Question 1

Why is the verb diceva and not "diva", since the infinitive is dire?

Accepted Answer

Dire is an irregular verb. In the imperfect tense, instead of using the normal stem from the infinitive, it uses its older Latin stem dic-. Once you have that stem, you just add the regular imperfect endings. That is why "he/she/it was saying" is diceva.

Question 2

The English translation is "What did the princess say." Why use the imperfect diceva instead of the passato prossimo ha detto?

Accepted Answer

English often translates both past tenses as "did say," but Italian makes a strict distinction. The imperfect (diceva) is used for ongoing, descriptive, or repeated actions in the past. This sentence really implies "What was she saying?" (a continuous action) or "What did she usually say?". For a single, completed statement, you would use the passato prossimo: Che cosa ha detto?

Question 3

Can I just say Cosa instead of Che cosa?

Accepted Answer

Yes! To ask "What?", you can use Che, Cosa, or Che cosa. They all mean the exact same thing here. Che cosa is the most traditional, but in everyday spoken Italian, you will very often hear just Cosa or Che.

Question 4

Why is it al re instead of just a re?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, the preposition a (to) combines with the definite article il (the) to make the combined word al. Because we are talking about a specific king, it needs the article (il re), so "to the king" becomes al re.

Che cosa diceva la principessa al re?

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