All about Dire

Dire is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, means "to say" or "to tell," and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.


Using dire

Dire means "to say" or "to tell":

   Je n'ai rien dit
   I didn't say anything

   Dis-moi la vérité
   Tell me the truth

   Comment dit-on "furthermore" en français ?
   How do you say "furthermore" in French?

Dire que means "to say that":

   J'ai dit que j'avais froid
   I said that I was cold

   Je vais lui dire qu'il doit nous aider
   I'm going to tell him that he has to help us

Dire de can either mean "to think, have an opinion on" or "to feel like":

   Qu'est-ce que tu dis de mon idée ?
   What do you think of my idea?

   Que dites-vous de la maison ?
   What do you think about the house?

   Ça te dit de sortir ?
   Do you feel like going out?

   Ça ne me dit rien
   I don't feel like it at all, That doesn't do anything for me


Se dire

Se dire can be a pronominal or passive voice construction.

1. Pronominal

Reflexive - to say to oneself

   Je me suis dit de ne pas pleurer
   I told myself not to cry

   Il s'est dit, bon, il faut essayer encore une fois
   He said to himself, well, I have to try again

(figurative) - to claim (to be)

   Il se dit avocat
   He claims to be a lawyer

   Elle se dit prête
   She claims she's ready

Reciprocal - to say to each other

   Nous devons nous dire au revoir
   We have to say good-bye (to each other)

   Ils se sont enfin dit qu'ils s'aiment
   They finally told each other that they love each other


2. In the passive, se dire means "to be said":

   Ça ne se dit pas.
   That isn't said

   Ça ne se dit plus.
   That isn't said anymore, People don't say that anymore.

   Comment ça se dit en espagnol ?
   How is that said in Spanish?


Expressions with dire

   ceci/cela dit - (with) that said

   cela va sans dire - that goes without saying

   c'est-à-dire - that is (to say)

   comme on dit - so to speak, as they say

   entendre dire - to hear (it said that)
   J'ai entendu dire qu'il va... - I heard that he's going to...

   on se dirait - you would think, you can almost imagine

   vouloir dire - to mean

More expressions with dire


Conjugations

Present tense

   je dis
   tu dis
   il dit
   nous disons
   vous dites
   ils disent

All tenses


Most common French verbs