SAY / TELL

Say is never followed by an indirect object, but tell is usually followed by an indirect personal object - ie. we say something and we tell somebody something.
We use say when we are not interested in who was spoken to or with we know that already and we use tell when we want to draw attention to the person being spoken to.
Say can be used to express any kind of speech whereas tell normally means 'instruct' or 'inform' .
If we want to use a personal object after say, then we must also use 'to' before the object. Say is always followed by a that whereas can be followed by a that clause, an infinitive, a question word + infinitive, or a noun clause.


Read about some other verbs that we can use instead of ‘say’ and ‘tell’ to make reported speech more varied and to give more meaning to the sentence.

As you learn each word, it is important to take note of the grammatical structures that can follow them. Listed here are the most common, but you may come across different forms as well.


1. admit – to confess that something is true
to admit doing something
to admit that...
Eg.
She admitted borrowing the necklace.
She admitted that she had borrowed the necklace.

2. argue – to put forward reasons for or against something
to argue that…
to argue + noun phrase
Eg.
He argued that he was innocent.
He argued his innocence.

3. complain – to express displeasure at something
to complain that…
to complain about something
Eg.
She complained that he was rude.
She complained about his rudeness

4. imply – to suggest something as a possibility
to imply that someone is something
to imply that someone should do something
Eg.
He implied that the defendant was guilty.
He implied that I should tell the truth.

5. insist – to express a strong belief about something
to insist that someone do something
to insist that someone should do something
Eg.
I insist that you take my car.
I insist that you should take my car.

6. observe – to make a note of something/to remark
to observe that…
Eg.
He observed that she looked tired.

7. propose – to put forward as an idea/to suggest
to propose that someone do something
to propose that someone should do something
Eg.
He proposed that they leave.
He proposed that they should leave.

8. suggest – to put forward as an idea/to propose
to suggest that someone should do something
to suggest that someone do something
to suggest + –ing form
Eg.
She suggested that we should join the party.
She suggested that we join the party.
She suggested joining the party.

9. urge – to recommend or advocate something strongly
to urge that someone should do something
to urge someone to do something
Eg.
She urged that the minister should resign.
She urged me to have some more cake.