Skip to main content

say and tell

Meaning and use​

Both say and tell are used with direct and indirect speech. (Say is more common than tell with direct speech.)

  • ‘Turn right,’ I said. (or ‘Turn right,’ I told him.)
  • She said that it was my last chance. (or She told me that it was my last chance.)

Tell is only used to mean ‘instruct’ or ‘inform’. So we do not use tell with greetings, exclamations or questions, for example.

  • He said, ‘Good morning.’ (but not He told them, ‘Good morning.’)
  • Emily said, ‘What a nice idea.’ (but not Emily told us, ‘What a nice idea.’)
  • ‘What’s your problem?’ I said. (but not ‘What’s your problem?’ I told her.)

say: objects​

We say something (to somebody), not say somebody something.

  • He said a few words to me in Arabic. (not He said me a few words in Arabic.)
  • She said that she would be late. (not She said me that …)
  • And I say to all the people of this great country … (not And I say all the people …)

tell: objects​

After tell, we usually say who is told.

  • She told me that she would be late. (not She told that …)

Tell is used without a personal object in a few expressions. Common examples: tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story/joke.

  • I don’t think she’s telling the truth. (not … saying the truth.)

Note also the use of tell to mean ‘distinguish’, ‘understand’, as in tell the difference, tell the time.

  • He’s seven years old and he still can’t tell the time.

Tell is not used before objects like a word, a name, a sentence, a phrase.

  • Alice said a naughty word this morning. (not Alice told …)

We do not usually use it after tell to refer to a fact.

  • ‘What time’s the meeting?’ ‘I’ll tell you tomorrow.’ (not I’ll tell you it tomorrow.)

Infinitives​

Tell can be used before object + infinitive, in the sense of ‘order’ or ‘instruct’. Say cannot be used like this.

  • I told the children to go away. (not I said the children to go away.)

Indirect questions​

Neither tell nor say can introduce indirect questions (see here).

  • James asked whether I wanted to see a film. (not James said whether I wanted to see a film.) or James told me whether …

But say and tell can introduce the answers to questions.

  • Has she said who’s coming?
  • He only told one person where the money was.
note

For so after say and tell, (see here).