone, French often makes that clearer:

• Paul dit bonsoir à Marie = Paul says good evening to Marie

So in this sentence, says is the better way to think about it.

It can be followed by both, but the structure changes.

Before a noun:

• avant la réunion = before the meeting

Before a verb:

• avant de parler = before speaking
• avant de partir = before leaving

So:

• avant + noun
• avant de + infinitive

That is a useful pattern to remember.