📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 16 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 4 · Rapporter ce qu'on dit
Il dit que — passing on a statement
Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 16 of 30: Reported speech is how you repeat what someone said without quoting them. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 16.
The words
French
English
Say it
il dit qu'il est fatigué
he says he is tired
eel dee keel eh fah-tee-GAY
le discours rapporté
reported speech
luh dees-koor rah-por-TAY
dire
to say
deer
répéter
to repeat
ray-pay-TAY
les guillemetsplural
the quotation marks
lay ghee-yuh-MEH
selon lui
according to him
suh-loh(n) LWEE
la phrase
the sentence
lah FRAHZ
à propos de
about (a topic)
ah proh-POH duh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Reported speech is how you repeat what someone said without quoting them. Direct: « Je suis fatigué. » Reported: il dit qu'il est fatigué — he says he is tired. The que is compulsory in French; English can drop its that, French never does.
Et aussi · And also
While the reporting verb stays in the present (il dit), the tenses inside do not move at all. Only the PEOPLE change: je becomes il, mon becomes son.
Attention · Watch out
With the reporting verb in the PRESENT, the tenses inside do not move: il dit qu'il est fatigué. Only the people change: je becomes il.
dire — the table
je dis · tu dis · il/elle dit · nous disons · vous dites · ils/elles disent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il dit qu'il est fatigué.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out dire in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.