5 Differences Between Say and Tell

The meanings of these two verbs, tell and say, are similar. However, there are some clear and easy rules to follow about when to use these two words. Watch the video to find out!

Movie clips thanks to @movieclips and www.getyarn.io

"off by heart" - to memorise something

"throw a spanner in the works" - prevent something from running smoothly

TRANSCRIPT: Say and Tell, very confusing verbs! But I’ll let Tom cruise tell you that... Intense.

OK I have an admission to make. I know a lot of the words to this famous movie scene in Far and Away off by heart. I know, it’s very sad.

If you are looking to improve your Irish accent by listening to the movie, or by watching this movie please don’t because the accents are terrible. Actually, Tom Cruise’s accent is terrible in it. Nicole Kidman’s is not so bad. We don’t speak like that. We didn’t speak like that in the past so for Irish accents, just listen to me!

So let’s look at the grammar rules in detail: Tom Cruise conveniently demonstrates the biggest difference between Say and Tell. Can you spot it? Tell is always directly followed by a person or the object pronoun. In this sentence it’s ‘me’ but it can also be you, him,her, them, or us.

Conversely, ‘Say’ can never be followed by the object pronoun. In this sentence “Say you like my hat” it’s not “Say me you like my hat”.

So the rules are: You tell somebody something Say something to someone Here are some more examples: You may tell me I’m a dreamer. Is the same thing as... You may say I’m a dreamer (actually, do you know what song these lyrics come from? You can tell me in the comments below)

What did you say to him? What did you tell him? Tell Jessica I said hi. Say ‘’hi’ to Jessica for me! Did he tell you what the movie was about? Did he say what the movie was about? He told me (that) my dog was cute He said (that) my dog was cute So as you can see we can use say OR tell in many circumstances, but remember that tell always has a person directly after it.

Another big difference between Say and Tell is when we are giving orders or advice

We only use the verb Tell, we don’t use Say. I told him to be quiet NOT - I said to be quiet They told us not to come back NOT They said to not come back My mother is always telling me to tidy my room NOT - My mother is always saying to tidy my room Tell him to forget about his ex-girlfriend? NOT Say to him to forget about his ex-girlfriend

OK the 3rd rule is that you cannot put ‘to’ after tell. Never, never, never. So you cannot say: Paul told to me that he was coming to the party. You can say: Paul told me that he was coming to the party, with no ‘to’ On the other hand, we can use ‘to’ with the verb ‘say’. Paul said (to me) he was coming to the party.

The 4th rule that involves both Say and Tell. In fact, when we are using reported questions, we cannot use neither Say nor Tell. We use Ask. For example: Do you want to come to dinner with me?” The indirect speech would be: Paul asked me if I wanted to come to dinner tonight. It’s not: “Paul told me” or “Paul said to me”. It has to be Ask for reported questions. Another example: Do you realise we can go to the beach now confinement is over? Sharon asked if I realised that we can go to the beach now confinement is over.

OK, just to throw a spanner in the works I’m gonna give you a 5th rule we that we only use with tell (and not say). We have some phrases that are ‘tell’ specific, such as: To tell the truth, To tell a lie, To tell the time, To tell the future, To tell a story

OK let’s recap the 5 rules very quickly:

1. We tell somebody (something) “Tim told me the train was delayed” Say something (to someone) “Tim said the train was delayed” Tim said to me the train was delayed”. We can always use this ‘to’ after ‘say’ However, we cannot use ‘to’ after Tell: “Please tell me the truth - Yes. Please tell to me the truth - No. We cannot use Tell or Say in reported questions. We use the verb ‘ask’.

Last but not least, some frequently used phrases we only use tell are: To tell (someone) the truth To tell (someone) a lie To tell the time To tell the future To tell a story

OK Quiz time!

The doctor _____ he had to exercise at least 3 times a week

- Yes it’s said because there is no person following it.

"That's a great idea!" She ___

Yes. It’s she said because again there is no person after it

He's 9 years old and still can't _____ the time.

Yes it’s one of those expressions that we use with tell.

His father told him to stop _____ lies and to tell the truth.

Yes it’s telling lies.

“I ____ that I would meet him on Sunday.”

Yes of course it’s said. I said I would meet him on Sunday.

Do you think Macron will get re- elected?” Tina _____me if I Macron would get re-elected Yes it’s asked because we cannot use tell or say with reported questions. Yeah! Well done everyone. SHOW LESS