Say and tell

Direct and indirect speech

1. We use 'say' and 'tell' in both direct and indirect speech.

DIRECT SPEECH: I said: "I'm hungry." / I told him: "I'm hungry."
INDIRECT SPEECH: I said that I was hungry / I told him that I was hungry.

2. We cannot use 'say' or 'tell' with indirect questions.

Jim asked (me) if I wanted to play football.
NOT: Jim told/said me if I wanted to play football.

1. With 'tell', we say who is told.

He told me that he liked playing tennis.
NOT: He said me that he liked playing tennis.
NOT: He told that he liked playing tennis.

2. With 'say', if we want to use a personal object, we use to.

He said to them that he would be late.

3. With other objects, we don't usually use 'tell'.

He said a strange thing.
NOT: He told a strange thing.

We can use 'tell' + object + infinitive to give orders and instructions.

I told my son to stop shouting.
She told me to shut up.

We use 'tell' to give or ask for information. For example:
"Please tell me your name."
"Could you tell me your address."
"I told him the time."
We wouldn't use 'say' in these examples as they are all asking for information."
Sue
I like to keep it simple and I focus on 'say something' and 'tell someone'. The details come with lots of practice."
Mark

Email | |