French Verb DIRE: How to Conjugate

By Ginny Jackson Published: November 8, 2023

10 min read

Learn the usage and how to conjugate the French verb dire. Take the short quiz afterwards to determine how much you learned!

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Dire means “to say” or “to tell,” while parler means “to speak.” It is irregular. Learn the present-tense form vous dites carefully: unlike most vous forms, it does not end in -ez. Other common irregular forms include vous êtes and vous faites. Redire also has vous redites.

In this article, you’re going to learn about some of the more common uses of DIRE, and there is a short quiz at the end to help you remember some of the key parts and uses of the verb.

Uses of DIRE

Dire does not follow the regular -er or regular second-group -ir pattern. Some forms share a stem, such as nous disons and je disais, but others must be learned separately.

DIRE is used in three different ways.

1In its most simple sense, it means ‘to say’ or ‘to tell’. Example: Je dis bonjour à tout le monde (I say hello to everyone) and Il te dit la vérité (He’s telling you the truth).
2The expression Ça te/vous dit de + infinitive ? means “Do you feel like…?” Example: Ça te dit d’aller au cinéma ? (Do you feel like going to the cinema?). Other constructions have different meanings: Je te dis de partir means “I am telling you to leave.”
3And it is found in a number of idiomatic expressions. Example: Qu’est-ce que cela veut dire? (What does that mean?).

Click on this link to see some of the more common uses of DIRE .

Now, time to learn the dire conjugation in French…

Conjugation of DIRE

As you now know, DIRE is an irregular verb but it is less complicated than some others you will have come across. Keep repeating the verb and listening to the audio in the video, and you’ll learn it in no time, but remember that often, different spellings can sound the same in French, so it’s important you secure the spellings as well as the sounds of the words.

Let’s review the conjugation of DIRE in the indicative mood.

How to conjugate DIRE in the present tense (Présent)

The French present can correspond to the English simple present or present continuous. For example, je dis can mean “I say” or “I am saying,” depending on the context.

In the present tense DIRE conjugation table below, you can see the two different meanings in English.

Je disI say, I am saying
Tu disYou say, you are saying
Il / elle ditHe / she says, he / she is saying
Nous disonsWe say, we are saying
Vous ditesYou say, you are saying
Ils / elles disentThey say, they are saying

How to conjugate DIRE in the Imparfait

The imperfect is used to create a sense of something that continued happening in the past. In English we would say ‘I was doing something’ or that ‘I used to do it’.

Je disaisI was saying
Tu disaisYou were saying
Il / elle disaitHe / she was saying
Nous disionsWe were saying
Vous disiezYou were saying
Ils / elles disaientThey were saying

How to conjugate DIRE in the Futur

Je diraiI will say
Tu dirasYou will say
Il / elle diraHe / she will say
Nous dironsWe will say
Vous direzYou will say
Ils / elles dirontThey will say

How to conjugate DIRE in the Passé Composé

J’ai ditI said
Tu as ditYou said
Il / elle a ditHe / she said
Nous avons ditWe said
Vous avez ditYou said
Ils / elles ont ditThey said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Passé Simple

Je disI said
Tu disYou said
Il / elle ditHe / she said
Nous dîmesWe said
Vous dîtesYou said
Ils / elles direntThey said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Plus-que-Parfait

J’avais ditI had said
Tu avais ditYou had said
Il / elle avait ditHe / she had said
Nous avions ditWe had said
Vous aviez ditYou had said
Ils / elles avaient ditThey had said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Passé Antérieur

J’eus ditI had said
Tu eus ditYou had said
Il / elle eut ditHe / she had said
Nous eûmes ditWe had said
Vous eûtes ditYou had said
Ils / elles eurent ditThey had said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Futur Antérieur

J’aurai ditI will have said
Tu auras ditYou will have said
Il / elle aura ditHe / she will have said
Nous aurons ditWe will have said
Vous aurez ditYou will have said
Ils / elles auront ditThey will have said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Subjunctive mood (Subjonctif)

English translations of subjunctive forms depend on the surrounding sentence. The imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive are mainly used in literary French; everyday usage normally favours the present and past subjunctive.

How to conjugate dire in Present Subjunctive (Subjonctif Présent)

que je disethat I say
que tu disesthat you say
qu’il / elle disethat he / she says
que nous disionsthat we say
que vous disiezthat you say
qu’ils / elles disentthat they say

How to conjugate dire in Imperfect Subjunctive (Subjonctif Imparfait)

que je dissethat I was saying
que tu dissesthat you were saying
qu’il / elle dîtthat he / she was saying
que nous dissionsthat we were saying
que vous dissiezthat you were saying
qu’ils / elles dissentthat they were saying

How to conjugate dire in Past Subjunctive (Subjonctif Passé)

que j’aie ditthat I said
que tu aies ditthat you said
qu’il / elle ait ditthat he / she said
que nous ayons ditthat we said
que vous ayez ditthat you said
qu’ils / elles aient ditthat they said

How to conjugate Dire in Past Perfect Subjunctive (Plus-que-Parfait)

que j’eusse ditthat I had said
que tu eusses ditthat you had said
qu’il / elle eût ditthat he / she had said
que nous eussions ditthat we had said
que vous eussiez ditthat you had said
qu’ils / elles eussent ditthat they had said

How to conjugate DIRE in the Conditional Mood (Conditionnel)

How to conjugate dire in the Present Conditional (Conditionnel Présent)

Je diraisI would say
Tu diraisYou would say
Il / elle diraitHe / she would say
Nous dirionsWe would say
Vous diriezYou would say
Ils / elles diraientThey would say

How to conjugate dire in the Past Conditional (Conditionnel Passé)

J’aurais ditI would have said
Tu aurais ditYou would have said
Il / elle aurait ditHe / she would have said
Nous aurions ditWe would have said
Vous auriez ditYou would have said
Ils / elles auraient ditThey would have said

How to conjugate dire in Participe

Présentdisant
Passédit
Passé Composéayant dit

How to conjugate DIRE in the Imperative Mood (Impératif)

Présent

(tu) dis
(nous) disons
(vous) dites

Passé

(tu) aie dit
(nous) ayons dit
(vous) ayez dit

How to conjugate DIRE in the Infinitive Mood (Infinitif)

Présent

dire

Passé

avoir dit

Quick Exercise – fill in the blanks

Use the present indicative for questions 2–5 and 10, the imperfect (imparfait) for question 9, and the appropriate infinitive or past participle for questions 1 and 6–8.

1. Il n’a rien _____.