The simple way to think of say and tell is:

You say something

You tell someone something
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.

A. Complete these sentences with: tell, say or said

1. Can you____ me the way to the station, please?
2. He didn't ____ a word.
3. She ____ her name was Sue.
4. Let me _____ you something about my hobbies.
5. Forget everything I just _____.
6. Why didn't you _____ him that before?
7. Why didn't you_____ that before?
8. They ____ nothing to me.
9. You don't need to _____ us that.
10. What did Eric________ when he saw the new bike?

B. Complete these sentences with tell, tells, say, says

1. What did he_____you?

2. Can you_______me where the post office is , please?
3. What did he___ to you?
4. Jensy always_____me about her day at work.
5. How can you______that?
6. ________me what he _______ to you, please.
7. Janet________( that) the book is hers.
8. They______( that) it is too hot there in summer.
9. Do not ______Sophy about the grame.
10. Anna always_______the truth. She never lies

C. Fill in these sentences with: Say, tell, said, and told

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1 Anna________ goodbye and went out.

2 _______ me about your weekend.

3 Quickly, ______ something!

4 Where is she? She_______ she would be here by now.

5 Tom _______ me he had enough of his job.

6 The doctor _______ I should get plenty of rest.

7 The doctor ________ me to get plenty of rest.

8 Don't _______ anybody what we said.

9 Did she ______ you that story again?

10 They didn't ________ anything to me.

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

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.

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.

E. Fill in these sentences with tell and say

1. Can you ---- me what time the film starts?

2. She ---- she would never speak to him again.

3. I promise to ---- the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth .

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 4. The policeman ---- that the man was lying.

5. Philip ---- it would probably rain tomorrow.

6. Susan ----, "Let's go out for dinner."

7. Jim ---- me everything about the party last night.

8. Our teacher ---- he was pleased with our work.

9. Yesterday my friend ---- he ---- (not) anyone my secret.

10. You had better stop ---- lies.

11. Could you please ---- me your name?

12. The little girl ---- her prayers and went to bed.

13. I really can't ---- Jane from Kate. They are twins.

F. complete these exercise with: Said and told

1. A witness_______ that the train had been traveling fast.

2. She_______ our reporter that she had seen the crash.
3. A spokesman______ us that all trains had been cancelled.
4. He________ that the rescue would take e a long time.
5. Joe_______ Sue that she was a silly school girl.
6. Sue______ that she wanted to marry him.
7. Terry________ "Let's go home."
8. The police________ people to stay away from the station.
9. They________ that people were causing trouble.
10. One witness________ that she had fainted when she saw the crash.
11. Another witness________ us that she had helped the rescue workers.
12. The local MP_________ the police that he was horrified.
13. He_________ that he had never seen anything so awful in his life.

G. Fill in the gap with: told and said

1. Fiona________ her friend that she was shopping with her mother.

2. The teacher_______ he would ask ten question in the exam.

3. Scientists______ the illness could infect many people.

4. Sertap Erener________ the reporters after the Eurovision Song Contest

that she was very happy.

5. Our manager_______ us that he had to stay in Belgium a few days

more.

6. I______ my father that I didn't want to go with him.

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 7. He_______ that I had to finish my homework.

8-9. You______ me that he_______ he wasn't coming to the field trip.

9. I am so surprised! I can't believe Julia________ that to you.

10. I am so surprised! I can't believe Julia_______ you that.

11. I am so surprised! I can't believe Julia_______ that.

SPEAK, TALK, SAY OR TELL?

Speak: is used when one person addresses a group, or to refer to a language.

Talk: suggests that two or more people are having a conversation.
Sometimes they are used with similar meaning. There are also fixed expressions.
Say: is used with words. Structure: say something to somebody.
Tell: is used when giving information. Structure: tell somebody something.

I,d spoken French

I,d like French

 speak (spoke, spoken, speaking)

He spoke to the class about the problem.
Can you speak Chinese?
I'd like to speak to Mr. Pitt, please.

 talk (talked, talked)

They talked for hours about the problem.
Can I talk to Mr. Pitt, please?

 say (said, said)

She said nothing all morning. (spoke no words)
As she entered, she said 'Hello' to me.
He said 'Goodbye' and went away.

 tell (told, told)

She told me nothing about herself. (gave me no information)
Can you tell me how to get to the bank?
 Phrases with 'tell'
You can tell...
the truth
the time
a lie

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 a story
 Related words and expressions
speech: act of speaking or formal talk given to an audience
speaker: person who speaks
talk: conversation or informal speech
saying: well-known phrase
be on speaking terms with somebody: be on friendly or polite terms, be willing to talk
actions speak louder than words: what a person actually does means more than what he says he will
do
the facts speak for themselves: the facts show the truth, without further interpretation or explanation
speak/talk of the devil: said when somebody one has been talking about appears
talk one's head off: talk too much
say when: used to ask somebody to show when one should stop pouring a drink
not say boo to a goose: be too shy or too gentle
before you could say Jack Robinson: very quickly or suddenly
easier said than done: more difficult to do than to talk about. Eg. Getting a job is easier said than
done.
say no more: I understand what you mean

Tell & Say

Tell = to give information to somebody by speaking or writing

tell someone something: 'I told him about it.'

tell something to somebody: 'He told the news to his co-worker.

'Please, tell me your name'

= we usually say who is told (personal object) and what they were told

'I told him...', 'They told us...', 'We told them...'

'He told me ( that ) he was hungry.'

'Mary told me to eat dinner.'

'Our parents told us about it.'

Say = Never has a person as the object. You say something or say something to somebody.

Tell me what he said to you.

I want to say something on this subject.

= The construction 'He said that' is very common, but the 'that' is often omitted in informal writing
and speech.

She said (that) she worked in the big company.

He said (that) he was ill.

Sally said that John would be late to the party.

 Speak and Talk: Difference

There is not much difference between speak and talk. They are usually both possible in most
situations.

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 Formality

 Talk is less formal than speak. In fact, talk is the usual word to refer to informal
communication.

I want to talk to you.

I think you should talk to him.
I don’t know why she has stopped talking to me.
I would like to talk to you about the film I watched yesterday.
Stop talking nonsense.
We talked for an hour.
Speak is often used for exchanges in more serious or formal situations.

Speak your mind.

I was so shocked that I could hardly speak.
They are not speaking anymore.
Actions speak louder than words.
Speak is not usually used before sense, nonsense and other words with similar meanings.

Thursday August 31st, 2017

Lectures etc

Talk is often used for the act of giving an informal lecture. Speak is preferred for more formal
lectures.

Compare:

This is Ms Susan Fernandez, who is going to talk to us about cookery.

This is Professor Susan Fernandez, who is going to speak to us on recent developments in
stem-cell

 therapy.
Speak is the usual word to refer to a person’s ability to speak a language.

She can speak English. (NOT She can talk English.)

She speaks ten languages fluently.
Speak is also the word to refer to speech on the phone.

Could I speak to Alice, please? (More natural than ‘Could I talk to Alice?’)