Question

If you wanted to say:

The professor speaks to his students.

Would it be correct to say?

Le prof dit à ses étudiants.

Answer

No! That is incorrect.

In this case, you need to use parler (to speak), rather than dire (to say or tell).

Le prof parle à ses étudiants.

In order to use dire, the professor would have to say something to his students.

If you heard the sentence in the question, you would wonder 'told his students what?'

Le prof a dit à ses étudiants de commencer l’examen. (The teacher told his students to start the exam)

Examples

Parler:

Je veux parler avec elle. (I want to speak with her)

Tu dois parler à Tom. (You must speak with Tom)

Je refuse de te parler ! (I refuse to speak with you!)

Dire:

Je vais te le dire. (I am going to tell you that)

Elle dit 'ciao' à Georges et à Daniel. (She said 'ciao' to George and Daniel)

Je lui ai dit la vérité. (I told her the truth)

Au revoir!