You say something. you tell someone something. “tell” is usually accompanied by a personal object. for example: hannah told me she was in love. you keep telling me the same thing every day. we could also use “say” in similar contexts, but it would need to be accompanied by “to” someone. examples:. Say or tell ? english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary.
Say and tell are irregular reporting verbs. both have fairly the same meaning and are used in reported speech. “say” means: to utter words in order to communicate information, an opinion, or a feeling. example: “i am fed up with this life,” he said. “ tell” means: to communicate something to someone in spoken or written forms. The verbs say and tell have similar meanings. they both mean "to communicate verbally with someone". but we often use them differently. the simple way to think of say and tell is: you say something. you tell someone something. you say something. you tell someone something. ram said that he was tired. When you have to decide whether to use say or tell, think about the focus of your sentence. if you want to put the emphasis on the information (what you say) first, you should use say. if you want to put the emphasis on the listener (whom you tell) first, you should use tell. these were the differences between say and tell . With 'tell' we need the object (e.g. 'me', 'you', 'her'). with 'say' we can't use the object (e.g. 'me', 'them', 'us'). so we can't say: “john said me that he would be late.” “john told that he would be late.” here are some correct examples: julie said (that) she'd come to the party. i said (that) i was going to bed early.
When you have to decide whether to use say or tell, think about the focus of your sentence. if you want to put the emphasis on the information (what you say) first, you should use say. if you want to put the emphasis on the listener (whom you tell) first, you should use tell. these were the differences between say and tell . With 'tell' we need the object (e.g. 'me', 'you', 'her'). with 'say' we can't use the object (e.g. 'me', 'them', 'us'). so we can't say: “john said me that he would be late.” “john told that he would be late.” here are some correct examples: julie said (that) she'd come to the party. i said (that) i was going to bed early. Remember that “say” often focuses more on the actual words that someone says. she’s detail oriented. “tell” is better if you want to focus on the information more than the actual words. that’s why it’s usually much better to use “say” when we’re reporting someone’s direct words. so, we can say:. In the first sentence we don’t specify exactly who he was talking to. he just said something. the listener is not important. in the second sentence we specify that he said this to me, so we need the verb told. the listener is specified. so the basic rule is: say something. tell someone.
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