Say or Tell?

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 (quote)
• You tell someone something (information)

You say something You tell someone something

Ram said that he was tired. Ram told Jane that he was tired.

Anthony says you have a new job. Anthony tells me you have a new job.

Tara said: "I love you." Tara told John that she loved him.

Here are a few rules to help you.

Personal object
We usually follow tell with a personal object (the person that we are speaking to). We
usually use say without a personal object:
• She told me that she loved John.
• She said that she loved John.
• He told everybody that he had to leave.
• He said that he had to leave.
Say "to someone"
With say, we sometimes use "to someone":
• He said to me that he was tired.
• Tara said to Ram that he had done very well.
• Anthony said to her, "I hope you come soon."
• "I'd like to sleep," she said to him quietly.
Direct speech
We can use say with direct speech. We use tell only with direct speech that is an
instruction or information:
• Amanda said, "Hello John. How are you?"
• "That's great'" she said.

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 • He told her: "Open the door quietly."
• She told me, "I have never been to England."
We can use say with direct questions, but we cannot use tell:
• She said: "Do you love me?"
• The policeman said to the prisoner, "Where were you at 8pm?"
Reported speech
We can use say and tell to talk about reported information:
• She said that it was raining.
• She told me that she would call at 2pm.
We cannot use say or tell to talk about reported questions. We must use ask (or a similar
verb):
• She asked if I had ever been there.
• They asked what I wanted to eat.
• She asked where he lived.
• He asked if she wanted to go home.
Orders, advice
We use tell + object + infinitive for orders or advice:
• She told him to sit down.
• They told me not to wait.
• Tell Neil to have a holiday and forget her.
Phrases
Here are a few fixed phrases with tell. We cannot use say with these phrases:
• tell (someone) a story
• tell (someone) a lie
• tell (someone) the truth
• tell the future (= to know what the future will bring)
• tell the time (= know how to read a clock)

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 Examples

Say used with direct and indirect speech She said that it was my last chance.
He said, ‘Good morning.’
Say is most often used without a She said that she would be late. (not
personal object. She said me...)
If we want to put a personal object after And I say to all the people of this great
say, we use to. country...

Tell used with direct and indirect speech

after tell, we usually say who is told, She told me that she would be late.
i.e., tell someone something

only used to mean ‘instruct’ or ‘inform’

She told me that it was my last chance.
(not He told them, ‘Good morning.’)
Tell is used to tell someone to do
Tom’s mother told him to clean his
something
room.

Tell is not used before objects like a

word, a name, a sentence, a phrase.
Alice said a naughty word...
We do not usually use it after tell to
refer to a fact. (not Alice told a naughty word...)
‘I’ll tell you tomorrow.’ (not I’ll tell you it
tomorrow.)
tell someone again (repeat)
‘I don’t want to tell you again to get
your homework done.’

Right and wrong

Read these examples of correct and incorrect usage:

We cannot... These are NOT possible... These are possible...

say someone to do
Tara said Jo to go away. Tara told Jo to go away.
something

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 Panita said me that she was Panita told me that she was
say someone something
hungry. hungry.

tell something He told that he likes coffee. He said that he likes coffee.

Tookta told me that she was

coming.
Tookta told to me that she
tell to someone
was coming.
Tookta said to me that she
was coming.

say a lie Siriluck always says lies. Siriluck always tells lies.

Ram said to Nok: "Let's turn

on the TV."
tell somebody "direct
speech" Ram told Nok: "Let's turn (Ram told Nok, "Turn on the
(except instructions and on the TV." TV.")
information)

(Ram told Nok: "I was born

in 1985.")

She said if I wanted to She asked if I wanted to

come. come.
say or tell a reported
question
Tookta told what I wanted Took asked what I wanted to
to do. do.

Fill the gaps with the correct form of say or tell.

1 They _________________ on the news that everyone survived.
2 Come on. _________________ me everything.
3 You know what they _________________ about Bankok, don't you?
4 Mummy! The teacher _________________ a rude word in class today.
5 I hate the way she keeps _________________ me what to do.
6 Richie _________________ the same thing over and over again.

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7 What did you _________________ to him?
8 What did you _________________ him?
9 He gave me his email address but he wouldn't _________________ what his
phone number was.
10 He wouldn't _________________ me his phone number.
11 I thought she was my friend until I found out she'd _________________ all my
secrets to everyone.
12 They _________________ that John's really mean with money.
13 He _________________ me I wasn't invited to the wedding.
14 She _________________ me all about her holiday in Sicily.
15 I couldn't understand a word of what he was trying to _________________ to me.
16 He _________________ me this funny story about what happened to him on
holiday.
17 He wouldn't _________________ what the problem was.

Talk There is not very much difference When she walked into the room
between speak and talk. everybody stopped talking.
Talk is the more usual word to refer to
conversational exchanges and informal
communication

Speak is often used for one-way I’ll have to speak to that boy -- he’s
communication and for exchanges in getting very lazy.
more serious or formal situations.
After she had finished reading the
letter, nobody spoke.
Speak is the usual word to refer to She speaks three languages fluently.
knowledge and use of languages

Do or Make?
It is not always easy to choose between "do" and "make".
Do can be an auxiliary verb (Do you like coffee?) or a main verb (I did my homework
yesterday.). As an auxiliary verb, it has no meaning. It is necessary only for the
grammatical structure. As a main verb it has a meaning, but the meaning is rather general.
It often expresses a general activity.

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Make is not an auxiliary verb. It is always a main verb (I made a cake yesterday.). Its
meaning is also rather general, but it often expresses the idea of construction or creation.

Do
Do for general activity
When we talk about a general activity but do not say what it is, we can use do:
• I want to do something.
• What are you doing this evening?
• What can we do?
• Do it now!
Do for work
We usually use do to talk about work:
• What do you do? (= What is your job?)
• Who does your shopping?
• I don't want to do any work today.
• I hate doing the washing up.
• Have you done your homework?
Note that we sometimes use do to replace another more exact verb (but only when the
meaning is clear from the situation). This is very informal.
• do the lawn (cut/mow? sow? the lawn)
• do my room (tidy? paint? my room)
• do the car (wash? paint? repair? the car)

Make
Make for construction
Make often expresses the idea of construction or creation:
• I'll make a cake for Anthony's birthday.
• This car was made in France.
• Did you make this table yourself?
• Remember that we usually use make for products or goods that are manufactured.
That's why you see labels like "Made in Hong Kong" or "Made in the USA" on
products that you buy.
Now compare:
• Do the shopping. (We don't really create anything. We just "do" an activity.)
• Make a cake. (We really create something.)

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In the next example, notice how we use make for creation (the cake) and then use do (for
the general activity) even though we're really talking about the same thing:
• I must make Anthony's cake. I'll do it now.

Expressions with Do and Make

Here are some expressions that you should learn. Notice that as main verbs we use make
more often than do:

• do good • make an attempt

• do harm • make a bed (usually this means "tidy the bedclothes"
but it could mean "manufacture the furniture")
• do well
• make a change/changes
• do badly
• do a favour • make a complaint
• make a decision
• do business
• make a demand
• make an effort
• make an exception
• make an excuse
• make a loss
• make love
• make a mistake
• make money
• make a noise
• make an offer
• make peace
• make a phone call
• make a profit
• make a suggestion
• make war

Fill the gaps with either do or make in the correct form.

1 The house was a disaster. They ________________ a terrible mess.
2 Have you ________________ all the arrangements yet?
3 Vincent: English football fans came to Valencia last weekend.

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 Maria: Did they ________________ any damage?
4 Listen. I made lunch so you can ________________ the washing up. It's only fair.
5 What he did was terrible. He didn't even ________________ an apology.
6 They're ________________ plans for their wedding.
7 Bob: Richie and I have had a fight.
Julio: Not again! You should ________________ amends once and for all.
8 Who's going to ________________ dinner? You or me?
9 Be careful that you ________________ the right decision.
10 He's ________________ an appointment to see the dentist on Thursday.
11 Would you ________________ me a favour and feed the cat while I'm away.
12 We normally ________________ the shopping on Saturday mornings.
13 Before you go out, you have to ________________ your homework, OK?
14 This cake is delicious. Did you really ________________ it?
15 I always ________________ my bed before breakfast.
16 Everyone ________________ a big effort to help yesterday.
17 The doctor told me I have to ________________ exercise regularly.
18 She ________________ crossword puzzles on the train everyday.
19 Stop ________________ a fuss. I'm perfectly alright.
20 I ________________ a really terrible mistake in my driving test.