French: dire and lire, present indicative

Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions a curious difference between dire and lire.

The following is according to my understanding.

When one is not Francophone, but is studying French from another language, one might use patterns to help organize certain conjugations, in order to reduce memorization.

I was thinking about dire (to say) and lire (to read). They’re both irregular, yet I suspected they might be irregular in the same way. However, at the same time, I had an inkling such isn’t the case. Therefore, I looked them up.

In present indicative, dire and lire are almost the same, with one important difference: vous dites but vous lisez. It’s a difference that might be surprising to a student.

Source:

Kenney, M., Burville, V., Hickox, B. Hill, J., Potter, C. (1977). Passeport Français 8: Bonne Chance! D.C. Heath Canada Ltd.