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Algeria flagDjamel
Say and tell When do we use 'say' and when do we use 'tell' ?

Answers · 4

1
So the easiest way to get it. "Tell" must be followed by a person towards which something is being said, i.e. He told HER not to eat it. She told ME I'm handsome. They told YOU what to do. However "say" must not be followed by a person that is the subject,unless it has "to" inbetween, i.e. She said that he cheated on her. He said to me that I should read more. They said (that) you won the game. You can't say: She said him about the trip. You tell about the lost game. I hope it helps:) Good luck with learning!
1
Say is more: The action of speaking. Tell is more: The act of speaking to someone. So to give another person information would be: "To tell them". Such as; "Did you know that John is getting married?" "Greg told me that John was getting married." Means he specifically told him, it is more about the fact that "person A told person B", not as much focus on what was said, but the fact he "said it to him". Where-as say/said is more generally about the actual words being said. "Did you know John is getting married?" "He said something about it a few months ago." "I didn't know." "He didn't say it openly." "What did you say?" "I said that I would think about it." So if you can see, "tell" relates more to the people talking than what is being said. "Say" relates more to what is being said, than the people.
0
You can say something about something but you cannot say about something ,use talk. He did not talk about (not say about) his feeling.
0
You can say something about something but you cannot say about something ,use talk. He did not talk about (not say about) his feeling.

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