Resource centre / English grammar / Say and tell
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.
See also: Reported speech / Reported questions
Teaching Say and tell
We use 'tell' to give or ask for information. For example:
I like to keep it simple and I focus on 'say something' and 'tell someone'.
The details come with lots of practice."© eslbase 2005-2009 - TEFL jobs and TEFL courses, information, advice and ESL resources for teachers - English grammar: Say and tell