Direct speech in Italian

Welcome to our blog on direct speech in Italian! Direct speech, or “discorso diretto,” is an essential aspect of communication in Italian, and understanding how to use it correctly can greatly improve your ability to express yourself in the language. In this blog, we’ll explore the ins and outs of direct speech in Italian, from grammar rules to practical usage tips. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, this blog is for you!

Start here

You’ll receive my free resources together with my best offers! Opt out at any time.

Summary

Direct speech, or discorso diretto in Italian, is a form of spoken or written text that reports speech or thought in its original phrasing by the original speaker. In Italian, direct speech is usually introduced by a colon and enclosed in quotation marks or guillemets. In writing, the first word inside the quote is capitalized, but unlike in English, commas and periods are placed outside the quote marks. Verbs of utterance, which express speech or introduce a quotation, are typically in the passato remoto tense, mainly found in written texts such as literature and historical texts. The most common verbs of utterance in the passato remoto include chiedere (to ask), dire (to say), and rispondere (to reply). Italian punctuation is less standardized than English, and publishers may make their own stylistic decisions. In contemporary Italian writing, quotation marks may even be omitted.

Direct speech in Italian

Discorso indiretto or direct speech is spoken or written text that reports speech or thought in its original form phrased by the original speaker.

Compare these two examples:

Marco mi disse: “Ti voglio bene”.

Marco said to me, “I love you”.

Marco mi disse che mi voleva bene.

Marco said to me that he loved me.

The first sentence is an example of direct speech, whereas the second one is an example of indirect speech.

Let’s dive deeper into the topic!

Direct speech in Italian

Direct speech in Italian: common verbs

In the Italian narrative, verbs of utterance (verbs that express speech or introduce a quotation) tend to be in passato remoto.

You may not be familiar with this tense since it’s not widely common in spoken Italian and is not usually taught to foreign students.

In fact, we mainly find it in written texts, such as in literature and historical texts.

The passato remoto is common in the South of Italy since some Southern dialects don’t have the equivalent of the passato prossimo (which is the most common past tense in Italian) so they’re more used to the passato remoto.

Let’s have a look at the most common verbs of utterance in the passato remoto:

  • Chiedere (to ask):
    io chiesi, tu chiedesti, lui/lei chiese, noi chiedemmo, voi chiedeste, loro chiesero
  • Dichiare (to state):
    io dichiarai, tu dichiarasti, lui/lei dichiarò, noi dichiarammo, voi dichiaraste, loro dichiararono
  • Dire (to say):
    io dissi, tu dicesti, lui/lei disse, noi dicemmo, voi diceste, loro dissero
  • Esclamare (to exclaim):
    io esclamai, tu esclamasti, lui/lei esclamò, noi esclamammo, voi esclamaste, loro esclamarono
  • Rispondere(to reply):
    io risposi, tu rispondesti, lui/lei rispose, noi rispondemmo, voi rispondeste, loro risposero
  • Ripetere (to repeat):
    io ripetei, tu ripetesti, lui/lei ripeté, noi ripetemmo, voi ripeteste, loro ripeterono

Italian direct speech

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

Direct speech in Italian: rules

In writing, direct speech in Italian is usually preceded by a colon (:) and enclosed in guillemets and») or quotation marks (“and”) or delimited by a long dash ().

The guillemets are called caporali in Italian and are the traditional Italian quotation mark glyphs. Quotation marks are called virgolette and frequently replace the traditional caporali.

All of the above-mentioned signs are equally acceptable as long as they are used in a consistent way.

You could compare articles published in Corriere della Sera and those published in Repubblica, and you’ll notice the difference between the two online newspapers.

Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

Italian is much less standardized than English, and this particularly affects punctuation. These stylistic decisions are left to the taste, style, and tradition of individual publishers.

In contemporary Italian, especially in more ‘free’ text types (journalistic writing, literary prose, etc.), these signs might even be omitted.

Like in English, we capitalize the first letter of the first word inside a quote.

However, unlike in English, commas and periods are placed outside the quotation marks when writing in Italian.

Have a look at this example and its translation keeping in mind all the rules we just mentioned:

Marcello mi disse: «Vorrei andare in Francia».

Marcello said to me, “I’d like to go to France.”

How to quote in Italian

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!

Eleonora

I’m originally from Argentina but grew up in Italy, so I’m bilingual. I love languages, which is why I studied French and Linguistics in London. I’m a grammar nerd and I love finding out about the meaning of words.

Follow me to fluency​

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! No need to look around, just tell me where to send everything.

Follow me to fluency

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! No need to look around, just tell me where to send everything.

Opt out at any time.

Leave a Reply

Share:

Still translating in your head?

Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano’s courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
Try my courses for free​
ripeti con me mockup sm

Let me show you around

Overcome your Barriers

Anything holding you back from becoming fluent?
Get on the right track today with my free checklist!

pain learning languages checklist preview
How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.