What’s the difference between say and tell. That’s what I’m gonna tell you in this
video. Hey, guys, teacher Prix here to help you talk to anyone anywhere anytime in English.
So, today I’m going to talk about a very common confusion students make when they are
using say and tell. Both verbs are used because we want to report something that another person
said to us. However, they are a little bit, they are slightly different. Let’s take
a look at each verb. Let’s start with tell. Tell is an irregular verb. The past form of
tell is told. One first mistake students make with this verb is to use the preposition to
for example: I tell to you; with this verb, you do not need the preposition to. I tell
you, I told you, I will tell you, I am telling you, ok? Now, we use this verb when you say
who you are talking to. Example Julia told Mark, I tell someone. Julia told Mark she
was gonna see a doctor. Here, I know “who”, Mark, ok? Tell someone. My friend told me
she was gonna travel. I know the object, that’s me, I know the person, that’s me, she told
me, so I should use tell. You can also use tell when you are asking for or when you are
giving advice. My mother told me to study more. Can you tell me how I can improve my
English? Peter told me not to waste time and move on with my life. There are also some
specific expressions for example tell a story, tell a lie, tell the truth, tell a joke, tell
the time. Now let’s take a look at the verb say. Say is also an irregular verb. The past
form of say is said. One common mistake students make with the verb say is not to use any preposition
for example She said me. No, in this case, with the verb say you need a preposition if
you have the object, if you have the person, She said to Jack, she said to me, if you have
the person after the verb say, you need a preposition with the verb say, ok? You also
use the verb say because you are gonna say something to someone, with the verb tell you
tell someone something. With the verb say you say something to someone. Let’s see
some examples: he said the deadline to deliver this project was today. Here I’m not using
the object. He said to me, he said to people. I’m just saying He said. He said the deadline
was today. That’s it. If you want to use the verb tell. He told me, he told the students
the deadline was today. Now, I have an exercise for you. I’m going to show you 5 sentences
here and I want you to correct them if necessary. There you go, game on, here are the sentences
I want you to correct if necessary. I hope you liked this video. Make sure to like and
share it with your friends, why not! Thanks guys and I’ll see you next time! Bye!