Dire: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Dire means “to say”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for dire, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with dire, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je dis la vérité à Marie tous les jours.” — “I say the truth to Marie every day.”
- “Tu dis bonjour à mes voisins tous les jours.” — “You say hello to my neighbours every day.”
- “J'ai dit un mot à mon frère cette semaine.” — “I have said a word to my brother this week.”
- “Il disait la vérité à Marie autrefois.” — “He used to say the truth to Marie in the past.”
- “Nous dirons bonjour à mes voisins demain.” — “We will say hello to my neighbours tomorrow.”
- “Tu as dit un mot à mon frère cette semaine.” — “You have said a word to my brother this week.”
- “Je dirais la vérité à Marie un jour.” — “I would say the truth to Marie one day.”
- “Il est important que il dise bonjour à mes voisins.” — “It is important that he say hello to my neighbours.”
- “Nous avions dit un mot à mon frère avant la fête.” — “We had said a word to my brother before the party.”
- “Il dira la vérité à Marie demain.” — “He will say the truth to Marie tomorrow.”
- “Ils disent bonjour à mes voisins tous les jours.” — “They say hello to my neighbours every day.”
- “Dis un mot à mon frère !” — “Say a word to my brother!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about the truth to Marie. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how dire changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of dire below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je dis la vérité à Marie tous les jours.” — “I say the truth to Marie every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je dirai bonjour à mes voisins demain.” — “I will say hello to my neighbours tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai dit un mot à mon frère cette semaine.” — “I have said a word to my brother this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je dirais la vérité à Marie un jour.” — “I would say the truth to Marie one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Dire in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of dire that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, dire describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is dis: “Je dis la vérité à Marie tous les jours.” — “I say the truth to Marie every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, dire describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is disait: “Il disait bonjour à mes voisins autrefois.” — “He used to say hello to my neighbours in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, dire reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle dit. The je form is ai dit: “J'ai dit un mot à mon frère cette semaine.” — “I have said a word to my brother this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, dire talks about what will happen. The nous form is dirons: “Nous dirons la vérité à Marie demain.” — “We will say the truth to Marie tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, dire talks about what would happen. The tu form is dirais: “Tu dirais bonjour à mes voisins un jour.” — “You would say hello to my neighbours one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, dire appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is dise, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je dise un mot à mon frère.” — “It is important that I say a word to my brother.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je dire la vérité à Marie.”
✓ Right: “Je dis la vérité à Marie.”
The infinitive dire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form dis.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu dis la vérité à Marie.”
✓ Right: “Tu dis la vérité à Marie.”
dis is the je form. With tu you need dis. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je dis la vérité à Marie hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai dit la vérité à Marie hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai dit, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu dis bonjour à mes voisins.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu dises bonjour à mes voisins.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: dises, not the indicative dis.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je dit la vérité à Marie.”
✓ Right: “Je ai dit la vérité à Marie.”
The passé composé of dire needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle dit: the full je form is ai dit.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dire. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of dire in the Present indicative?
- A) dis
- B) dit
- C) disons
- D) dites
What is the tu form of dire in the Present indicative?
- A) dis
- B) dit
- C) disons
- D) dites
What is the il/elle form of dire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as dit
- B) avons dit
- C) a dit
- D) ai dit
What is the nous form of dire in the Imperfect?
- A) disais
- B) disait
- C) disiez
- D) disions
What is the tu form of dire in the Future?
- A) dirons
- B) diras
- C) dirai
- D) dira
What is the je form of dire in the Conditional?
- A) dirais
- B) dirait
- C) dirions
- D) diriez
What is the il/elle form of dire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) dises
- B) disions
- C) disiez
- D) dise
What is the je form of dire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avait dit
- B) avions dit
- C) aviez dit
- D) avais dit
What is the gerund of dire?
- A) en voulant
- B) en sachant
- C) en disant
- D) en pouvant
What does dire mean in English?
- A) to say
- B) to be able to, can
- C) to want
- D) to know
Answer key
- A) dis — the je form of dire in the Present indicative is dis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dis — the tu form of dire in the Present indicative is dis. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) a dit — the il/elle form of dire in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a dit. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) disions — the nous form of dire in the Imperfect is disions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) diras — the tu form of dire in the Future is diras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dirais — the je form of dire in the Conditional is dirais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dise — the il/elle form of dire in the Present subjunctive is dise. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) avais dit — the je form of dire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais dit. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) en disant — the gerund of dire is en disant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to say — dire means “to say” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does dire mean in English?
dire means “to say”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is dire regular or irregular?
dire is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, past-participle. The gerund is disant and the past participle is dit.
How do I practise dire every day?
Say one sentence with dire in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je dis la vérité à Marie tous les jours.”, “J'ai dit la vérité à Marie cette semaine.” and “Je dirai la vérité à Marie demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of dire — every tense of dire in one place.
- Dire in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Dire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Pouvoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Vouloir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Savoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise dire with the interactive tool.