English Vocabulary – Say or Tell?

Hello everyone!

It’s one of the questions our students ask us the most: “when do I use say and when do I use tell?” so we thought we’d remind you again of the differences between them.

A quick way to remember is:

You say something
You tell someone something

Here is Teacher Graham to teach you about “say” and “tell”, and to give you some examples of each one. After, do the exercises to check if you have understood everything.

Exercises

1. That’s what everyone _____.

a. says
b. tells

2. What did Laura just _____?

a. say
b. tell
said
d. told

3. He _____ them not to buy it.

a. said
b. told

4. My friend _____ me a lie.

a. told
b. said