Supplementary Material

LEARNING TO USE SAY AND TELL

(Supplementary Material from Upper Intermediate Module)

Say and Tell are two verbs which usually cause problems to students. It is not possible to substitute one word
for the other in some expressions because we use them for different purposes. Thus, pay attention to the
following:

Say is used for :

a) direct quotations;

Example: She said,» I am very tired».

Pam said to me,» I don’t feel well».

b) indirect quotations when the person to whom the words are spoken is not mentioned;

Example: She said that she was very tired.

Tell is used for :

indirect quotations when the person to whom the words are spoken is mentioned;

Example: Pam told me that she didn’t feel well.

Look at the the following expressions in which we use the verb Tell:

tell the truth tell a joke tell about something

tell a lie tell the time
tell a story tell on someone
tell a secret tell how to do something

EXERCISE 1. Complete the following sentences with the correct form of SAY and TELL.

1. Can you me your name, please?

2. What do you to a person who is suffering so much?

3. John is the children a fairy tale.

4. Please, me about the book you are reading.

5. Can I something to you?

6. Sheila seems to be very upset. Her son always lies.

7. Can you «Good morning» in Chinese?

8. Will you please something to the children? They are making noise all over the place.

9. The teacher will the class about the test results.

10. He’s always tales about others. He’s a gossiper.

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EXERCISE 2. Change the sentences using TELL instead of SAY or viceversa.
Example: He said that he didn’t feel well.
He told me that he didn’t feel well.

1. The man said that there were plenty of seats available.

2. Helen told me that she had a lot of work to do.

3. Mr. Smith said that he was too busy to see us.

4. The farmer said that he expected to have a good crop this year.

5. Mary told me that she was invited to the mountains.

6. He said that he would visit her tomorrow.

7. I told everyone what I wanted to do during the summer.

EXERCISE 3. Write 6 sentences using TELL and SAY.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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KEY CHECK

EXERCISE 1.

1. tell
2. say
3. telling
4. tell
5. say
6. tells
7. say
8. say
9. tell
10. telling

EXERCISE 2.

1. The man told us (that) ...

2. Helen said (that) ...
3. Mr. Smith told us (that) ...
4. The farmer told us (that) ...
5. Mary said (that) ...
6. He told us (that) ...
7. I said what ...

EXERCISE 3.

ASK THE LAB. TEACHERS TO CHECK YOUR ANSWERS.