Dire Conjugation in Italian
dire means “to say” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 4 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. 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. This page gives you the complete conjugation of dire — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.” — “I say the truth.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: dire
- English: to say
- Verb type: Irregular -ire verb
- 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
- Gerund: dicendo
- Present participle: dicente
- Past participle: detto
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -ire verbs; pattern ire in the verified tables
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read dire in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about dire
- It is irregular in 15 tense(s): 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 instead of guessing them from the infinitive, because the stem changes in ways no rule predicts.
- The perfect tenses use avere: the passato prossimo is formed with avere in the present plus the past participle detto. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The participles are dicente and detto: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for dire. Learn the present tense first, then the passato prossimo and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative (presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dico |
| tu | dici |
| lui/lei | dice |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | dite |
| loro | dicono |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.” — “I say the truth”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dissi |
| tu | dicesti |
| lui/lei | disse |
| noi | dicemmo |
| voi | diceste |
| loro | dissero |
The passato remoto is used for completed actions in the distant past, mostly in written and literary Italian and in the south of Italy. For example: “Io dissi la verità ieri.” — “I said the truth”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dicevo |
| tu | dicevi |
| lui/lei | diceva |
| noi | dicevamo |
| voi | dicevate |
| loro | dicevano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io dicevo la verità una volta.” — “I used to say the truth”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dirò |
| tu | dirai |
| lui/lei | dirà |
| noi | diremo |
| voi | direte |
| loro | diranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io dirò la verità domani.” — “I will say the truth”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | direi |
| tu | diresti |
| lui/lei | direbbe |
| noi | diremmo |
| voi | direste |
| loro | direbbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io direi la verità un giorno.” — “I would say the truth”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho detto |
| tu | hai detto |
| lui/lei | ha detto |
| noi | abbiamo detto |
| voi | avete detto |
| loro | hanno detto |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha detto la verità questa settimana.” — “He has said the truth”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo detto |
| tu | avevi detto |
| lui/lei | aveva detto |
| noi | avevamo detto |
| voi | avevate detto |
| loro | avevano detto |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo detto la verità prima della festa.” — “I had said the truth”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò detto |
| tu | avrai detto |
| lui/lei | avrà detto |
| noi | avremo detto |
| voi | avrete detto |
| loro | avranno detto |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò detto la verità per domani.” — “I will have said the truth”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei detto |
| tu | avresti detto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe detto |
| noi | avremmo detto |
| voi | avreste detto |
| loro | avrebbero detto |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei detto la verità ieri.” — “I would have said the truth”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dica |
| tu | dica |
| lui/lei | dica |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | diciate |
| loro | dicano |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io dica la verità.” — “It is important that I say the truth”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | dicessi |
| tu | dicessi |
| lui/lei | dicesse |
| noi | dicessimo |
| voi | diceste |
| loro | dicessero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io dicessi la verità.” — “It was important that I say the truth”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | di' |
| lui/lei | dica |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | dite |
| loro | dicano |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Di' la verità!” — “Say the truth!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | dire |
| lui/lei | dica |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | diciate |
| loro | dicano |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non dire la verità.” — “Do not say the truth.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | dicendo |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Dicendo la verità, imparo molto.” — “While saying the truth, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | dicente |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle dicente is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Past participle | detto |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.” — “I have said the truth.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with dire, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.” — “I say the truth”
- “Tu dicesti la verità ieri.” — “You said the truth”
- “Lui diceva la verità una volta.” — “He used to say the truth”
- “Io dirò la verità domani.” — “I will say the truth”
- “Tu diresti la verità un giorno.” — “You would say the truth”
- “Lui ha detto la verità questa settimana.” — “He has said the truth”
- “Io avevo detto la verità prima della festa.” — “I had said the truth”
- “Tu avrai detto la verità per domani.” — “You will have said the truth”
- “È importante che io dica la verità.” — “It is important that I say the truth”
- “Di' la verità!” — “Say the truth!”
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’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io dici la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.”
dici is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with dico.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io dico la verità ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho detto for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono detto la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of dire is formed with avere plus the past participle detto: the io form is ho detto. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “È importante che io dico la verità.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io dica la verità.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use dica here, not the indicative dico.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho dicendo la verità.”
✓ Right: “Io ho detto la verità questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle detto, not the gerund dicendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dire. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of dire in the Present indicative?
- A) dici
- B) dico
- C) dice
- D) diciamo
What is the lui/lei form of dire in the Passato remoto?
- A) dissi
- B) dicesti
- C) disse
- D) dicemmo
What is the noi form of dire in the Imperfect?
- A) dicevo
- B) dicevi
- C) diceva
- D) dicevamo
What is the tu form of dire in the Future?
- A) dirai
- B) dirò
- C) dirà
- D) diremo
What is the io form of dire in the Conditional?
- A) diresti
- B) direi
- C) direbbe
- D) diremmo
What is the lui/lei form of dire in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho detto
- B) hai detto
- C) ha detto
- D) abbiamo detto
What is the lui/lei form of dire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) diciamo
- B) diciate
- C) dicano
- D) dica
What is the io form of dire in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) dicessi
- B) dicesse
- C) dicessimo
- D) diceste
What is the gerund of dire?
- A) detto
- B) dicendo
- 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) dico — the correct form is dico. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) disse — the correct form is disse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dicevamo — the correct form is dicevamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dirai — the correct form is dirai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) direi — the correct form is direi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha detto — the correct form is ha detto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dica — the correct form is dica. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dicessi — the correct form is dicessi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) dicendo — the correct form is dicendo. 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”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is dire regular or irregular?
dire is irregular: it 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. The gerund is dicendo and the past participle is detto.
What are the gerund and past participle of dire?
The gerund is dicendo — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is detto — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho detto.
Which auxiliary does dire take in the passato prossimo?
dire takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho detto. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle detto.
How do I say “I say” in Italian?
Say “Io dico la verità ogni giorno.” — “I say the truth” The io form of the present is dico, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of dire — every tense of dire in one place.
- Dire in the passato prossimo tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Dire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- 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 everyday Italian verb.
- Sentire conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Conjugator — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise dire with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise dire with the interactive tool.