When do we use say and when do we use tell?
| Say / tell | ||
| We use: tell + somebody. |
I told David about it. Did you tell him? He told me that he was ill. |
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We use: say + clause. We use: tell + clause when we include a pronoun such as me, him, us, etc. |
She said she was ill. She told him she was ill. |
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| We use: say + something + to somebody. | She said hello to me. | |
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We use tell when we are giving facts or information: tell somebody (that) ... tell somebody something tell somebody about something tell somebody who/when/where. |
She told me (that) she was ill. She told me the news. Tell me about your new job. He told me where it was. |
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