Say vs. Tell

Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

Say or tell: two verbs instead of one. Listen to these examples:

My father says I should study more.
My father told me to study more.
Here’s another example.
Uncle Fred said he was a great inventor.
Uncle Fred told me he was a great inventor.

In this lesson I will give you plenty of example sentences. Some contain ‘say’ and some contain ‘tell’ and some include both verbs. What you will not find in this podcast are any explanations of grammar rules for these two verbs. There are plenty of good explanations on the internet and you will find some links at the end of these notes. And while grammar rules are interesting—for some people, at least—they don’t replace lots of listening and repeating correct sentences.

Look at it this way: when you’re trying to have a conversation, if you have to stop and think about rules, the conversation goes out the window. When you can say what you want to say automatically and correctly, then you can have comfortable conversations in another language. If you need to replay this podcast ten times or even fifty times, who cares? If you want to learn English, feed your ears English.

Okay, let’s get started!

Part One: Practice with Tell

1. I'm sure she'll tell you the truth.
2. He tells funny stories.
3. They're telling us about their vacation.
4. Harry has never told me a lie.
5. Please tell us about your plans for next year.
6. Tell the kids I'll be back in two hours.
7. I'm telling you, just stop watching TV all day.
8. I can tell you—that guy is nothing but trouble.
9. He told me his mother was coming to visit him next week.
10. She was telling me about her day when my phone rang and interrupted us.
11. Mary had never told us the story of her life, until we started asking her questions this morning.
12. Tell us where you were last night at 11pm, and who you were with—and you better tell us the truth.
13. My grandfather fought in World War II, but he never told us anything about his experiences.
14. Every day she tells herself that things will get better soon.
15. My mom has a secret, but she's not telling anyone what it is.
16. The hotel's instructions told us how to connect to the wifi.

Part Two: Practice with Say

1. She says she speaks Japanese, but I don't believe her.
2. He said he was tired and didn't want to go out with us.
3. John will say anything to avoid work. What a bum!
4. Richard never says what he’s really thinking.
5. When I say “SPEAK” to my dog, he barks.
6. I’ve never said anything that stupid, have I? Please tell me I haven’t!
7. If you had said, “Don’t go into the jungle, it’s too dangerous!” we would have climbed Mt. Everest instead.
8. Do as I say, not as I do.
9. He’s a good driver, but that’s not saying much because he’s only allowed to drive a golf cart.
10. I keep saying “NO” but he doesn’t seem to understand me.

Let’s end with some listening practice:

Part Three: Examples with both verbs:

1. She asked if I was hungry. I said yes, and she told me to help myself from the frig. [refrigerator]
2. My ex-boyfriend told me he was going away forever. I said, “Have a good trip.”
3. The thief said, “Your money or your life!” I laughed and told him to shoot me [be]cause I didn’t have a penny.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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