Dire and parlare are often confused by learners of Italian because they translate as “to say”. But they are not the same. Let’s see how they are used with some example sentences.
Dire in Italian: How to use it
Dire means “to say, to tell”. You simply tell something to someone else and you don’t expect a reply. Unlike parlare, dire can be a transitive verb, so it can precede a direct object.
Dire
To say, to tell
For example, you can say…
Posso dirti una cosa?
Can I tell you something?
Ti ho detto la verità, io non so niente del furto!
I told you the truth, I don’t know anything about the theft!
Ti ho detto di pulire camera tua!
I told you to clean up your room!
Note how we have a preposition, di, which introduces pulire. In this sentence, dire acts as an intransitive verb.
Il dottore dice che dovrei dormire di più.
The doctor says I should get more sleep.
Avresti dovuto dirmelo prima.
You should have told me before.
Il mio istruttore di guida dice che dovrei essere più paziente.
My driving instructor says I should be more patient.
Some very common expressions with dire in Italian are:
- dire senza peli sulla lingua, to tell sth without mincing words
- dire la verità, to tell the truth
- dire una bugia, to tell a lie
- dire di sì, to say yes
- dire di no, to say no
Parlare in Italian: How to use it
Parlare, on the other hand, means “to speak, to talk” and is an intransitive verb. It never precedes a direct object. It has to be followed by a preposition or an adverb.
Another difference between dire and parlare in Italian is that parlare has a more general meaning of dire and it translates as to speak, to talk because it implies a chat between two or more people. It implies a reply.
Parlare
To speak, to talk
For example, you can say…
Hai parlato con tuo fratello?
Have you talked to your brother?
Parli troppo velocemente.
You speak too fast.
Enrico sta parlando con la maestra.
Enrico is talking to the teacher.
Di cosa stai parlando?
What are you talking about?
Pay attention!
You can say dire qualcosa, to tell something. You can’t say parlare qualcosa, “to speak something”. However, you can say parlare di qualcosa, to speak about something.
An exception to this rule can be found in the popular expression parlare una lingua straniera, to speak a foreign language. Lingua straniera is a direct object.
For example, you can say…
Parlo inglese, francese e russo.
I speak English, French and Russian.
Quante lingue parli?
How many languages do you speak?
Some other common expressions with parlare in Italian are:
- parlare sottovoce, to whisper
- parlare a bassa voce, to speak softly
- parlare ad alta voce, to speak out loud
- parlare a gesti, to gesticulate, to speak with gestures
- parlare a vanvera, to talk nonsense
- parlare tra sé e sé, to talk to yourself
- parlare al telefono, to speak on the phone
- parlare del più e del meno, to speak about everything and anything
- parlare a monosillabi, to be tight lipped
Dire and parlare: Let’s recap the difference
The main difference between dire and parlare in Italian is the following:
| Dire | Transitive/intransitive; to tell sth to sb |
| Parlare | Intransitive only; to speak in a general sense |
I hope that dire and parlare will have no secrets for you from now on! 😊
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