Say, tell, speak or talk

The problem

Ukrainian has казати, сказати, говорити and розповідати; Russian has говорить, сказать and рассказывать. English has say, tell, speak and talk, but the lines between them are drawn in a different place. In Ukrainian and Russian the main question is aspect: говорити or сказати. In English the main question is grammar: does the verb need a person after it, and does it report words or describe an activity?

The result is a set of very common errors, above all he said me, which comes straight from він сказав мені / он сказал мне. Once you know which verb takes a person, most of these disappear.

How English does it

The key rule is about the listener. Tell almost always has the listener directly after it, with no preposition: tell me, tell Anna, tell the class. Say never takes the listener directly. If you want to mention the listener with say, add to: she said to me. In practice, she told me is much more natural than she said to me.

Say is the verb for quoting and reporting the exact words: He said, "I'm late." or He said he was late. It is also used with single words: say hello, say goodbye, say yes, say sorry, say nothing.

Tell also appears in fixed phrases without a listener, where something is being told: tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story, tell a joke, tell the time, tell the difference. These phrases never use say.

Speak and talk are close in meaning. Talk is the everyday word for a conversation: we need to talk, they talked about football. Speak is a little more formal and is the verb for languages, public speaking and phone calls: speak English, speak at a conference, Can I speak to the manager? You never talk a language.

The past forms: say, said, said (pronounced /sed/, not /seɪd/); tell, told, told; speak, spoke, spoken; talk, talked, talked, which is regular.

Examples

• Tom said that the film was too long.
• Anna told me about her new job.
• Please tell the truth.
• My grandmother speaks three languages.
• We talked about our plans for the summer.
• Could I speak to the manager, please?
• He always tells the same story at parties.
• She didn't say goodbye when she left.

Common mistakes

• ✗ He said me that he was busy.
  ✓ He told me that he was busy.
  Сказав мені / сказал мне has the listener right after the verb, and only tell allows that in English. With say, you need to: He said to me.
• ✗ She told that she would come.
  ✓ She said that she would come. / She told us that she would come.
  Tell needs a listener. If you do not want to mention one, use say.
• ✗ Say me the truth.
  ✓ Tell me the truth.
  Tell the truth and tell a lie are fixed phrases. Скажи правду, the same in both languages, is translated with tell, never say.
• ✗ Do you talk English?
  ✓ Do you speak English?
  Languages are always spoken. Talk is about conversation, not about the language you use.
• ✗ Can you explain me this rule?
  ✓ Can you explain this rule to me?
  Explain behaves like say, not like tell: the listener comes after to. Ukrainian поясни мені and Russian объясни мне make learners put the person first.

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