Dire Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Italian
dire — to say — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Italian. It is a non-reflexive, irregular -ire verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the verb for reporting speech and stating facts, and it is the verb you reach for whenever you quote someone or give an opinion plainly. Its forms are irregular in the present, the passato remoto and the future, so do not guess them from the infinitive. On this page you will find dire in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the dire conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the dire passato prossimo tense page.
Example sentences with dire
In the present tense
- “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.” — “I say the truth”
- “Tu dici la verità ogni giorno.” — “You say the truth”
- “Lui dice la verità ogni giorno.” — “He says the truth”
- “Noi diciamo la verità ogni giorno.” — “We say the truth”
- “Voi dite la verità ogni giorno.” — “You say the truth”
- “Loro dicono la verità ogni giorno.” — “They say the truth”
In the passato prossimo
- “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.” — “I have said the truth”
- “Tu hai detto la verità questa settimana.” — “You have said the truth”
- “Lui ha detto la verità questa settimana.” — “He has said the truth”
- “Noi abbiamo detto la verità questa settimana.” — “We have said the truth”
- “Voi avete detto la verità questa settimana.” — “You have said the truth”
- “Loro hanno detto la verità questa settimana.” — “They have said the truth”
In other tenses
The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional, the present subjunctive and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.
- “Io dicevo la verità una volta.” — “I used to say the truth”
- “Tu dirai la verità domani.” — “You will say the truth”
- “Lui direbbe la verità un giorno.” — “He would say the truth”
- “È importante che noi diciamo la verità.” — “It is important that we say the truth”
- “Di' la verità!” — “Say the truth!”
How dire is used
The first thing to know about dire is its core meaning: to say. It is the verb for reporting speech and stating facts, and it is the verb you reach for whenever you quote someone or give an opinion plainly. Its forms are irregular in the present, the passato remoto and the future, so do not guess them from the infinitive. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the passato prossimo, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company dire keeps. The present io form is dico, and it pairs naturally with the time words ogni giorno and sempre for habits, and with adesso for what is happening right now. The passato prossimo io form is ho detto, and it pairs with ieri and questa settimana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what dire does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after io you need dico, never dire. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the passato prossimo is ho detto, built with avere, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle detto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Dire in context
Io dico la verità ogni giorno. Tu dici la verità ogni giorno. Lui dice la verità ogni giorno. Noi diciamo la verità ogni giorno. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of dire is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — dico, dici, dice, diciamo — while the meaning stays the same: to say. Io ho detto la verità questa settimana. Tu hai detto la verità questa settimana. Lui ha detto la verità questa settimana. Noi abbiamo detto la verità questa settimana. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the passato prossimo of dire appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to say — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io dire la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.”
The infinitive dire never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form dico.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Io dici la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.”
dici is the tu form, not the io form. The io form is dico — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io dico la verità ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.”
Ieri points to the past, so use the passato prossimo ho detto here, not the present dico.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Io sono detto la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.”
dire takes avere in the passato prossimo. The io form is ho detto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dire across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of dire in the Present indicative?
- A) dico
- B) dici
- C) dice
- D) diciamo
What is the io form of dire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) hai detto
- B) ha detto
- C) ho detto
- D) abbiamo detto
What is the lui/lei form of dire in the Imperfect?
- A) dicevo
- B) dicevi
- C) dicevamo
- D) diceva
What is the noi form of dire in the Future?
- A) diremo
- B) dirò
- C) dirai
- D) dirà
What is the tu form of dire in the Conditional?
- A) direi
- B) diresti
- C) direbbe
- D) diremmo
What is the io form of dire in the Passato remoto?
- A) dicesti
- B) disse
- C) dissi
- D) dicemmo
What is the noi form of dire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) dica
- B) diciate
- C) dicano
- D) diciamo
What is the gerund of dire?
- A) dicendo
- B) detto
- C) dire
- D) dico
What is the past participle of dire?
- A) dicendo
- B) detto
- C) dire
- D) dico
What does dire mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to say
- D) to do, to make
Answer key
- B) dici — the correct form is dici. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ho detto — the correct form is ho detto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) diceva — the correct form is diceva. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) diremo — the correct form is diremo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) diresti — the correct form is diresti. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) dissi — the correct form is dissi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) diciamo — the correct form is diciamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dicendo — the correct form is dicendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) detto — the correct form is detto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to say — the correct form is to say. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does dire mean in English?
dire means “to say”. You use it whenever you talk about to say in Italian, in the present, the past and the future.
Is dire regular or irregular?
dire is irregular. dire is irregular in present, passato-remoto, imperfect, future, conditional, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, past-participle, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative — learn those forms as a set.
What are the gerund and past participle of dire?
The gerund is dicendo and the past participle is detto. The perfect tenses use avere + detto.
Where can I see the full conjugation of dire?
On the dire conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The dire passato prossimo tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.
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
- dire conjugation — full tables
- dire in the passato prossimo tense
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Italian irregular verbs — every common irregular Italian verb, grouped by pattern.
- Venire conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Sentire conjugation — another Italian verb in this batch.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Quiz — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise dire with the interactive tool.