Say is simply to "use your voice to express something in words." We use this in more general contexts and it does not have to be directed at anyone. Examples: "It is a beautiful day," he said. "What did you just say?" Tell - the main difference is that to use 'tell' the action must be directed at someone. There must be a recipient unlike when using say. Examples: I told John to buy bananas. Harry will tell us a story. Notice how there is a recipient of the action in each sentence (John and us) Hope this is helpful, please let me know if you have any questions! James

The simplest explanation might be to remember, "say" means speak. For example, a parent might ask their very young child, "can you SAY your name?" The parent just wants their child to speak "out loud" and repeat their name. The word "tell" has more to do with an explanation. For example, if you need directions to the library, you might ask a stranger, "can you TELL me how to get to the library?". You are asking for information that you don't already know. I hope this helps

You say something to someone - say is not followed by a direct personal pronoun You tell someone something - tell is followed by a direct personal pronoun e.g. me The verbs say and tell should also be changed into the correct tense.

глагол tell чаще используют когда говорят рассказать, сказать правду, а глагол say употребляют чаще всего в косвенной речи, сказал, говорил и так далее, например: he told me a very interesting story. He said that this approach was effective