SAY vs TELL

Pełne wyjaśnienie

„Say” i „tell” oba oznaczają „powiedzieć”, ale NIE są zamienne.
Różnica jest bardzo prosta, jeśli zapamiętasz jedną zasadę:

👉 SAY – mówisz coś

👉 TELL – mówisz coś komuś

To wszystko. Teraz rozbijamy to dokładnie.

SAY – powiedzieć COŚ (bez odbiorcy)

✔ Struktura:

say + coś

✔ Przykłady:

• She said hello.

• He said that he was tired.

• They said a few words.

• I want to say something.

✔ Z „say” NIGDY nie dodajemy osoby bez „to”

❌ She said me…
✔ She said to me…

✔ Jeśli chcemy dodać odbiorcę:

say + (something) + to someone

• She said “hi” to me.

• He said something to her.

TELL – powiedzieć komuś (z odbiorcą!)

✔ Struktura:

tell + osoba (+ coś)

✔ Przykłady:

• She told me the truth.

• He told her a story.

• They told us to wait.

• Tell me your name.

✔ TELL wymaga osoby

Nie wolno pominąć odbiorcy, jeśli chcemy powiedzieć coś komuś.

❌ She told a story. (dziwnie, niepełne)
✔ She told us a story.

Tabela SAY vs TELL

SAY – częste konstrukcje

• say hello / goodbye

• say something / nothing / anything

• say a few words

• say that…

• say to somebody…

• say what you think

• say yes / no

Przykłady:

• She said hello.

• He said that he was busy.

• What did she say to you?

TELL – częste konstrukcje

• tell the truth

• tell a story

• tell a lie

• tell the time

• tell the difference

• tell someone to do something

• tell a joke

Przykłady:

• Tell me the truth.

• He told her to stop.

• Can you tell the time? (= umiesz podać godzinę?)

• I can’t tell the difference.

Mowa zależna (Reported Speech)

Tutaj też różnica jest prosta:

✔ SAY → przy „że” (bez osoby)

• She said that she was hungry.

✔ TELL → przy odbiorcy

• She told me that she was hungry.

Typowe błędy

❌ He said me the truth.
✔ He told me the truth.

❌ She told that she’s tired.
✔ She said that she’s tired.
✔ She told me that she’s tired.

❌ What did he tell?
✔ What did he say? (co powiedział?)
✔ What did he tell you? (co ci powiedział?)

❌ Tell to me!
✔ Tell me!